Says the Open Government Working Group:

The Internet is the public space of the modern world, and through it governments now have the opportunity to better understand the needs of their citizens and citizens may participate more fully in their government. Information becomes more valuable as it is shared, less valuable as it is hoarded. Open data promotes increased civil discourse, improved public welfare, and a more efficient use of public resources.

…and this is why I have launched opengov.se - an initiative to bring swedish public sector data online in open formats. Initially the website contains a catalog of public data sources and information about licensing and formats used.

You can help out by suggesting datasets form the swedish public sector.