[open-government] Open Public Services - Democratic Decentralisation

Fri Jul 29 19:17:23 UTC 2011

Hi Erik

Thanks for the feedback.

My primary focus is not so much on the patent system, and so I have no
expertise to comment on your analysis. I am mainly interested in
encouraging governments to take that first step, ie moving government
process from 'closed' to 'open', by moving it online in this form.

I'm quite sure Peer to Patent is not perfect, and certainly not so in the
specific terms you describe, but technologically it's hugely more advanced
than 99% of government processes, and is a big step on from where they
were.

Kind regards, Neil.

> Dear Neil,
>
> I have an issue with the U.S. centric outlook of Beth Noveck's paper which
> bluntly states, only one year after the EU rejection of the software
> patents directive, that it's not politically possible to do anything about
> the patent system going down the "forbidden path" of Dispositionsprogramm:
>
> "Similarly, proposals to [...] revisit the scope of patentable subject
> matter [...] do not eliminate the need to address the information deficit.
> They also require extraordinary political capital to move through
> Congress." (p. 126)
>
> For obvious reasons, I don't see it the same way, and there are other well
> developed strategies, which is why I would hesitate to put the Peer to
> Patent portal as a headline example of Open Government.
>
> Maybe U.S. politcal capital can increase to levels where effective patent
> reform is possible. This NPR broadcast seems to me to represent a new wave
> of fundamental critique of the patent system:
> http://www.thisamericanlife.or?g/radio-archives/episode/441/w?hen-patents-attack
>
> If you are looking for a progressive solution for Open Government in the
> field of patent administration, please have a look at the Polluters Pay
> Portal http://eupat.ffii.org/07/p2parl/exam
>
> