Opening up information for better public value

The purpose of this paper is to provide an introduction to a number of initiatives in train at European and international level to promote the value of public investments in digital information from different perspective.

Major developments in three key areas are described and assessed in terms of their potential impact on libraries in the digital era.

Significant progress is being made in opening up digital information for wider use but major barriers and constraints remain to be addressed.

The paper brings together inter‐related perspectives, e.g. those of public and private sector users, which are not always seen as part of the same picture. It is of interest to a wide range of stakeholders in the information society and the knowledge economy.