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The Appropriate Role of Government
- Sweden
•Issues with government entities entering the commercial field against the private sector. The National Land Survey:
•Had an unfair competitive advantage over emerging commercial firms;Was the dominant player in the geographic information market;
•Is the “preferred” provider in the market due to its “official” status;
•Has access to taxpayer-funded “strategic infrastructure”, including government owned information technology assets;
•Has copyright and other rights over public sector data;Is partly funded by taxpayer Kronor and partially engaged in monopolistic practices;
•Obscures the demarcation between government and private activities
•Result: the commercial arm will be completely privatised, subject to open public audit and oversight, and their data holdings put in the public domain for access by the general public and competing private sector entities.