The New Zealand Government is adopting the OECD "Recommendations for Enhanced Access to and Reuse of Public Sector Information" and incorporating this into its own review of the "Policy Framework for Government-Held Information". This reflects the global movement promoting Open Access - to data, information and knowledge.
Policies are one thing, putting them into practice is another. The Ministry for the Environment is implementing this policy after investigating the various issues and consequences of opening access to its resources. These include the use of Creative Commons licenses, management of risk, identification of intellectual property, research procurement practices, addressing existing licensing and getting legal staff and management to buy-in to the process.
This paper provides a case study for spatial practitioners - those within Government who are considering adopting an open access policy, and those practitioners who deal with Government agencies with open access policies.