No subject
Sun Dec 12 18:29:16 UTC 2010
Department of State personell ready to understand
what is open data and value actual transparency. I
think that they avoid such topics since they don't
understand them and I think that they use
"transparency" only as a word for speeches and not
as something important to implement.
So it's not so much diffrent in comparison with
Russian officials.
--
Best Regards,
Ivan Begtin
email: <mailto:ibegtin at gmail.com>
ibegtin at gmail.com
twitter: <http://twitter.com/ibegtin> ibegtin
facebook: <http://facebook.com/ibegtin>
facebook.com/ibegtin
personal website: ivan.begtin.name
<http://ivan.begtin.name/>
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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=3DDE link=3Dblue =
vlink=3Dpurple><div class=3DWordSection1><p class=3DMsoNormal><span =
style=3D'font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497=
D'>Dear Ivan,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=3DMsoNormal><span =
style=3D'font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497=
D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=3DMsoNormal><span =
style=3D'font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497=
D'>You are surprised as RUSSIAN on that outcome? We all know how this =
country works. Are you really that naiv?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p =
class=3DMsoNormal><span =
style=3D'font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497=
D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=3DMsoNormal><span =
style=3D'font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497=
D'>We are happy that the Russian institutions opened SOME archives =
containing data from first and second world war. And even most data of =
that time is kept secret. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p =
class=3DMsoNormal><span =
style=3D'font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497=
D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=3DMsoNormal><span =
style=3D'font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497=
D'>In NONE oft he EU countries the most sensitive or valuable data will =
be made available. Please stop dreaming.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p =
class=3DMsoNormal><span =
style=3D'font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497=
D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=3DMsoNormal><span =
style=3D'font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497=
D'>Kind regards from Vienna – we had 10 years of Russian =
occupation/liberation and we do know that mentality quite =
well.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=3DMsoNormal><span =
style=3D'font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497=
D'>We do love Russia and I even do speak that language. But TRANSPARENCY =
and Russia are not compatible at all.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p =
class=3DMsoNormal><span =
style=3D'font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497=
D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=3DMsoNormal><span =
style=3D'font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497=
D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=3DMsoNormal><span =
style=3D'font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497=
D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=3DMsoNormal><b><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>Von:</span><=
/b><span style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'> =
open-government-bounces at lists.okfn.org =
[mailto:open-government-bounces at lists.okfn.org] <b>Im Auftrag von =
</b>Ivan Begtin<br><b>Gesendet:</b> Donnerstag, 21. Juli 2011 =
12:40<br><b>An:</b> open-government at lists.okfn.org<br><b>Betreff:</b> =
[open-government] A story about russian transparency, open data and =
USAID<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=3DMsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p =
class=3DMsoNormal>Hi everyone.<o:p></o:p></p><div><p =
class=3DMsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p =
class=3DMsoNormal>Not a long time ago Justin Arenstein shared a story =
about Tech Camp in Vilnus and understanding of open data by it's =
participants. As you may remember I was sceptical about DepOfState and =
USAID ability to engage technical people.<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p =
class=3DMsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p =
class=3DMsoNormal>So now I have a story to share on same =
topic.<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p =
class=3DMsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p =
class=3DMsoNormal>Here in Russia USAID is going to lauch Code-a-thon. =
It's something like 2-days hackaton for transparency, civil engagement =
and so on. It was announced on behalf of Medvedev - Obama comission, =
officially known as U.S.-Russia Bilateral Presidential Comission. =
<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p =
class=3DMsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p =
class=3DMsoNormal>Before launching this Code-a-thon in Russia they =
decided to initiate teleconference between russian and US experts to =
discuss most important topics and ideas related to Russian transparency. =
So happened that they invited me too since I already created too many =
open government projects here in =
Russia. <o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p =
class=3DMsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p =
class=3DMsoNormal>And my impressions about =
that:<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=3DMsoNormal>1. Lot's of US =
