informationraising

Informationraising is a term used to describe deliberate efforts to increase the availability, accessibility, and understandability of information for a particular audience with the aim of supporting informed decision-making, accountability, and participation. It encompasses data publication, explanatory communication, and capacity-building activities that elevate information from raw data or opaque reports to usable knowledge.

Practitioners deploy a range of methods, including open data portals, machine-readable datasets, APIs, dashboards, plain-language summaries, data visualizations, interactive tutorials, and targeted outreach. The approach often blends transparency initiatives with education and user-centered design to reduce barriers to access and comprehension.

Informationraising is applied across multiple domains, such as government and public sector governance, corporate transparency and accountability, journalism, public health, science communication, and education. When effective, it can improve trust, enable more informed policy debates, and empower individuals and communities to participate more fully in civic and organizational processes.

Evaluating informationraising efforts focuses on both reach and impact. Metrics may include audience size and dispersion, comprehension and retention, changes in decision quality, engagement with materials, and observable behavior or policy responses. Challenges include information overload, the digital divide, data quality and privacy concerns, potential misinterpretation, and the resource demands of sustained knowledge translation.

The term is a relatively recent addition to discussions of information access and governance, often treated as a guiding principle alongside openness, transparency, and data literacy. Related concepts include information transparency, data visualization, science communication, open data, and health literacy.