The Advisory Board on Open government and Information Management (ACOI) is an independent advisory body to the government, established in 2022 to promote the application of the Open Government Act, the Woo. The tasks that come with it are determined by this law.
Our mission
The ACOI is committed to a democracy in which every citizen can actively participate and can follow what the government is doing. This means that everyone must have as much access as possible to the information that the government has. The mission of the board is to be a driving force behind this openness.
Our core tasks
Advice
ACOI advises the government and parliament on policy and legislation regarding the openness and proper management of government information. This advice is relevant for the central government, municipalities, provinces and water boards. ACOI conducts independent research itself or commissions research in preparation for its advice and working methods.
Mediation
ACOI has an 'ombudsman' function specifically for journalists, researchers and social organisations that have a ‘professional interest’ in the disclosure of government information. If they have a complaint about the handling of their Woo request, ACOI can mediate between them and the relevant government organisation.
Knowledge sharing
ACOI promotes the knowledge that is needed to realise the transition to an open administrative culture. Knowledge sharing takes place in various forms, such as meetings, learning circles and targeted training courses. ACOI also draws up working methods ('guidelines') that help government organisations implement the Woo. The main target groups are civil servants who implement the Woo, journalists, researchers and other citizens as potential users of the Woo.
Our working method
In carrying out its tasks, the ACOI works independently, expertly and in open connection with society. The board therefore seeks information from all parties involved: administrators and civil servants, journalists and scientists, social organisations, companies and citizens.
Our field of work
Publicity and information management
Our most important subject is the publicity of government information for society. Which documents and data does the government actively publish online and does this meet the needs of various groups? How does the government handle requests for disclosure of documents? What is going well and what could be improved? The ACOI deals with these types of questions. And this not only concerns current information from, for example, ministries and municipalities, but also older information from the archive services in our country.
The second subject for the ACOI is the information management of the government. It is important to store documents and data properly and also to clean them up regularly. So that administrators and civil servants can do their work properly and answer questions from society. Moreover, the better the information management, the easier it is to make information (actively or on request) public for everyone.
Relevant legislation
Of course, the ACOI takes relevant legislation into account. The Open Government Act and the Archives Act are the two most important laws in the field of work. In addition, the board pays attention to European privacy legislation (the General Data Protection Regulation), the Government Information Re-use Act, the Digital Government Act, and the General Administrative Law Act.
Links
Contact
Send an email to info@acoi.nl or complete the contact form and we will get in touch with you as soon as possible.
We can be reached by phone at +31 (0)70-4266643 between 9:00 and 17:00 Monday to Thursday.
Do you have general questions about the Open Government Act? You can phone 1400 if you have questions about your application for information.