Lifelong learning is the "ongoing, voluntary, and self-motivated" pursuit of learning for either personal or professional reasons.
Lifelong learning is important for an individual's competitiveness and employability, but also enhances social inclusion, active citizenship, and personal development.
Professions typically recognize the importance of developing
practitioners becoming lifelong learners. Many licensed professions
mandate that their members continue learning to maintain a license.
In
some contexts, the term "lifelong learning" evolved from the term
"life-long learners", created by Leslie Watkins and used by Clint
Taylor, professor at CSULA and Superintendent
for the Temple City Unified School District, in the district's mission
statement in 1993, the term recognizes that learning is not confined to
childhood or the classroom but takes place throughout life and in a
range of situations.
In other contexts, the term "lifelong learning" evolved organically. The first lifelong learning institute began at The New School for Social Research (now The New School)
in 1962 as an experiment in "learning in retirement". Later, after
similar groups formed across the United States, many chose the name
"lifelong learning institute" to be inclusive of nonretired persons in
the same age range.
Traditional colleges and universities
are beginning to recognize the value of lifelong learning outside of
the credit and degree attainment model. Lifelong learners, including
persons with academic or professional credentials, tend to find
higher-paying occupations, leaving monetary, cultural, and
entrepreneurial impressions on communities, according to educator
Cassandra B. Whyte.
Libraries in the United States
Partners for Lifelong Learning, Public Libraries and Adult Education
In the United States, librarians have understood lifelong learning as
an essential service of libraries since the early part of the 20th
century. In 1924, William S. Learned, wrote of the potential of the
American public library as an agency for adult education in The American Public Library and the Diffusion of Knowledge. Two decades later, in 1942, the American Library Association Adult Education Board established a new responsibility to the adult reader.
The Adult Education Act of 1966 linked literacy education and adult basic education programs. This occurred at the same time that the Library Services and Construction Act was being passed. Twenty-five years after the U.S. Adult Education Act was passed, the U.S. Office of Education published Partners for Lifelong Learning, Public Libraries and Adult Education.
The Institute of Museum and Library Services
(IMLS) was established in 1996 and incorporated responsibilities from
the U.S. Office of Education's library programs, including those focused
on lifelong learning. "Championing Lifelong Learning" through libraries
and museums is the first goal listed in the organization's strategic
plan for 2022-2026.
Definition
Lifelong
learning has been defined as "all learning activity undertaken
throughout life, with the aim of improving knowledge, skills and
competences within a personal, civic, social and/or employment-related
perspective".
It is often considered learning that occurs after the formal education
years of childhood and into adulthood. It is sought out naturally
through life experiences as the learner seeks to gain knowledge for
professional or personal reasons. These natural experiences can come
about on purpose or accidentally.
Lifelong learning has been described as a process that includes people learning in different contexts.
These environments do not only include schools but also homes,
workplaces, and locations where people pursue leisure activities.
However, while the learning process can be applied to learners of all
ages, there is a focus on adults who are returning to organized
learning. There are programs based on its framework that address the different needs of learners, such as United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal 4 and the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning, which caters to the needs of the disadvantaged and marginalized learners.
Lifelong learning is distinguished from the concept of continuing education in the sense that it has a broader scope. Unlike the latter, which is oriented towards adult education
developed for the needs of schools and industries, this type of
learning is concerned with the development of human potential in
individuals generally.
Pedagogy
Lifelong
learning focuses on holistic education and it has two dimensions,
namely, lifelong and broad options for learning. These indicate learning
that integrates traditional education proposals and modern learning
opportunities. It also entails an emphasis on encouraging people to learn how to learn and to select content, process, and methodologies that pursue autodidacticism.
Some authors highlight that lifelong learning is founded on a different
conceptualization of knowledge and its acquisition. It is explained not
only as the possession of discrete pieces of information or factual
knowledge but also as a generalized scheme of making sense of new
events, including the use of tactics in order to effectively deal with
them.
Reflective learning and critical thinking can help a learner to
become more self-reliant through learning how to learn, thus making them
better able to direct, manage, and control their own learning process.
Sipe studied experimentally "open" teachers and found that they valued
self-directed learning, collaboration, reflection, and challenge; risk
taking in their learning was seen as an opportunity, not a threat.
Dunlap and Grabinger say that for higher education students to be
lifelong learners, they must develop a capacity for self-direction,
metacognition awareness, and a disposition toward learning.
The Delors Report
proposed an integrated vision of education based on two key paradigms:
lifelong learning and the four pillars of learning. It argued that
formal education tends to emphasize the acquisition of knowledge to the
detriment of other types of learning essential to sustaining human
development, stressing the need to think of learning over the lifespan,
and to address how everyone can develop relevant skills, knowledge and
attitudes for work, citizenship and personal fulfillment. The four pillars of learning are:
Learning to know
Learning to do
Learning to be
Learning to live together
The four pillars of learning were envisaged against the backdrop of
the notion of 'lifelong learning', itself an adaptation of the concept
of 'lifelong education' as initially conceptualized in the 1972 Faure
publication Learning to Be.
Educational technology
The emergence of internet technologies has great potential to support lifelong learning endeavors, allowing for informal day-to-day learning.
Application
In India and elsewhere, the "University of the Third Age"
(U3A) is an almost spontaneous movement comprising autonomous learning
groups accessing the expertise of their own members in the pursuit of
knowledge and shared experience.
In Sweden, the concept of study circles,
an idea launched almost a century ago, still represents a large portion
of the adult education provision. The concept has since spread, and for
instance, is a common practice in Finland as well.
Formal administrative units devoted to lifelong learning exist in a number of universities. For example, the 'Academy of Lifelong Learning' is an administrative unit at the University of Delaware.
Another example is the Jagiellonian University Extension (Wszechnica
Uniwersytetu Jagiellonskiego), which is one of the most comprehensive
Polish centers for lifelong learning (open learning, organizational
learning, community learning).
In recent years, 'lifelong learning' has been adopted in the UK
as an umbrella term for post-compulsory education that falls outside of
the UK higher education system—further education, community education, work-based learning and similar voluntary, public sector and commercial settings.
In Canada, the federal government's Lifelong Learning Plan allows Canadian residents to withdraw funds from their Registered Retirement Savings Plan
to help pay for lifelong learning, but the funds can only be used for
formal learning programs at designated educational institutions.
Priorities for lifelong and lifewide learning
have different priorities in different countries, some placing more
emphasis on economic development and some on social development. For
example, the policies of China, Republic of Korea, Singapore and Malaysia promote lifelong learning in a human resource development
perspective. The governments of these countries have done much to
foster training and development whilst encouraging entrepreneurship.
Aging
In a 2012 New York Times article, Arthur Toga, a professor of neurology and director of the laboratory of neuroimaging at the University of California, Los Angeles, stated that "Exercising the brain may preserve it, forestalling mental decline." Some research has shown that people with higher cognitive reserves, attained through lifelong learning, were better able to avoid the cognitive decline that often accompanies age-related neurodegenerative diseases.
Even when subjects had dementia, some studies show that they were able
to persist in a normal mental state for a longer period than subjects
who were not involved in some type of lifelong learning.
Studies so far have lacked large, randomized controlled trials.
