The public sector produces and disseminates huge amounts of information, either concerning legislation and its modifications, or governmental operations, or citizen–state transactions. This information either has the form of legal acts published in an official gazette, information sheets/brochures that are published for the assistance of citizens in their transactions with public services, or public records created, circulated, and main- tained by public services as evidence, documentation, and information concerning their activities and transactions. Central or regional governments are responsible for the production and dissemination of such information. However, the information flow procedure is considered to be overcomplicated due to the multilevel and multidimensional administrative hierarchy of the public sector. More specifically, national governments consist of collegial government organs, ministries, public organizations, and independent administration authorities. Each ministry is divided into general directorates, directorates, departments, and offices, as well as corporate bodies and committees. Public organizations are separated into legal entities under public law, legal entities under private law, state companies, and mixed economy enterprises. Regional governments consist of regions, prefectures, and municipalities. All these public services have their own goals and competencies to attain. Within this framework, there are certain posts (positions) which themselves have their own hierarchy. An upgrading of available information systems is called for, as government information :1,2 Provides authentic and reliable evidence of any organization’s business transactions. Indeed, greater efficiency in information on legislation and record keeping is the key to unleashing the full benefit and potential of knowledge management. Facilitates the decision-making procedure, as it maintains a collective memory of the organization’s dealings.Assists citizen transactions while respecting the right to freedom of information.Contributes to economic development and the proper function of internal markets, as no business activity can be performed without accurate information on the relevant domains. The Green Paper declares that ‘‘economic actors cannot make fully informed decisions’’
without being properly informed. Constitutes an education system, as students can learn of the history and the context of
public administration issues from objective and reliable sources.Hence, government information is fragmented and dispersed due to legislative and administrative diversity; a complicated administrative hierarchy; and discrepancies in policy implementation regarding the accession and exploitation of information at national, regional, and local levels. Furthermore, public services lack organized information and knowledge management systems necessary to implement international standards and formats. Thus, the public sector is unable to ensure data interoperability, efficient information delivery, and well- organized information flow within multilevel administrative channels. In consequence, these factors result in a ‘‘lack of transparency for citizens, employees, and administrations at all levels’’ of the public sector.2
Current government information needs call for information systems and services able to facilitate the organization and delivery of government information and ensure accurate and immediate search and retrieval of the required information. Such systems should provide information retrieval, data exchange, metadata homogeneity, and proper information dissem- ination through administrative channels of national, regional, and local governments.