I cry "bread and circuses"

I agree with you. But it's an important step towards the ability to experiment with open data. I recommend checking out WikiGovernments by Beth Noveck. Here is her perspective on how we take advantage of this next step towards open governments:

[We need to] make the case for an information policy that goes beyond mere data transparency to ensure that groups can make use of public information, thereby producing better informed and more accountable decisions as well as creating new, collaborative approaches to addressing issues and solving problems.

She is actually acting and carrying out the necessary experiments with open government data and creating online Wiki platforms for collaborative government. The experiments have been successful so far. After Wiki-style government worked so well with the U.S. Patent Office, Google CEO Eric Schmidt said:

All the players who cared deeply about this bizarre and nerdy patent really go after it because there's now way where their patent examiners can fundamentally get all the insight that the wisdom of crowds can do. Why is that not true of every branch of government? It makes perfect sense, use all those people who care so passionately, and who have lots of free time, to help you.

Now I disagree slightly with him about his approach to Wiki government - as I think it can even be more extensive and eventually allows us to phase out politicians all-together.

Mark Klein is also doing some fascinating things at MIT's Center for Collective Intelligence. I found this study insightful. Same with this one.

Institutions are slow to change - all of our institutions are slow to change. They are all inherently industrial. Education, health care, government, etc. And they're all inefficient and poorly organized. We have the tools now to change them now. We can test better models. If we open government we can make our case to re-structure it completely.