officials and no one Russian official. I've seen at least one person =
from Department of State and 4 persons from USAID, but no one Russian =
official presented. <o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p =
class=3DMsoNormal>2. Likely they invited at least 2 persons from Russian =
Yandex IT company, but all others russian experts were just civil =
activists from Transparency International and similar organizations who =
just don't really understand tech topics, open data and so =
on.<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=3DMsoNormal>3. At the same time =
open data was one of key topics of discussion and I actively explained =
them that it's nearly impossible to get any good results from contest or =
hackaton without having open government data and being focused on =
problem solving.<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=3DMsoNormal>4. One =
guy from USAID had a long speech using words "transparency" =
and "accountability" too much. About 20 mentions of each =
word. <o:p></o:p></p></div><div><div><p class=3DMsoNormal>5. Some =
of US experts were actually impressive. Especially Tom Lee from Sunlight =
Foundation.<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=3DMsoNormal>6. During =
teleconference of of organizers from SecondMuse created mindmap with all =
topics that were discussed. It was about :<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p =
class=3DMsoNormal>- Open Data<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p =
class=3DMsoNormal>- Voting transparency<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p =
class=3DMsoNormal>- Education<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p =
class=3DMsoNormal>- Citizen Reporting / =
Engagement<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=3DMsoNormal>- Urban =
planning<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=3DMsoNormal>- Public =
Financial Transparency<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=3DMsoNormal>- =
Corruption Awareness<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p =
class=3DMsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p =
class=3DMsoNormal>And about final results<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p =
class=3DMsoNormal>1. Since no one Russian official was during this =
meeting actual status of Codeathon and this discussion is =
unknown.<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=3DMsoNormal>2. Actually event =
it's not transparent. Nothing appeared on public, except of what I wrote =
in this text. No video, no meeting minutes and so on. I don't really =
undestand such type of transparency.<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p =
class=3DMsoNormal>3. Discussion was 14 jule and 19 jule they sent all =
persons who was invited a mind map with topics that were discussed. Mind =
map was made using Mindmeister service that keeps all history of =
changes. And it was easy to find that topics - "Open Data" and =
"Corruption Awareness" were removed by guy from SecondMuse who =
initially created this mindmap. Two days ago I asked persons from USAID =
who organized this event from Russian side about "is it technical =
mistake or where is a reason for USAID to avoid such topics?" and =
haven't got any answer.<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p =
class=3DMsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p =
class=3DMsoNormal>From my personal opinion, nor USAID, nor Department of =
State personell ready to understand what is open data and value actual =
transparency. I think that they avoid such topics since they don't =
understand them and I think that they use "transparency" only =
as a word for speeches and not as something important to =
implement.<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=3DMsoNormal>So it's not so =
much diffrent in comparison with Russian =
officials.<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p =
class=3DMsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p =
class=3DMsoNormal>-- <span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p></o:p></=
span></p><div><div><p class=3DMsoNormal =
style=3D'margin-bottom:12.0pt'><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#888888'=
><br>Best Regards,<br> Ivan =
Begtin<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><div><p class=3DMsoNormal><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#888888'=
>email: <a href=3D"mailto:ibegtin at gmail.com" =
target=3D"_blank"><span =
style=3D'color:#3333CC'>ibegtin at gmail.com</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p=
></div><p class=3DMsoNormal><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#888888'=
>twitter: <a href=3D"http://twitter.com/ibegtin" =
target=3D"_blank"><span =
style=3D'color:#3333CC'>ibegtin</span></a></span><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p></o:p></=
span></p><div><p class=3DMsoNormal><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#888888'=
>facebook: </span><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><a =
href=3D"http://facebook.com/ibegtin" target=3D"_blank"><span =
style=3D'color:#3333CC'>facebook.com/ibegtin</span></a><o:p></o:p></span>=
</p></div><p class=3DMsoNormal><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#888888'=
>personal website: <a href=3D"http://ivan.begtin.name/" =
target=3D"_blank">ivan.begtin.name</a></span><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p></o:p></=
span></p><div><p class=3DMsoNormal><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </=
o:p></span></p></div><p =
class=3DMsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></div></div></body></html>
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