In "Education and Alzheimer's Disease: A Review of Recent International
Epidemiological Studies" published in 1997 in the journal Aging and Mental Health,
C.J. Gilleard, finds fault with other studies linking education to
cognitive decline. Among other factors, he suggests that variations in
lifestyles could be responsible for an increase in vascular dementia, as blue-collar type workers may be less inclined to work in industries that provide mentally challenging situations.
eHealth describes healthcare services which are supported by digital processes, communication or technology such as electronic prescribing, Telehealth, or Electronic Health Records (EHRs). The use of electronic processes in healthcare dated back to at least the 1990s.
Usage of the term varies as it covers not just "Internet medicine" as
it was conceived during that time, but also "virtually everything
related to computers and medicine". A study in 2005 found 51 unique definitions. Some argue that it is interchangeable with health informatics with a broad definition covering electronic/digital processes in health while others use it in the narrower sense of healthcare practice using the Internet. It can also include health applications and links on mobile phones, referred to as mHealth or m-Health.
Key components of eHealth include electronic health records (EHRs),
telemedicine, health information exchange, mobile health applications,
wearable devices, and online health information. These technologies
enable healthcare providers, patients, and other stakeholders to access,
manage, and exchange health information more effectively, leading to
improved communication, decision-making, and overall healthcare
outcomes.
Types
The
term can encompass a range of services or systems that are at the edge
of medicine/healthcare and information technology, including:
Electronic health record: enabling the communication of patient data between different healthcare professionals (GPs, specialists etc.);
ePrescribing:
access to prescribing options, printing prescriptions to patients and
sometimes electronic transmission of prescriptions from doctors to
pharmacists
Clinical decision support system:
providing information electronically about protocols and standards for
healthcare professionals to use in diagnosing and treating patients
Telemedicine:
physical and psychological diagnosis and treatments at a distance,
including telemonitoring of patients functions and videoconferencing
Telerehabilitation: providing rehabilitation services over a distance through telecommunications.
Telesurgery: use robots and wireless communication to perform surgery remotely.
Teledentistry: exchange clinical information and images over a distance.
Consumer health informatics: use of electronic resources on medical topics by healthy individuals or patients;
Health knowledge management: e.g.
in an overview of latest medical journals, best practice guidelines or
epidemiological tracking (examples include physician resources such as Medscape and MDLinx);
Virtual healthcare teams: consisting of healthcare professionals who
collaborate and share information on patients through digital equipment
(for transmural care)
mHealth or m-Health: includes the use of mobile devices in collecting aggregate and patient-level health data,
providing healthcare information to practitioners, researchers, and
patients, real-time monitoring of patient vitals, and direct provision
of care (via mobile telemedicine);
Medical research using grids: powerful computing and data management capabilities to handle large amounts of heterogeneous data.
Health informatics / healthcare information systems:
also often refer to software solutions for appointment scheduling,
patient data management, work schedule management and other
administrative tasks surrounding health. There can be integrated data
collection platforms for devices and standards and require extended
research.
Internet Based Sources for Public Health Surveillance (Infoveillance).
Contested Definition
Several
authors have noted the variable usage in the term; from being specific
to the use of the Internet in healthcare to being generally around any
use of computers in healthcare.
Various authors have considered the evolution of the term and its usage
and how this maps to changes in health informatics and healthcare
generally. Oh et al.,
in a 2005 systematic review of the term's usage, offered the definition
of eHealth as a set of technological themes in health today, more
specifically based on commerce, activities, stakeholders, outcomes,
locations, or perspectives.
One thing that all sources seem to agree on is that e-health
initiatives do not originate with the patient, though the patient may be
a member of a patient organization that seeks to do this, as in the e-Patient movement.
eHealth literacy
eHealth
literacy is defined as "the ability to seek, find, understand and
appraise health information from electronic sources and apply knowledge
gained to addressing or solving a health problem."
According to this definition, eHealth literacy encompasses six types of
literacy: traditional (literacy and numeracy), information, media,
health, computer, and scientific. Of these, media and computer
literacies are unique to the Internet context, with eHealth media
literacy being the awareness of media bias or perspective, the ability
to discern both explicit and implicit meaning from media messages, and
to derive meaning from media messages. The literature includes other
definitions of perceived media capability or efficacy, but these were
not specific to health information on the Internet.
Having the composite skills of eHealth literacy allows health consumers
to achieve positive outcomes from using the Internet for health
purposes. eHealth literacy has the potential to both protect consumers
from harm and empower them to fully participate in informed
health-related decision making. People with high levels of eHealth
literacy are also more aware of the risk of encountering unreliable
information on the Internet
On the other hand, the extension of digital resources to the health
domain in the form of eHealth literacy can also create new gaps between
health consumers. eHealth literacy hinges not on the mere access to technology, but rather on the skill to apply the accessed knowledge.
The efficiency of eHealth also heavily relies on the efficiency and
ease of use regarding technology being used by the patient. A high
understanding of technology will not overcome the obstacles of
overcomplicated technology being used by patients that are physically
and mentally hindered.
The population of elderly people surpassed the number of children
for the first time in history in 2018. A more multi-faceted approach is
necessary for this age group, because they are more susceptible to
chronic disease, contraindications of medication, and other age-related
setbacks like forgetfulness. Ehealth offers services that can be very
helpful for all of these scenarios, making an elderly patient's quality
of life substantially better with proper use.
Data exchange
One
of the factors blocking the use of e-health tools from widespread
acceptance is the concern about privacy issues regarding patient
records, most specifically the EPR (Electronic patient record).
This main concern has to do with the confidentiality of the data. There
is also concern about non-confidential data. Each medical practice has
its own jargon and diagnostic tools, so to standardize the exchange of
information, various coding schemes may be used in combination with
international medical standards. Systems that deal with these transfers
are often referred to as Health Information Exchange (HIE). Of the forms
of e-health already mentioned, there are roughly two types; front-end
data exchange and back-end exchange.
Front-end exchange typically involves the patient, while back-end
exchange does not. A common example of a rather simple front-end
exchange is a patient sending a photo taken by mobile phone of a healing
wound and sending it via email to the family doctor for control. Such
an action may avoid the cost of an expensive visit to the hospital.
A common example of a back-end exchange is when a patient on
vacation visits a doctor who then may request access to the patient's
health records, such as medicine prescriptions, x-ray photographs, or
blood test results. Such an action may reveal allergies or other prior
conditions that are relevant to the visit.
Thesaurus
Successful e-health initiatives such as e-Diabetes
have shown that for data exchange to be facilitated either at the
front-end or the back-end, a common thesaurus is needed for terms of
reference.Various medical practices in chronic patient care (such as for diabetic
patients) already have a well defined set of terms and actions, which
makes standard communication exchange easier, whether the exchange is
initiated by the patient or the caregiver.
In general, explanatory diagnostic information (such as the standard ICD-10)
may be exchanged insecurely, and private information (such as personal
information from the patient) must be secured. E-health manages both
flows of information, while ensuring the quality of the data exchange.
Early adopters
Patients
living with long term conditions (also called chronic conditions) over
time often acquire a high level of knowledge about the processes
involved in their own care, and often develop a routine in coping with
their condition. For these types of routine patients, front-end e-health
solutions tend to be relatively easy to implement.
E-mental health is frequently used to refer to internet based interventions and support for mental health conditions.
