Activities to provide access that facilitates use and understanding of data and information to end users and stakeholders. When most people think of providing access to information, they don?t think of it as an advocacy activity. While not as obvious or direct as telling your legislator how you feel on an issue, providing access to information can be a powerful means of change, especially in support of other types of advocacy.

This can mean something as simple as providing means to search government or other public data; researching and releasing your own data; or the basis for a direct advocacy campaign or other activity, like a lawsuit.

One of the areas where this is easiest to see is in environmental and health information. While a lot of environmental data is collected by the federal government, it is not usually made available in a user friendly way. Several organizations, including RTK Net and Environmental Defense's Scorecard, provide federal environmental and health data in a simple, searchable format. Groups can find important information about the environment in their area. This data can then be used to advocate for change in the local environment.

You don't need to have "data provision" as the first sentence in your mission statement to participate in advocacy through information access. In addition to their primary mission, many organizations will produce reports on the areas that they work with, often annually. The Children's Defense Fund, for example, produces many reports on issues affecting children, as well as "state-of" reports that give various types of data on children (such as children in the workforce, children on public assistance, etc).

Often, just having data available will make a group an "expert" in their field. When developing legislation, most legislators really do try to make a good-faith effort to seek the opinions of those that know the areas that will be affected. This can lead to invitations to testify before legislatures, or to participate in government advisory panels. Both of these activities can have significant impact on policy.

Also, working to ensure that government provides information about its activities is an advocacy activity in itself. "Sunshine" and full disclosure are key components of an open and democratic government, as they help lead to a fully informed public. A government can only ignore the will of the people if the people don't know about it.