Office of Fair Trading (OFT) market study on commercial use of public information
The OFT announced their market study into the Commercial Use of Public Information (CUPI) in July 2005 and published its report on 7 December 2006.
The OFT‘s report found that raw information is not as easily available as it should be, licensing arrangements are restrictive, prices are not always linked to costs and Public Sector Information Holders (PSIHs) may be charging higher prices to competing businesses and giving them less attractive terms than their own value-added operations.
The report also found that much of the legislation and guidance, which aimed to ensure access to information is provided on an equal basis, lacked clarity and was inadequately monitored.
As a result the full benefits of public sector information are not being made. The OFT made around 22 recommendations to government. The government’s response (PDF, 77KB) was published in June 2007.
Government has progressed work in a number of areas to help address the OFT’s concerns. Some key developments include:
- the publication of the Trading Funds Assessment at Budget 2009 which will enable government to look more closely at public sector information held by trading funds
- Ordnance Survey’s publication of a new business strategy online (PSI PerSpectives) on 1 June 2009 which includes an improved pricing and licensing framework
- the introduction of an enhanced verification process - the Information Fair Trader Scheme on 1 April 2009.
In addition, The Power of Information (POI) task force, made a number of recommendations to advise and assist the government on delivering benefits to the public from new developments in digital media and the use of citizen and state-generated information in the UK.
The POI’s final report was published on 2 March 2009 and recommendations accepted by the government are set out in the Digital Engagement: Update on the Power of Information report published on 15 May 2009.