However, it can also refer to the use of information and communication
technologies that also includes the use of social media, landline and
mobile phones.
E-mental health services can include information; peer support
services, computer and internet based programs, virtual applications and
games as well as real time interaction with trained clinicians. Programs can also be delivered using telephones and interactive voice response (IVR).
Mental disorders includes a range of conditions such as alcohol and drug use disorders, mood disorders such as depression, dementia and Alzheimer's disease, delusional disorders such as schizophrenia and anxiety disorders. The majority of e-mental health interventions have focused on the treatment of depression and anxiety. There are also E-mental health programs available for other interventions such as smoking cessation, gambling, and post-disaster mental health.
Advantages and disadvantages
E-mental health has a number of advantages such as being low cost, easily accessible and providing anonymity to users.
However, there are also a number of disadvantages such as concerns
regarding treatment credibility, user privacy and confidentiality.
Online security involves the implementation of appropriate safeguards
to protect user privacy and confidentiality. This includes appropriate
collection and handling of user data, the protection of data from
unauthorized access and modification and the safe storage of data.
Technical difficulties are another potential disadvantage. With almost
all forms of technology, there will be unintended difficulties or
malfunctions, which doesn't exclude tablets, computers, and wireless
medical devices. Ehealth is also very dependent on the patient having
functional Wi-Fi, which can be an issue that cannot be fixed without an
expert.
E-mental health has been gaining momentum in the academic research as well as practical arenas
in a wide variety of disciplines such as psychology, clinical social
work, family and marriage therapy, and mental health counseling.
Testifying to this momentum, the E-Mental Health movement has its own
international organization, the International Society for Mental Health
Online. However, e-Mental health implementation into clinical practice and healthcare systems remains limited and fragmented.
Programs
There are at least five programs currently available to treat anxiety and depression. Several programs have been identified by the UK National Institute for Health and Care Excellence as cost effective for use in primary care. These include Fearfighter, a text based cognitive behavioral therapy program to treat people with phobias, and Beating the Blues,
an interactive text, cartoon and video CBT program for anxiety and
depression. Two programs have been supported for use in primary care by
the Australian Government. The first is Anxiety Online, a text based program for the anxiety, depressive and eating disorders, and the second is THIS WAY UP, a set of interactive text, cartoon and video programs for the anxiety and depressive disorders. Another is iFightDepression
a multilingual, free to use, web-based tool for self-management of less
severe forms of depression, for use under guidance of a GP or
psychotherapist.
There are a number of online programs relating to smoking cessation. QuitCoach
is a personalised quit plan based on the users response to questions
regarding giving up smoking and tailored individually each time the user
logs into the site. Freedom From Smoking
takes users through lessons that are grouped into modules that provide
information and assignments to complete. The modules guide participants
through steps such as preparing to quit smoking, stopping smoking and
preventing relapse.
Other internet programs have been developed specifically as part
of research into treatment for specific disorders. For example, an
online self-directed therapy for problem gambling was developed to specifically test this as a method of treatment.
All participants were given access to a website. The treatment group
was provided with behavioural and cognitive strategies to reduce or quit
gambling. This was presented in the form of a workbook which encouraged
participants to self-monitor their gambling by maintaining an online
log of gambling and gambling urges. Participants could also use a
smartphone application to collect self-monitoring information. Finally
participants could also choose to receive motivational email or text
reminders of their progress and goals.
An internet based intervention was also developed for use after Hurricane Ike in 2009.
During this study, 1,249 disaster-affected adults were randomly
recruited to take part in the intervention. Participants were given a
structured interview then invited to access the web intervention using a
unique password. Access to the website was provided for a four-month
period. As participants accessed the site they were randomly assigned to
either the intervention. those assigned to the intervention were
provided with modules consisting of information regarding effective
coping strategies to manage mental health and health risk behaviour.
Cybermedicine is already being used in small projects where images are transmitted from a primary care setting to a medical specialist,
who comments on the case and suggests which intervention might benefit
the patient. A field that lends itself to this approach is dermatology, where images of an eruption are communicated to a hospital specialist who determines if referral is necessary.
The field has also expanded to include online "ask the doctor"
services that allow patients direct, paid access to consultations (with
varying degrees of depth) with medical professionals (examples include Bundoo.com, Teladoc, and Ask The Doctor).
A Cyber Doctor, known in the UK as a Cyber Physician, is a medical professional who does consultation
via the internet, treating virtual patients, who may never meet face to
face. This is a new area of medicine which has been utilized by the
armed forces and teaching hospitals offering online
consultation to patients before making their decision to travel for
unique medical treatment only offered at a particular medical facility.
Self-monitoring healthcare devices
Self-monitoring
is the use of sensors or tools which are readily available to the
general public to track and record personal data. The sensors are
usually wearable devices and the tools are digitally available through
mobile device applications. Self-monitoring devices were created for the
purpose of allowing personal data to be instantly available to the
individual to be analyzed. As of now, fitness and health monitoring are
the most popular applications for self-monitoring devices.
The biggest benefit to self-monitoring devices is the elimination of
the necessity for third party hospitals to run tests, which are both
expensive and lengthy. These devices are an important advancement in the
field of personal health management.
Nike FuelBand
Self-monitoring healthcare devices exist in many forms. An example is the Nike+ FuelBand, which is a modified version of the original pedometer.
This device is wearable on the wrist and allows one to set a personal
goal for a daily energy burn. It records the calories burned and the
number of steps taken for each day while simultaneously functioning as a
watch. To add to the ease of the user interface, it includes both
numeric and visual indicators of whether or not the individual has
achieved his or her daily goal. Finally, it is also synced to an iPhone app which allows for tracking and sharing of personal record and achievements.
Other monitoring devices have more medical relevance. A well-known device of this type is the blood glucose monitor.
The use of this device is restricted to diabetic patients and allows
users to measure the blood glucose levels in their body. It is extremely
quantitative and the results are available instantaneously. However, this device is not as independent of a self-monitoring device as the Nike+ Fuelband because it requires some patient education
before use. One needs to be able to make connections between the levels
of glucose and the effect of diet and exercise. In addition, the users
must also understand how the treatment should be adjusted based on the
results. In other words, the results are not just static measurements.
The demand for self-monitoring health devices is skyrocketing, as
wireless health technologies have become especially popular in the last
few years. In fact, it is expected that by 2016, self-monitoring health
devices will account for 80% of wireless medical devices.
The key selling point for these devices is the mobility of information
for consumers. The accessibility of mobile devices such as smartphones
and tablets has increased significantly within the past decade. This has
made it easier for users to access real-time information in a number of
peripheral devices.
There are still many future improvements for self-monitoring
healthcare devices. Although most of these wearable devices have been
excellent at providing direct data to the individual user, the biggest
task which remains at hand is how to effectively use this data. Although
the blood glucose monitor allows the user to take action based on the
results, measurements such as the pulse rate, EKG signals, and calories
do not necessarily serve to actively guide an individual's personal
healthcare management. Consumers are interested in qualitative feedback
in addition to the quantitative measurements recorded by the devices.
eHealth During COVID-19
Online healthcare appointment via webcam
The pandemic that impacted the entire world made it extremely
difficult for vast amounts of people to receive adequate healthcare in
person. Elderly citizens and people with chronic health conditions were
at more risk than the average healthy human, therefore they were more
adversely affected than most. The switch from in-person to telehealth
appointments and interventions was necessary to reduce the risks of
spreading and/or contracting the disease.
