June and July 2012 have been a time for openings.
First of all, opening data. The UK Government’s Open Data White Paper is about creating a culture where public data is available to make public services more effective and responsive to individual needs. Big data like this remains a huge untapped resource, and has been an area of growing OECD interest, since the recommendation on access to public sector information in 2008, and as the OECD continues to make much of its data available for free online.
Second, open policy making. UK civil service reforms recognise the need to make much better use of external expertise, test our ideas, learn from others, and do ‘what works’. The OECD Centres of Government meeting in October in London will see many of the world’s leading civil servants share ideas on this subject.
Third, “open for business“. That was Prime Minister David Cameron’s message to world business leaders such as Cisco’s John Chambers and Google’s Eric Schmit at last Thursday’s pre-Olympic Global Investment Conference. The conference showcased the UK as the most business-friendly environment in the G20. The OECD Secretary-General featured on the economy panel alongside IMF chief Christine Lagarde and UK Chancellor George Osborne.
And of course the most spectacular opening came the following day with the Olympic Opening Ceremony. The Games themselves will be over in a few weeks but, as the OECD underlined in a 2010 report, the legacy has always been a key part of the bid and the impact of the Games will be long-lasting – for example three quarters of all construction spending has gone into regeneration projects in London’s poorest boroughs.
Of course not all openings are welcome. We saw the skies open for most of June and July, including yesterday on the streets of London where I watched the women’s cycling road race. Fingers crossed for clearer skies in August, and a great Olympic and Paralympic Games.