Privatisation of Public Data: Sri Lanka Customs as a Case in Point = “පොදු දත්ත” පුද්ගලීකරණය කිරීම: ශ්‍රී ලංකා රේගුව උදාහරණයක් ලෙස

Abstract

International trade data is a public good. Access to such data is vital to design evidence-based policies, help businesses make better decisions, induce public research on economic and social issues, and improve accountability of the government to the people. Yet, SLC’s data dissemination policy is currently at odds with seeing the trade data it collects as a public good. In contrast to regional and global trends, it is not easy to find or access updated export and import data, and it is not free. This Insight finds that a key reason for SLCs resistance to provide free online access to trade data is the prevailing incentive structure set up by the Ministry of Finance which allows government officers to generate private income by selling public data.