The forced use of telehealth during the pandemic highlighted its
strengths and weaknesses, which accelerated the progression of this
medium. The user feedback on eHealth during the COVID-19 pandemic
was very positive, and consequently many patients and healthcare
providers reported that they will continue to use this method of
healthcare following the pandemic.
In developing countries
eHealth
in general, and telemedicine in particular, is a vital resource to
remote regions of emerging and developing countries but is often
difficult to establish because of the lack of communications
infrastructure. For example, in Benin, hospitals often can become inaccessible due to flooding during the rainy season
and across Africa, the low population density, along with severe
weather conditions and the difficult financial situation in many African
states, has meant that the majority of the African people are badly
disadvantaged in medical care. Telemedicine in Nepal is becoming popular tool to improve health care delivery in order to combat difficult landscape.
In many regions there is not only a significant lack of facilities and
trained health professionals, but also no access to eHealth because
there is also no internet access in remote villages, or even a reliable
electricity supply.
Approximately 13 percent of people who live in Kenya have health
insurance. A majority of the total health expenditure in sub-Saharan
Africa was paid out-of-pocket, which forces millions into poverty
yearly. A Kenyan service by the name of M-PESA
may offer a solution to this problem. This mobile platform provides
full transparency of patients needs and allows access to medical
products and the ability to efficiently manage their funding.
Internet connectivity, and the benefits of eHealth, can be brought to these regions using satellite broadband
technology, and satellite is often the only solution where terrestrial
access may be limited, or poor quality, and one that can provide a fast
connection over a vast coverage area.
Evaluation
While
eHealth has become an indispensable facet of healthcare in the past 5
years, there are still barriers preventing it from reaching its full
potential. Knowledge of the socio-economic performance of eHealth is
limited, and findings from evaluations are often challenging to transfer
to other settings. Socio-economic evaluations of some narrow types of
mHealth can rely on health economic methodologies, but larger scale
eHealth may have too many variables, and tortuous, intangible cause and
effect links may need a wider approach.
There are no international guidelines for the usage of eHealth due to
many variables such as ignorance on the matter, infrastructure issues,
quality of healthcare professionals and lack of healthcare plans. It
should also be stated that the effectiveness of eHealth is also
dependent on the patient's condition. Some researchers believe that
online healthcare may be most efficient as a supplement to in-person
care.
Space and telescopes have been a quintessential symbol for curiosity.
Curiosity (from Latin cūriōsitās, from cūriōsus "careful, diligent, curious", akin to cura "care") is a quality related to inquisitive thinking, such as exploration, investigation, and learning, evident in humans and other animals. Curiosity helps human development, from which derives the process of learning and desire to acquire knowledge and skill.
The term curiosity can also denote the behavior, characteristic, or emotion of being curious, in regard to the desire to gain knowledge or information. Curiosity as a behavior and emotion is the driving force behind human development, such as progress in science, language, and industry.
Curiosity can be considered to be an evolutionaryadaptation based on an organism's ability to learn. Certain curious animals (namely, corvids, octopuses, dolphins, elephants, rats, etc.) will pursue information in order to adapt to their surrounding and learn how things work. This behavior is termed neophilia, the love of new things. For animals, a fear of the unknown or the new, neophobia, is much more common, especially later in life.
Causes
Children peer over shoulders to see what their friends are reading.
Many species display curiosity including apes, cats, and rodents. It is common in human beings at all ages from infancy through adulthood. Research has shown that curiosity is not a fixed attribute amongst humans but rather can be nurtured and developed.
Early definitions of curiosity call it a motivated desire for information. This motivational desire has been said to stem from a passion or an appetite for knowledge, information, and understanding.
Traditional ideas of curiosity have expanded to consider the difference between perceptual curiosity, as the innate exploratory behavior that is present in all animals, and epistemic curiosity, as the desire for knowledge that is specifically attributed to humans.
Daniel Berlyne
recognized three classes of variables playing a role in evoking
curiosity: psychophysical variables, ecological variables, and collative
variables. Psychophysical variables correspond to physical intensity,
ecological variables to motivational significance and task relevance.
Collative variables involve a comparison between different stimuli or
features, which may be actually perceived or which may be recalled from
memory. Berlyne mentioned four collative variables: novelty, complexity, uncertainty,
and conflict (though he suggested that all collative variables probably
involve conflict). Additionally, he considered three variables
supplementary to novelty: change, surprisingness, and incongruity.
Finally, curiosity may not only be aroused by the perception of some
stimulus associated with the aforementioned variables ("specific
exploration"), but also by a lack of stimulation, out of "boredom" ("diversive exploration").
Curiosity-driven behavior
Curiosity-driven
behavior is often defined as behavior through which knowledge is gained
– a form of exploratory behavior. It therefore encompasses all
behaviors that provide access to or increase sensory information.
Berlyne divided curiosity-driven behavior into three categories: orienting responses, locomotor exploration, and investigatory responses or investigatory manipulation. Previously, Berlyne
suggested that curiosity also includes verbal activities, such as
asking questions, and symbolic activities, consisting of internally
fueled mental processes such as thinking ("epistemic exploration").
Theories
Like
other desires and need-states that take on an appetitive quality (e.g.
food/hunger), curiosity is linked with exploratory behavior and
experiences of reward. Curiosity can be described in terms of positive
emotions and acquiring knowledge; when one's curiosity has been aroused
it is considered inherently rewarding and pleasurable. Discovering new
information may also be rewarding because it can help reduce undesirable
states of uncertainty rather than stimulating interest. Theories have
arisen in attempts to further understand this need to rectify states of
uncertainty and the desire to participate in pleasurable experiences of
exploratory behaviors.
Curiosity-drive theory
Curiosity-drive theory posits undesirable experiences of "uncertainty" and "ambiguity".
The reduction of these unpleasant feelings is rewarding. This theory
suggests that people desire coherence and understanding in their thought
processes. When this coherence is disrupted by something that is
unfamiliar, uncertain, or ambiguous, an individual's curiosity-drive
causes them to collect information and knowledge of the unfamiliar to
restore coherent thought processes. This theory suggests that curiosity
is developed out of the desire to make sense of unfamiliar aspects of
one's environment through exploratory behaviors. Once understanding of
the unfamiliar has been achieved and coherence has been restored, these
behaviors and desires subside.
Derivations of curiosity-drive theory differ on whether curiosity
is a primary or secondary drive and if this curiosity-drive originates
due to one's need to make sense of and regulate one's environment or if
it is caused by an external stimulus. Causes can range from basic needs that need to be satisfied (e.g. hunger, thirst) to needs in fear-induced situations.
Each of these derived theories state that whether the need is primary
or secondary, curiosity develops from experiences that create a
sensation of uncertainty or perceived unpleasantness. Curiosity then
acts to dispel this uncertainty. By exhibiting curious and exploratory
behavior, one is able to gain knowledge of the unfamiliar and thus
reduce the state of uncertainty or unpleasantness. This theory, however,
does not address the idea that curiosity can often be displayed even in
the absence of new or unfamiliar situations.
