The post-bureaucratic age is a dreary sounding phrase. However, it is getting some people very excited. Francis Maude, the shadow Cabinet Office minister and the man in charge of the Conservatives implementation unit writes for us in the next issue of Total Politics about what it means.

Taking place right now in a cavernous warehouse in trendy Shoreditch is a one day conference organised by the Network for the Post-Bureaucratic Age. David Cameron appeared there this morning to give a speech and answer a couple of questions on PBA — I’ll shorten its definition for brevity’s sake. The PBA means opening the government’s data on almost anything and everything to allow people to look at it. This in turn (for PBA fans) leads to the public/experts/companies using that data for their own needs. This results in fresh solutions to problems, lower costs and more informed citizens able to make their own decisions and also having a stake in the government.

You can read a write-up about David Cameron’s performance here. He has being talking about PBA for some time, see his article on it for the Guardian last year. In his speech this morning, Cameron discussed how the PBA translates into practical issues such as a public reading stage of bills appearing before Parliament, feed-in tariffs for energy (a version is already government policy) and planning law changes to allow, for example, communities greater power to take over local services threatened with closure.

This may look like a Conservative government offering to retreat from many areas, leaving a space they hope will be filled by budding data-crunchers and motivated members of the public. It’s not quite that simple. Asked if, with these changes, he would be more of a moderator than a leader, Cameron replied that he would definitely be a leader. Government’s role in a PBA might change but it would certainly not go away. He admits there will be times for central government need to apply “gentle social pressure” such as introducing energy usage maps to show how much power you and your neighbours are getting through.

There are also a couple of problems. Cameron struggled to answer why local communities would buy into the idea of a high-speed rail link through their area when there’s no discernible benefit and an obvious drawback. Also, what I don’t yet understand in a PBA is how the government checks what is working and what isn’t. It seems that a government feeling the pressure of failing schools or energy shortages or crime figures will repeat the error of the first two New Labour terms in office and impose an enormous and very bureaucratic target system. Central government in Britain has an unblemished record in hoarding power. If a Cameron does reach No 10 and introduces a new “see-through” (as Guido Fawkes calls it) style of government, he will have achieved something notable.

Two enormous barriers remain in his way. 1. The post-bureaucratic age has not yet been introduced by any government in a meaningful way. 2. It is a long-term project. Oliver Letwin says it would take 10 years — that’s two terms of government. Today's conference aims to answer a few of the unknowns. What is really unknown is if Cameron would be able to stick to the agenda and give up power while dealing with the pressure and responsibility of being prime minister. Has he and his potential government got that commitment?