Norway's Offentleg Elektronisk Postjournal (Electronic Public Records, OEP) was launched as a one-stop shop for access to Public Documents. The goal was to provide user friendly access to Public Sector Information and Public Documents - whereby improving Citizen Oversight and enabling the citizen to become more engaged in Governments affairs.
OEP provides a dual function; Users can search the metadata about every archived document that the Government has in its possession, and request access to documents electronically via the service. This can be done anonymously, free of charge and with no requirement to justify why they require access.
These functions were identified to address the huge challenge of findability. Prior to the introduction of OEP it was difficult to know what documents existed and to request access. Findability is now hugely improved. This is crucial for enabling users to be able to affect decisions in the Government before they are made.
There is also the added benefit that by digitizing the process and adding technical solutions for handling requests in the Case Handling Systems, the time spent on handling requests has been greatly reduced and requests are handled in a matter of days.
The FOIA-request process in Norway is as user-friendly as online shopping.
Description of target users and groups
The Press and Media were primary target population for the initiative and key stakeholders in initiating the service. A decision was made jointly by the government and the stakeholders early in the planning phase that universal access be granted to the system.
Journalists are heavy users of the Freedom of Information Act(FOIA), and make large quantities of requests for documents. OEP reduce their workload significantly. In order to fully understand the user groups needs for the service, they and other Civil Society representatives were invited to participate during the entire process.
Description of the way to implement the initiative
OEPs goals and objectives are outlined in two Norwegian White Papers to the National Assembly. It is to (a) make access to Public Sector Documents more easily available, and (b) Streamline the Governments handling of FOIA-requests.
In the development phase it was decided that the system should be agile, based on iterative and incremental development. By doing this we facilitated a more participatory design and better collaboration between the users of the system and the government, responsible for designing the service.
The target population was defined from the outset and different interest groups were invited to participate in the project. This invitation was embraced by Media and Academic Organisations. The collaboration was institutionalised by creating a reference group which lasted throughout the project period. These organisations are still consulted at all iterations.
The reference group has been deeply involved in all stages of developing the service, from deciding on the key functionality, making the necessary specifications, user testing and evaluating results.
Much work was put into making a regulatory framework for the service, which consisted of revising the Freedom of Information Act and its associated regulations. Again all user groups were consulted.
Governmental Authorities are partners in making this service. The Data Inspectorate, The National Archives and the legal department at the Ministry of Justice were key participants. Other entities were consulted as users of the system, responsible for publishing their Records and receiving and processing the FOIA-requests.
There was also a point in streamlining the case processing of the FOIA-requests in the governmental entities. By implementing a common standard it was possible to make technical alterations to the case handling systems, and add functionality to handle FOIA-requests within these systems.
The collaboration and co-designing of OEP has been a key factor in achieving the goals for the service. Cooperation on the initial design and in later iterations has made the service more user-friendly and better suited to make public documents easier available and improve the findability of them.
Main results, benefits and impacts
The intended outcome of the intitiative was to make public documents easily available for the citizenry. Usage statistics prove that this approach has been highly successful. After launching the service the number of FOIA-requests for Ministerial documents has increased by 400%. In 2010 when the system was launched it forwarded 56 000 requests. In 2013 this number increased to 203 000.
For journalists and other users, the OEP has contributed to making access to public documents easier and more streamlined. The digital access to public documents allows for greater oversight of the government. This has also paved the way for more citizen engagement and participation in many cases.
User surveys show that Journalists account to approximately 50% of its use. Amongst the other users we can identify are concerned Citizens, NGO’s, Businesses and Civil servants. Common access to the OEP has ensured equal and unbiased access to public information as an imperative recognized by the Norwegian Constitution. This also gives citizens a unique opportunity to control what the media writes, by allowing them to check the relevant documents for themselves.
The initiative contributes to a more participative democracy by empowering citizens, civil society and the media to completely inform themselves about ongoing files dealt with by public administration and the government. OEP increases the transparency for public processes and governmental agencies and facilitates contact between civil society and government.
Return on investment
OEP is deeply rooted in Norwegian Law, and funded by the National Budget. The decision to implement the service was made by the National Council and its sustainability is regarded as solid.
Two major plans are being considered for future development of OEP.
The first is to accelerate publishing of entire documents to the service. This is possible today, and about 6 000 documents are available directly within the portal. Thus allowing for more ‘open by default’ action and reducing the need to go through the FOIA-process, by providing the user with direct access to the available documents. Automated systems for making the documents available in a large scope are being considered.
The second is to broaden the scope and include municipal and county municipal entities into the service. This will provide the citizenry with even broader access to all public documents and case proceeding in Norway from one place.