This type of exploratory behavior, too, is common in many species. A
human toddler, if bored in his current situation devoid of arousing
stimuli, will walk about until he finds something interesting. The
observation of curiosity even in the absence of novel stimuli pinpoints
one of the major shortcomings in the curiosity-drive model.
Optimal-arousal theory
Optimal-arousal
theory developed out of the need to explain this desire to seek out
opportunities to engage in exploratory behaviors without the presence of
uncertain or ambiguous situations. Optimal-arousal suggests that one
can be motivated to maintain a pleasurable sense of arousal through such
exploratory behaviors.
When a stimulus is encountered that is associated with
complexity, uncertainty, conflict, or novelty, this increases arousal
above the optimal point, and exploratory behavior is employed to learn
about that stimulus and thereby reduce arousal again. In contrast, if
the environment is boring and lacks excitement, arousal is reduced below
the optimal point and exploratory behavior is employed to increase
information input and stimulation, and thereby increasing arousal again.
This theory addresses both curiosity elicited by uncertain or
unfamiliar situations and curiosity elicited in the absence of such
situations.
Cognitive-consistency theory
Cognitive-consistency
theories assume that "when two or more simultaneously active cognitive
structures are logically inconsistent, arousal is increased, which
activates processes with the expected consequence of increasing
consistency and decreasing arousal."
Similar to optimal-arousal theory, cognitive-consistency theory
suggests that there is a tendency to maintain arousal at a preferred, or
expected, level, but it also explicitly links the amount of arousal to
the amount of experienced inconsistency between an expected situation
and the actually perceived situation. When this inconsistency is small,
exploratory behavior triggered by curiosity is employed to gather
information with which expectancy can be updated through learning to
match perception, thereby reducing inconsistency.
This approach associates curiosity with aggression and fear.
If the inconsistency is larger, fear or aggressive behavior may be
employed to alter the perception in order to make it match expectancy,
depending on the size of the inconsistency as well as the specific
context. Aggressive behavior alters perception by forcefully
manipulating it into matching the expected situation, while fear prompts
flight, which removes the inconsistent stimulus from the perceptual
field and thus resolves the inconsistency.
Integration of the reward pathway into theory
Taking
into account the shortcomings of both curiosity-drive and
optimal-arousal theories, attempts have been made to integrate
neurobiological aspects of reward,
wanting, and pleasure into a more comprehensive theory for curiosity.
Research suggests that desiring new information involves mesolimbic pathways of the brain that account fordopamine
activation. The use of these pathways, and dopamine activation, may be
how the brain assigns value to new information and interprets this as
reward. This theory from neurobiology can supplement curiosity-drive theory by explaining the motivation of exploratory behavior.
Role of neurological aspects and structures
Although
curiosity is widely regarded, its root causes are largely empirically
unknown. However, some studies have provided insight into the
neurological mechanisms that make up what is known as the reward pathway which may influence characteristics associated with curiosity, such as learning, memory, and motivation.
Due to the complex nature of curiosity, research that focuses on
specific neural processes with these characteristics can help us
understand of the phenomenon of curiosity as a whole. The following are
descriptions of characteristics of curiosity and their links to
neurological aspects that are essential in creating exploratory
behaviors:
Motivation and reward
Dopamine pathway in the brain
The drive to learn new information or perform some action may be prompted by the anticipation of reward. So what we learn about motivation and reward may help us to understand curiosity.
Reward is defined as the positive reinforcement of an action,
reinforcement that encourages a particular behavior by means of the
emotional sensations
of relief, pleasure, and satisfaction that correlate with happiness.
Many areas in the brain process reward and come together to form what is
called the reward pathway. In this pathway many neurotransmitters play a role in the activation of the reward sensation, including dopamine, serotonin, and opioids.
Dopamine is linked to curiosity, as it assigns and retains reward values of information gained. Research suggests higher amounts of dopamine are released when the reward is unknown and the stimulus is unfamiliar, compared to activation of dopamine when stimulus is familiar.
Nucleus accumbens
The nucleus accumbens
is a formation of neurons that is important in reward pathway
activation—such as the release of dopamine in investigating response to
novel or exciting stimuli. The fast dopamine release observed during
childhood and adolescence is important in development, as curiosity and
exploratory behavior are the largest facilitators of learning during
early years.
The sensation pleasure of "liking" can occur when opioids are
released by the nucleus accumbens. This helps someone evaluate the
unfamiliar situation or environment and attach value to the novel
object. These processes of both wanting and liking play a role in
activating the reward system of the brain, and perhaps in the stimulation of curious or information-seeking tendencies as well.
Caudate nucleus
The caudate nucleus
is a region of the brain that is highly responsive to dopamine, and is
another component of the reward pathway. Research suggests that the
caudate nucleus anticipates the possibility of and reward of exploratory
behavior and gathered information, thus contributing to factors of
curiosity.
Anterior cortices
Regions of the anterior insula and anterior cingulate cortexcorrespond to both conflict and arousal and, as such, seem to reinforce certain exploratory models of curiosity.
Cortisol
Cortisol
is a chemical known for its role in stress regulation. However,
cortisol may also be associated with curious or exploratory behavior.
Studies suggesting a role of cortisol in curiosity support optimal
arousal theory. They suggest the release of some cortisol, causing some
stress, encourages curious behavior, while too much stress can initiate a
"back away" response.
Attention
Attention
is important to curiosity because it allows one to selectively focus
and concentrate on particular stimuli in the surrounding environment. As
there are limited cognitive and sensory resources to understand and
evaluate stimuli, attention allows the brain to better focus on what it
perceives to be the most important or relevant of these stimuli.
Individuals tend to focus on stimuli that are particularly stimulating
or engaging. The more attention a stimulus garners, the more frequent
one's energy and focus will be directed towards that stimulus. This
suggests an individual will focus on new or unfamiliar stimuli in an
effort to better understand or make sense of the unknown, rather than on
more familiar or repetitive stimuli.
Striatum
The striatum
is a part of the brain that coordinates motivation with body movement.
The striatum likely plays a role in attention and reward anticipation,
both of which are important in provoking curiosity.
Precuneus
The precuneus
is a region of the brain that is involved in attention, episodic
memory, and visuospatial processing. There is a correlation between the
amount of grey matter in the precuneus and levels of curious and
exploratory behaviors. This suggests that precuneus density has an
influence on levels of curiosity.
Memory and learning
Memory
plays an important role in curiosity. Memory is how the brain stores
and accesses stored information. If curiosity is the desire to seek out
and understand unfamiliar or novel stimuli, memory helps determine if
the stimulus is indeed unfamiliar. In order to determine if a stimulus
is novel, an individual must remember if the stimulus has been
encountered before.
Curiosity may also affect memory. Stimuli that are novel tend to
capture more of our attention. Additionally, novel stimuli usually have a
reward value associated with them, the anticipated reward of what
learning that new information may bring. With stronger associations and
more attention devoted to a stimulus, it is probable that the memory
formed from that stimulus will be longer lasting and easier to recall,
both of which facilitate better learning.
Hippocampus and the parahippocampal gyrus
The hippocampus is important in memory formation and recall and therefore in determining the novelty of various stimuli. Research suggests the hippocampus is involved in generating the motivation to explore for the purpose of learning.
