The digital shift is driving public interest in the value of information and how it is governed.

Individuals are more aware of the value and risks around their personal information. They want more control, or at least more transparency around the governance of this information.

Organisations across all sectors want to extract greater value from the information they hold and are considering novel ways to use it, but custodians can be reluctant to share when it’s not clear how the information will be used and managed.

Our trust in people, organisations and systems is fundamental to the way things operate in the digital world. And trust between different stakeholders is also essential for openness.

Information governance can build trust and confidence, overcoming barriers to openness and driving cultural change.

This report highlights interim findings from Objective’s open governance research program.

The program seeks to identify a catalyst for openness, to help organisations become ‘open by design’.

The research takes a human-centred approach, to consider the way people think and
feel about openness and how this impacts their behaviour.

Openness is often viewed as costly, risky and difficult. How could we shift perceptions of openness; to be seen as valuable and easy to do?

Openness involves interactions among several types of stakeholders with distinct goals and challenges. What if we could measure and demonstrate the benefits of openness at a more granular level, in terms that are meaningful to different personas?

Rather than being an obligation, openness should deliver tangible value for organisations, in addition to broader social and economic benefits.

This report highlights the intended outcomes of open governance and the levers for
change in the current digital context