The Norwegian Citizen Survey (Innbyggerundersøkelsen) (NO0022)

The Norwegian Citizen Survey is both a citizen survey and a customer satisfaction
survey. It is one of the largest surveys of public services in Norway. The first survey
was launched in 2010, the second in 2012-2013. The plan is to complete the survey every
second year.

Norway will carry out a citizen survey every second year.

11. The Norwegian Citizen Survey (Innbyggerundersøkelsen)

Commitment Text:

The Norwegian Citizen Survey is both a citizen survey and a customer satisfaction survey. It is one of the largest surveys of public services in Norway. The first survey was launched in 2010, the second in 2012-2013. The plan is to complete the survey every second year. […]

The results of the survey are fully transparent, and the results are free for all Agencies/Municipalities and citizens to adopt and use and re-use. The response rate in 2012-2013 was 41%. […]

KEY IMPACT BENCHMARK

1. Norway will carry out a third citizen survey in 2015.

2. The results shall be free for all Agencies/Municipalities and citizens to adopt and use and re-use^.

Responsible institution: Agency for Public Management and eGovernment (Difi)

Supporting institution(s): None

Start date: Ongoing            End date: Ongoing

Policy Aim

The commitment aims to conduct public opinion polls of the Norwegian citizenry, according to a national survey protocol that has been implemented bi-annually since 2010. The survey aims to understand citizen satisfaction with government processes and digital services.

Status

Mid-term: Substantial
Norway’s third citizen survey was conducted in 2015, and results were expected to be available for download and re-use. The survey assessed citizen “satisfaction with 23 national and municipal services in the areas of education, health and culture.”^{[Note 68: Norway: Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM) Progress Report 2013-2014, available at http://www.opengovpartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2001/01/IRMReport_Norway_Final_Eng_0.pdf.]}

End-of-term: Complete
Results from Norway’s third citizen survey are now available for download and re-use at http://www.difi.no/rapporter-og-undersokelser/statistikk-og-undersokelser/innbyggerundersokelsen-2015. The data is divided into two categories: data on general citizen satisfaction and data on satisfaction with 23 specific government agencies. Data is made available in thematic report formats (PowerPoint charts and .xls spreadsheet files) and in raw data zip formats (which contain duplicate .xls, .csv, and .sav files), all of which may be downloaded individually, but not in bulk. Use of this data is governed by the Norwegian Open Data License.^{[Note 69: ”Norsk lisens for offentlige data (NLOD),” Agency for Public Management and eGovernment (Difi), accessed September 4, 2016, http://data.norge.no/nlod/no/1.0. ]} No API or other automated feeds are available for accessing the data.

Did it open government?

Access to information: Marginal

Information from each survey is released online and available to both policy makers and citizens. While the Norwegian Citizen Survey does not directly focus on issues of openness in government, the increased availability of data is positive and constitutes the release of information that would not have been available had the survey not been conducted. It is not clear that this information has been useful for reform or advocacy purposes, however. Interviews with stakeholders and web searches for civil society references to the survey did not suggest any instances in which data from the survey had been used to open government or been used by civil society more generally.^{[Note 70: In particular, Guro Slettemark (Executive Director, Transparency International Norway), interview by Christopher Wilson, in-person meeting, Offices of the International Law and Policy Institute, March, September 2016. Also, Stian Slotterøy Johnsen (General Secretary, Norwegian Association of Voluntary Organizations), interview by Christopher Wilson, phone interview by phone, September 13, 2016; Nils Øy (Special Adviser, Norwegian Press Association), interview by Christopher Wilson, in-person meeting, Offices of the Norwegian Association of the Press, September 1, 2016; and Siri Gedde-Dahl (Chair, Norwegian Committee for Access to Information (Offentlighetsutvalget)), interview by Christopher Wilson, in-person meeting, Offices of the Norwegian Association of the Press, September 1, 2016.]} In fact, a search for media coverage between the two most politically engaged Norwegian daily newspapers returned less than ten stories, none with contentious or reform-oriented messaging, which suggests that the data did not lead to significant public discussion or reform efforts.^{[Note 71: Search conducted on websites for Aftenposten and Dagens Næringsliv, September 8, 2016, http://bit.ly/2g49FFZ; http://bit.ly/2g4fuTK. ]}  

Carried forward?

This commitment has not been carried forward in the Norwegian government’s third national action plan, which is available on the OGP website.^{[Note 72: ”Norway’s third action plan Open Government Partnership (OGP),” Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation, accessed September 4, 2016, http://www.opengovpartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2001/01/Norway_2016-17_NAP.pdf.]}