The parahippocampal gyrus (PHG), an area of grey matter surrounding the hippocampus, has been implicated in the amplification of curiosity.
Amygdala
The amygdala
is associated with emotional processing, particularly for the emotion
of fear, as well as memory. It is important in processing emotional
reactions towards novel or unexpected stimuli and the induction of
exploratory behavior. This suggests a connection between curiosity
levels and the amygdala. However, more research is needed on direct
correlation.
Early development
Jean Piaget
argued that babies and children constantly try to make sense of their
reality and that this contributes to their intellectual development.
According to Piaget, children develop hypotheses, conduct experiments,
and then reassess their hypotheses depending on what they observe.
Piaget was the first to closely document children's actions and
interpret them as consistent, calculated efforts to test and learn about
their environment.
There is no universally accepted definition for curiosity in
children. Most research on curiosity focused on adults and used
self-report measures that are inappropriate and inapplicable for
studying children.
Exploratory behaviour is commonly observed in children and is
associated with their curiosity development. Several studies of
children's curiosity simply observe their interaction with novel and
familiar toys.
Evidence suggests a relationship between the anxiety children might feel and their curiosity. One study found that object curiosity in 11-year-olds was negatively related to psychological maladjusted
so children who exhibit more anxiety in classroom settings engage in
less curious behaviour. Certain aspects of classroom learning may depend
on curiosity, which can be affected by students' anxiety.
An aptitude for curiosity in adolescents may produce higher
academic performance. One study revealed that, of 568 high school
students, those who exhibited an aptitude for curiosity, in conjunction with motivation and creativity, showed a 33.1% variation in math scores and 15.5% variation in science scores when tested on a standardized academic exam.
Other measures of childhood curiosity used exploratory behaviour
as a basis but differed on which parts of this behaviour to focus on.
Some studies examined children's preference for complexity/the unknown
as a basis for their curiosity measure; others relied on novelty
preference as their basis.
Researchers also examined the relationship between a child's
reaction to surprise and their curiosity. Children may be further
motivated to learn when dealing
with uncertainty. Their reactions to not having their expectations met
may fuel their curiosity more than the introduction of a novel or
complex object would.
Curiosity as a virtue
Curiosity has been of interest to philosophers. Curiosity has been recognised as an important intellectual (or "epistemic") virtue, due to the role that it plays in motivating people to acquire knowledge and understanding.
It has also been considered an important moral virtue, as curiosity can
help humans find meaning in their lives and to cultivate a sense of
care about others and things in the world. When curiosity in young people leads to knowledge-gathering it is widely seen as a positive.
Due to the importance of curiosity, people debate about whether
contemporary societies effectively cultivate the right type of
curiosity.
Some believe that children's curiosity is discouraged throughout
the process of formal education: "Children are born scientists. From the
first ball they send flying to the ant they watch carry a crumb,
children use science's tools—enthusiasm, hypotheses, tests,
conclusions—to uncover the world's mysteries. But somehow students seem
to lose what once came naturally."
Impact from disease
Left: normal brain. Right: Alzheimer's disease afflicted brain. Severe degeneration of areas implicated in curiosity
Neurodegenerative diseases and psychological disorders can affect various characteristics of curiosity. For example Alzheimer's disease's
effects on memory or depression affect motivation and reward.
Alzheimer's is a neurodegenerative disease that degrades memory.
Depression is a mood disorder that is characterized by a lack of
interest in one's environment and feelings of sadness or hopelessness. A
lack of curiosity for novel stimuli might be a predictor for these and
other illnesses.
Social curiosity
Social
curiosity is defined as a drive to understand one's environment as it
relates to sociality with others. Such curiosity plays a role in one's
ability to successfully navigate social interactions by perceiving and
processing one's own behavior and the behavior of others. It also plays a
role in helping one adapt to varying social situations.
A crowd mills around the site of a car accident in Czechoslovakia in 1980.
Morbid curiosity is focused on death, violence, or any other event that may cause harm physically or emotionally.
It typically is described as having an addictive quality, associated
with a need to understand or make sense of topics that surround harm,
violence, or death. This can be attributed to one's need to relate
unusual and often difficult circumstances to a primary emotion or
experience of one's own, described as meta-emotions.
One explanation evolutionary biologists
offer for curiosity about death is that by learning about
life-threatening situations, death can be avoided. Another suggestion
some psychologists posit is that as spectators of gruesome events, humans are seeking to empathize
with the victim. Alternatively, people may be trying to understand how
another person can become the perpetrator of harm. According to science
journalist Erika Engelhaupt, morbid curiosity is not "a desire to be
sad", instead it "has the ability to set our minds ... at ease be
reassuring us that even death follows the rules of the natural world."
Interest in human curiosity about difficult circumstances dates back to Aristotle in his Poetics, in which he noted, "We enjoy and admire paintings of objects that in themselves would annoy or disgust us." In a 2017 paper, Suzanne Oosterwijk, a psychologist from the Netherlands,
concluded that people choose to see graphic images even when presented
the option to avoid them and look at them for a longer period of time
than neutral or positive images.
State and trait curiosity
Curiosity can be a temporary state of being, or a stable trait
in an individual. State curiosity is external—wondering why things
happen just for the sake of curiousness, for example wondering why most
stores open at 8 a.m. Trait curiosity describes people who are
interested in learning, for example by trying out a new sport or food,
or traveling to an unfamiliar place. One can look at curiosity as the
urge that draws people out of their comfort zones and fears as the
agents that keep them within those zones.
Curiosity in artificial intelligence
AI agents can exhibit curiosity through intrinsic motivation.
This can improve the success of an AI agent at various tasks. In
artificial intelligence, curiosity is typically defined quantitatively,
as the uncertainty the agent has in predicting its own actions given its
current state.
In 2019, a study trained AI agents to play video games, but they were rewarded only for curiosity. The agents reliably learned advantageous game behaviors based solely on the curiosity reward.
Open government is the governing doctrine
which maintains that citizens have the right to access the documents
and proceedings of the government to allow for effective public
oversight. In its broadest construction, it opposes reason of state and other considerations which have tended to legitimize extensive state secrecy. The origins of open-government arguments can be dated to the time of the European Age of Enlightenment, when philosophers debated the proper construction of a then nascent democratic society. It is also increasingly being associated with the concept of democratic reform. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 16 for example advocates for public access to information as a criterion for ensuring accountable and inclusive institutions.
The concept of open government is broad in scope but is most often
connected to ideas of government transparency, participation and
accountability. Transparency is defined as the visibility and
inferability of information, accountability as answerability and enforceability, and participation is often graded along the "ladder of citizen participation." Harlan Yu and David G. Robinson specify the distinction between open data
and open government in their paper "The New Ambiguity of "Open
Government". They define open government in terms of service delivery
and public accountability. They argue that technology can be used to
facilitate disclosure of information, but that the use of open data
technologies does not necessarily equate accountability.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
(OECD) approaches open government through the following categories:
whole of government coordination, civic engagement and access to
information, budget transparency, integrity and the fight against
corruption, use of technology, and local development.
History
The term 'open government' originated in the United States
after World War II. Wallace Parks, who served on a subcommittee on
Government Information created by the U.S. Congress, introduce the term
in his 1957 article "The Open Government Principle: Applying the Right
to Know under the Constitution". After this and after the passing of the
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in 1966, federal courts began using the term as a synonym for government transparency.
