Today a quickscan was published that was meant to give an impact analysis of the new transparency law that currently is being discussed in the Senate. Open State Foundation raised concerns about the big conclusions drawn in this quickscan.
The way the government deals with information and ICT systems is not sufficient to implement the new transparency law that was adopted by the parliament but currently being debated in the Senate. Open State Foundation is critical of the method used in this quickscan and raised questions about the figures, the evidence and the way in which this quickscan was done. The quickscan was done by a group of civil servants of the Ministry of Interior. The quickscan was published today. Beyond enormous investments in terms of the way the government currently holds and keeps records, its ICT systems, the quickscan concludes also the need for a complete overhaul of existing working practices and cultural change within government. It therefore concluded that the law cannot be implemented and will cost enormous amounts of funds.
‘The way the government currently works and the need for a change in digital transparency cannot be placed on the bill of this law’, says Arjan El Fassed, director of Open State Foundation. ‘It is a missed opportunity that the government did not opt to test the consequences of this law by implementing it in a number of government organisations already’.
Translation of rest of the reaction follows soon.