The list of lessons learnt from the project casts a wider light on why the public sector so often seems to struggle with IT projects or with making data available, including:

There is a lack of ‘corporate’ awareness/understanding of open data issues, and this will inhibit take up of open, linked data publishing unless it is addressed
For many of the councils the project came into contact with, response to the initiative was by an individual, often the web manager/master working on their own initiative, rather than as a result of any corporate interest from their councils in open data.

But perhaps most damning is this:

There is a lack of even basic web skills at some councils
Worryingly there were councils where no-one had even basic web-authoring skills (i.e. a good understanding of HTML), being merely relegated to fill in forms in an (outsourced) content management system. In a world where the web is becoming the main method of communication with citizens and between bodies, this is not unlike having a finance department with no-one who understands the core rules of accountancy. Without those basic skills as a foundation there is no way a body can hope to produce linked data.

It may not be necessary for anyone in the council to make use of HTML skills, yet if no-one has them it becomes much harder to sensibly select, manage and judge contractors and suppliers. But it runs much wider than this. After all, why do so many council websites even now lack basics such as RSS feeds or have URLs that perform dreadfully in search engines? It’s because no-one involved in the commissioning, specifying and managing knows enough about the technical details to be able to spot the poor quality work or the sloppy corner cutting – or understand the many benefits that having RSS feeds or good search engine performance can bring.

In fairness to council staff, councillors are sometimes far from shinning lights themselves. Similar to attitudes towards numeracy, there is a far too widespread habit of seeing technological ignorance as acceptable even if the person in question is in a position where they should make or scrutinise decisions about technology.

Meanwhile, in happier news Francis Maude has kicked off a consultation over the next steps in opening up public data. The principles being set down look a good set.

A smart public sector decision maker needs to understand not only that that people now expect information to be available online but also that by putting it there it can spark a whole new set of ideas at virtually zero cost, writes Mark Pack

Where do you look for information? For years, government has been run by people for whom the instinctive answers involve books, ring binders and libraries. But we are seeing a new generation rise to seniority and power across all the political parties for whom the answer is the Google search box.

It’s a generation that is instinctively used to data being available on a computer, quickly and for free. Weather forecast? News from Iran? Last month’s inflation figures? Recommendations on book to get a child for their birthday? It’s all there, usually just a couple of clicks away from the Google search box.

With Gordon Brown’s previous pledge to serve no more than one full term, we are on the verge of a major shift in senior figures in government – regardless of the general election result. It will bring in those who are used to instinctively reaching for the Google search box – and who are also used to communicating in different ways.

We can see this from those MPs’ own use of the internet. Increasing numbers see blogs, Facebook, Twitter and the like as the natural medium for communicating with their public audiences – not as a replacement for leaflets or speeches, but as an essential compliment.

It will soon seem as odd to a minister for their department not to be using social media well as it would be not to have a properly functioning press office.

Attitudes towards data are also changing: no longer should data be locked away in secret, but instead should be available online, reliably and regularly, with others given the freedom to reuse and repurpose as they wish. It’s the modern equivalent of the press release. Press offices are used to the idea of preparing and issuing information – where the real value then comes from others (the media) taking that information, modifying it, adapting it and spreading it.

It’s nice to also have a press release on your own website, but that is only a tiny part of the benefit and the same increasingly to data and online services. The value is increasingly in freeing up data and services for others to use.

David Cameron’s Conservatives have, perhaps rather more so than the government, grasped these changes – and hence their chatter about “Google government”, chatter which is more consistent and more senior than that from Labour ranks. Most notably, compare the different forays into YouTube of David Cameron and Gordon Brown (though an honourable mention should be given to Ming Campbell to beating them both there – it’s not just an issue of age or generation).

For all the positive talk, though, it is far from clear how this would play out in public expenditure issues under a Conservative government.

The public sector is currently spending increasing amounts of money on data work, online advertising, social media and the like. For some, these funds are an add on – an extra to do after all the other basics are covered. For others, these funds are the core of what needs doing. Depending on your view these funds should either be the first or the last to be cut.

Which way would a Cameron government jump? From the words of those such as George Osborne, you might think it would go for switching to more digital expenditure, whilst cutting other funds. But other Conservatives, such as Francis Maude, have not been afraid to put the boot in to the existing Government’s digital expenditure – suggesting those would be in the front line of cuts.

Whichever way the senior decision makers jump, this debate will also be played out regularly all through the public sector as different budget holders try to make their books balance.

So what would a smart public sector decision maker be planning? First, understand that people will increasingly expect your data to be available online – and that means as data they can manipulate and analyse, not as a 34 page pdf document. Second, making data available online often sparks new ideas and gets the data used by other people without you having to pay them anything. Third, the public increasingly look to social media to find information, so if you have information to get to them – that is where it has to be.

Expecting people to come to your website is a bit like expecting people to turn up to your office to get information. Yes, some people will do that – but to get information out there, you have to go to where they are rather than expect them all to come to you. That is the world that Cameron and his generation have grown up with on the internet. If it isn’t the world you inhabit, will they think you are doing a good job?

But listen to his language:

I want to start by saying sorry … sorry for the actions of some Conservative MPs…

[The] principle of thrift should apply to Conservative MPs too. So from now on I want them to claim what is reasonable to do their job…

Members of my Shadow Cabinet, including Michael Gove, Oliver Letwin and Andrew Lansley, have agreed to pay back money… Other members of the Shadow Cabinet, like Francis Maude and Chris Grayling, will not in future claim any money for their second homes…

Conservative MPs who have excessive expense claims will have to go in front of [a new] scrutiny panel…

Only rent, mortgage interest, overnight bills, utility bills and council tax bills can be claimed [in future by Conservative MPs]

All his wording is about what other people have done: “them”, “Conservative MPs” and a list of names in which he doesn’t include himself. But his message rather falters if you remember … that he’s already admitted he should not have claimed for a home repair bill (a category, note, which he says he is going to ban) and that he’s repaying it.

Not one word from David Cameron directly admitting he’s done the very thing he is criticising in others. Not even when he talks about the importance of taking personal responsibility does he admit to his own behaviour. Not even when he says he’s going to ban the very sort of claim that he’s made himself.

Now imagine if Gordon Brown behaved the same way what the reaction of many Conservatives would be…

Fair enough. But you’d have thought he would give out an email address on the contact page for his own website. Otherwise someone unkind person might mutter things about double standards etc, especially as his website is paid for by taxpayers’ money too. But you’d have thought wrong. (Though you can find his email address if you look really, really, really hard. And download a pdf. And go to the very last page.)