Although this was the first time that 'open government' was
introduced the concept of transparency and accountability in government
can be traced back to Ancient Greece
in fifth century B.C.E. Athens where different legal institutions
regulated the behavior of officials and offered a path for citizens to
express their grievances towards them. One such institution, the
euthyna, held officials to a standard of "straightness" and enforced
that they give an account in front of an Assembly of citizens about
everything that they did that year.
In more recent history, the idea that government should be open to public scrutiny and susceptible to public opinion dates back to the time of the Enlightenment, when many philosophes made an attack on absolutist doctrines of state secrecy. The passage of formal legislature can also be traced to this time with Sweden, (which then included Finland as a Swedish-governed territory) where free press legislation was enacted as part of its constitution (Freedom of the Press Act, 1766).
Influenced by Enlightenment thought, the revolutions in United
States (1776) and France (1789), enshrined provisions and requirements
for public budgetary accounting and freedom of the press in constitutional articles. In the nineteenth century, attempts by Metternichean
statesmen to row back on these measures were vigorously opposed by a
number of eminent liberal politicians and writers, including Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill and John Dalberg-Acton, 1st Baron Acton.
Open government is widely seen to be a key hallmark of contemporary democratic practice and is often linked to the passing of freedom of information legislation. Scandinavian countries claim to have adopted the first freedom of information legislation, dating the origins of its modern provisions to the eighteenth century
and Finland continuing the presumption of openness after gaining
independence in 1917, passing its Act on Publicity of Official Documents
in 1951 (superseded by new legislation in 1999).
An emergent development also involves the increasing integration
of software and mechanisms that allow citizens to become more directly
involved in governance, particularly in the area of legislation. Some refer to this phenomenon as e-participation,
which has been described as "the use of information and communication
technologies to broaden and deepen political participation by enabling
citizens to connect with one another and with their elected
representatives".
Morocco's new constitution of 2011, outlined several goals the
government wishes to achieve in order to guarantee the citizens right to
information.
The world has been offering support to the government in order to enact
these reforms through the Transparency and Accountability Development
Policy Loan (DPL). This loan is part of a joint larger program between
the European Union and the African Development Bank to offer financial
and technical support to governments attempting to implement reforms.
As of 2010, section 35 of Kenya's constitution ensures citizens'
rights to government information. The article states "35.(1) Every
citizen has the right of access to — (a) information held by the State;
and (b) information held by another person and required for the exercise
or protection of any right or fundamental freedom ... (3) The State
shall publish and publicize any important information affecting the
nation." Important government data is now freely available through the
Kenya Open Data Initiative.
Asia
Taiwan
started its e-government program in 1998 and since then has had a
series of laws and executive orders to enforce open government policies.
The Freedom of Government Information Law of 2005, stated that all
government information must be made public. Such information includes
budgets, administrative plans, communication of government agencies,
subsidies. Since then it released its open data platform, data.gov.tw. The Sunflower Movement
of 2014, emphasized the value that Taiwanese citizens place on openness
and transparency. A white paper published by the National Development
Council with policy goals for 2020 explores ways to increase citizen
participation and use open data for further government transparency.
The Philippines
passed the Freedom of Information Order in 2016, outlining guidelines
to practice government transparency and full public disclosure.
In accordance with its General Appropriations Act of 2012, the
Philippine government requires government agencies to display a
"transparency seal" on their websites, which contains information about
the agency's functions, annual reports, officials, budgets, and
projects.
The Right to Information
(RTI) movement in India, created the RTI law in 2005 after
environmental movements demanded the release of information regarding
environmental deterioration due to industrialization.
Another catalyst for the RTI law and other similar laws in southeast
Asia, may have been due to multilateral agencies offering aid and loans
in exchange for more transparency or "democratic" policies.
In October 2023, Iranian government publicly opposed measure
"tritary branches of judiciary, executive, legislative transparency
program". The transparency law never passes after nine months as
judiciary and state did not consent. The government has the Iranfoia website for requests.
Europe
In the Netherlands, large social unrest and the growing influence of
televisions in the 1960s led to a push for more government openness.
Access to information legislation was passed in 1980; since then,
further emphasis has been placed on measuring the performance of
government agencies.
Transparency as a legal principle underpins European Union law, for example in regard to the quality of the drafting of legislation, and as a principle to be exercised within government procurement
procedures. European law academics argued in 2007 that a "new legal
principle", transparency, might be emerging "in gestation" within EU
law.
The government of the Netherlands adopted an Open Government in Action (Open overheid in actie) Plan for 2016–2017, which outlines nine concrete commitments to the open government standards set by the OECD.
Since 2018, in Wales, the Welsh Government has funded the training of Wikipedia skills in secondary schools, as part of the Welsh Baccalaureate and uses an open licence on all published videos and other content.
North America
In 2009, President Obama released a memorandum on transparency and open government and started the Open Government Initiative.
In his memorandum put forward his administration's goal to strengthen
democracy through a transparent, participatory and collaborative
government.
The initiative has goals of a transparent and collaborative government,
in which to end secrecy in Washington, while improving effectiveness
through increased communication between citizens and government
officials.
Movements for government transparency in recent United States history
started in the 1950s after World War II because federal departments and
agencies had started limiting information availability as a reaction to
global hostilities during the war and due to fear of Cold War spies.
Agencies were given the right to deny access to information "for good
cause found" or "in the public interest". These policies made it
difficult for congressional committees to get access to records and
documents, which then led to explorations of possible legislative
solutions.
Latin America
Since
the early 2000s, transparency has been an important part of Latin
America's efforts to professionalize government and fight corruption.
All countries in the region have enacted freedom of information laws,
beginning with Mexico, Peru, and Panama in 2002.
Chile's Anti-Corruption and Probity Agenda and State Modernization
Agenda. In 2008, Chile passed the Transparency Law has led to further
open government reforms. Chile published its open government action plan for 2016–18 as part of its membership of the Open Government Partnership (OGP).
Transparency
Overview
Transparency
has been described as the visibility and inferability of information,
defined by complete and findable information, which leads to accurate
conclusions.
It has two principal manifestations, monitoring transparency and
consultation or collaboration transparency. It holds importance in more
modern discussions because of its presence in new public management.
For transparency to work, the idea goes beyond government involvement
and must include public trust. Transparency in government has three main
aspects. First, budgetary information must be viewable by the public.
Second, there must be an effective way to make and enforce laws. Last, non-government organizations and a form of independent media must be at the center for public use. With transparency, there are also factors for data disclosure, such as timeliness, quality, and access and visibility.
Data disclosure is important for transparency because it increases
public understanding of governmental practices and is the goal of open
government. However, there are arguments for both sides of transparency
that must be considered.
Arguments for and against
For transparency
Transparency in government is often credited with generating government accountability, which supporters argue leads to reduction in government corruption, bribery and other malfeasance.
This is mentioned later and discussed as accountability with
transparency. Some commentators contend that an open, transparent
government allows for the dissemination of information, which in turn
helps produce greater knowledge and societal progress. Organizations supporting transparency policies such as the OECD and the Open Government Partnership claim that open government reforms can also lead to increased trust in government,
although there is mixed evidence to support these claims, with
increased transparency sometimes leading to reduced trust in government.
