[open-government] Open Government Partnership Transparency Policy Fails to Guarantee Open Data

Sat Nov 26 09:07:53 UTC 2011

access info_logoNEWcid:58E22EF4-9010-489A-8E2E-D4B449DE67F7 at eastlink.ca

Open Government Partnership Transparency Policy Fails to Guarantee Open Data

25 November 2011, Madrid/Halifax - The  <http://www.opengovpartnership.org/>
Open Government Partnership, a global transparency initiative jointly
sponsored by US President Obama and Brazilian President Rousseff, must
significantly improve its internal access to information policy to meet the
standards it is advancing according to an analysis launched today by two
specialist organisations, Access Info Europe and the Centre for Law and
Democracy. 

Two months after its launch in September 2011, when 46 countries pledged to
work towards greater openness, the
<http://www.access-info.org/documents/Access_Docs/Advancing/OGP_Disclosure_P
olicy_25_Nov_11_final.pdf> OGP is struggling with its own transparency rules
according to the expert analysis submitted as part of a one-month public
consultation that ends today. 

"The Open Government Partnership risks missing the opportunity to set high
standards which can serve as a model for all the participating countries,"
commented Helen Darbishire, Executive Director of Access Info Europe. "The
policy should be reformed to incorporate basic open data principles such as
that information will be made available in a machine-readable, electronic
format free of restrictions on reuse."

A key problem is the lack of detail in the policy, which has the result of
leaving important matters to the discretion of the OGP. Other key problems
include:

>    The failure of the policy to recognise the fundamental human right to
information; 

>    The significantly overbroad and discretionary regime of exceptions; 

>    The failure of the draft Policy to put in place a system of protections
and sanctions. 

"We welcome the recognition by the OGP that it should operate in a
transparent manner," said Toby Mendel, Executive Director of the Centre for
Law and Democracy. "However, the draft policy needs to be significantly
developed if it is to achieve its objectives."

Note for editors 

The full analysis by CLD and AIE can be found at:
<http://www.access-info.org/en/open-government-data/208-ogp-transparency-pol
icy>
http://www.access-info.org/en/open-government-data/208-ogp-transparency-poli
cy 

The OGP's draft Disclosure Policy can be found at
<http://www.opengovpartnership.org/call-public-input-open-government-partner
ship-draft-disclosure-policy>
http://www.opengovpartnership.org/call-public-input-open-government-partners
hip-draft-disclosure-policy.

For further information, please contact: 

Helen Darbishire
Toby Mendel

Access Info Europe                                                    Centre
for Law and Democracy

 <http://www.access-info.org> www.access-info.org
<http://www.law-democracy.org> www.law-democracy.org 

email:  <mailto:helen at access-info.org> helen at access-info.org
email:  <mailto:toby at law-democracy.org> toby at law-democracy.org 

tel: + 34 667 685 319                                                  tel:
+1 902 431 3688

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