Schafer - Landesarchivdirektion Baden-Wurttemberg

The exploitation of public sector information for economic purposes will only be practical, if the information ist stored in electronic form. Therefore the technical infrastructure of the public administration is of greater importance for the dissemination of public sector information than the legal framework. The majority of the German states is engaged in the introduction of

• an electronic commercial register,
• an electronic real estate register,
• surveying information systems and
• environmental information systems.

Although it is not directly expressed in the Green Paper the commercial interests in public sector information will especially turn towards informations stored in that kind of systems. In Germany special acts provide access to these informations. The lack of a general access law is no obstacle for their dissemination. Therefore an act on public access to official records would not enhance the resources in which the industry is mainly interested. Activities in the European Union concerning common technical standards will be more useful for the exploitation of public sector information.

Dr. Udo Schäfer 
Landesarchivdirektion 
Baden-Württemberg 
Eugenstrasse 7 
D-70182 Stuttgart

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