Public opinion can also be shifted when people have access to see
the result of a certain policy. The United States government has at
times forbid journalists to publish photographs of soldiers' coffins,
an apparent attempt to manage emotional reactions that might heighten
public criticism of ongoing wars; nonetheless, many believe that
emotionally charged images can be valuable information. Similarly, some
opponents of the death penalty have argued that executions should be
televised so the public can "see what is being done in their name and
with their tax dollars."
Government transparency is beneficial for efficient democracy, as
information helps citizens form meaningful conclusions about upcoming
legislation and vote for them in the next election. According to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, greater citizen participation in government is linked to government transparency.
Advocates of open government often argue that civil society, rather than government legislation, offers the best route to more transparent administration. They point to the role of whistleblowers reporting from inside the government bureaucracy (individuals like Daniel Ellsberg or Paul van Buitenen).
They argue that an independent and inquiring press, printed or
electronic, is often a stronger guarantor of transparency than
legislative checks and balances.
The contemporary doctrine of open government finds its strongest advocates in non-governmental organizations
keen to counter what they see as the inherent tendency of government to
lapse, whenever possible, into secrecy. Prominent among these NGOs are
bodies like Transparency International or the Open Society Institute. They argue that standards of openness are vital to the ongoing prosperity and development of democratic societies.
Against transparency
Government indecision, poor performance and gridlock are among the risks of government transparency, according to some critics. Political commentator David Frum
wrote in 2014 that, "instead of yielding more accountability, however,
these reforms [transparency reforms] have yielded more lobbying, more
expense, more delay, and more indecision."
Jason Grumet argues that government officials cannot properly
deliberate, collaborate and compromise when everything they are doing is
being watched. A randomized controlled trial conducted with 463 delegates of the National Assembly
of Vietnam showed that increased transparency of the legislative
proceedings, such as debates and query transcripts, curtailed delegates
activity in the query sessions, avoiding taking part in activities that
could embarrass leaders of the Vietnamese regime.
Privacy is another concern. Citizens may incur "adverse consequences, retribution or negative repercussions"
from information provided by governments. Teresa Scassa, a law
professor at the University of Ottawa, outlined three main possible
privacy challenges in a 2014 article. First is the difficulty of
balancing further transparency of government, while also protecting the
privacy of personal information, or information about identifiable
individuals that is in the hands of the government. Second is dealing
with distinctions between data protection regulations between private
and public sector actors because governments may access information
collected by private companies which are not controlled by as stringent
laws. Third is the release of "Big data", which may appear anonymized
can be reconnected to specific individuals using sophisticated
algorithms.
Intelligence gathering, especially to identify violent threats
(whether domestic or foreign), must often be done clandestinely. Frum
wrote in 2014 that "the very same imperatives that drive states to
collect information also require them to deny doing so. These denials
matter even when they are not believed."
Moral certitude undergirds much transparency advocacy, but a
number of scholars question whether it is possible for us to have that
certitude. They have also highlighted how transparency can support
certain neoliberal imperatives.
Accountability
Accountability in Open Government
Accountability focuses on promoting transparency and allowing the public to understand the actions of their government. Public officials are expected to share details about how public resources are used and what their objectives are.
Accountability in open government reduces corruption and increases
transparency. However, it is important to note that there is
transparency with and without accountability in open government.
Transparency without accountability is often more difficult to monitor
and there is less responsibility needed from the government.
Transparency with accountability has proven to be more effective as a
trustworthy relationship can be built between government agencies and
people governed by them.
The argument with or without transparency was mentioned previously and
highlights major issues such as losing governmental trust or privacy
issues with accountability. Some governments have created portals in
order to allow people to see critical data and improve accountability
and transparency.
Not all data released on these portals is relevant and easily
accessible meaning transparency is not always easily attainable. For
example, Given the criteria for valuable information, governments
should look for quality, completeness, timeliness, and usability when
releasing important information that shows transparency and supports
accountability.
Relationship between transparency and accountability
Accountability in open government establishes the presence of transparency within governments. Accountability and transparency work to promote open government in democracies. Through organizations such as the Open Government Partnership (OGP) within the United States, which was established by the U.S. Department of State, there have been efforts to enhance democracies through both accountability and transparency.
These efforts reach beyond the scope of North America and even into
some Latin American and Asian countries. Promoting open government in
Latin American countries has increased public trust and reduced
corruption. Latin American countries were among those included in the OGP plan promoted by the United States in the Obama Administration. Additionally, in Asia, there has been a push towards right to information (RTI) to help build accountability.
However, these measures in countries have shown open government
measures are not one size fits all. They can fail and have to be tweaked
for each region and there must be awareness from the public to demand
accountability to ensure they receive it from the government.
Most of the relationship helps strengthen transparency in governments through the means of accountability. Transparency acts as the vision for open government, allowing the public to have quality access to government records and data.
This open access forces governments to be more accountable as they
cannot hide corruption with transparency. There can be transparency
without accountability, which allows the government to choose which data
is of significant value to be released to the public.
This does not solve the lack of accountability and highlights the
necessity of transparency with accountability. With both transparency
and accountability, there must be regulations in place to make agencies
justify why they are relinquishing certain information along with strict
enforcement to ensure all transparency measures are fulfilled.
Governments and organizations are using new technologies as a tool for increased transparency. Examples include use of open data platforms to publish information online and the theory of open source governance.
Open government data (OGD), a term which refers specifically to the public publishing of government datasets,
is often made available through online platforms such as data.gov.uk or
www.data.gov. Proponents of OGD argue that easily accessible data
pertaining to governmental institutions allows for further citizen
engagement within political institutions.
OGD principles require that data is complete, primary, timely,
accessible, machine processable, non-discriminatory, non-proprietary,
and license free.[69]
Public and private sector platforms provide an avenue for
citizens to engage while offering access to transparent information that
citizens have come to expect. Numerous organizations have worked to
consolidate resources for citizens to access government (local, state
and federal) budget spending, stimulus spending, lobbyist spending,
legislative tracking, and more.
Organizations
Open Government Partnership
(OGP) is an organization launched in 2011 to allow domestic reformers
to make their own governments across the world more open, accountable,
and responsive to citizens. Since 2011, OGP has grown to 75
participating countries today whose government and civil societies work
together to develop and implement open government reforms.
Code for All is a non-partisan, non-profit international network of
organizations who believe technology leads to new opportunities for
citizens to lead a more prominent role in the political sphere and have a
positive impact on their communities. The organizations relies on
technology to improve government transparency and engage citizens.
The Sunlight Foundation
was a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization founded in 2006 that used
civic tech, open data, and policy analysis to make information from
government and politics more transparent to everyone. Their ultimate
vision was to increase democratic participation and achieve changes on
political money flow and who can influence government. While their work
began with an intent to focus only on the US Congress, their work influenced the local, state, federal, and international levels.
Open Government Pioneers UK is an example of a civil society led
initiative using open source approaches to support citizens and civil
society organisations use open government as a way to secure progress
towards the Sustainable Development Goals. It uses an Open Wiki to plan the development of an open government civil society movement across the UK's home nations.
OpenSpending aims to build and use open source tools and datasets to
gather and analyse the financial transactions of governments around the
world.
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