Mr Martin told the council at a meeting this week he was initiating a programme of work to make a "quantum leap" in access to this information.
"It's an exciting process and will be highly cost-effective in the medium term."
He hoped to make the information available to the public through the council's website, although it could take a couple of years to become a reality, he said.
"It's a grand vision, but it's worth exploring and developing."
The type of information which could become available was scientific data, such as hydrological data including water quality and quantity in its raw form, resource consents and registers held by the council, including scheduled bus services.
There had been enough of an evolution in web-based services that it now made it attractive to make the information available, with some analytical tools to assist users.
He did not envisage the general public would be that interested, but consultants and those applying for consents would be, Mr Martin said.
It would be more efficient to make the data available to the public as it would mean council staff would get fewer requests for the information.
"It will all be able to be seen and used promptly by the public."
Staff would also be able to access the information in the same way, he said.
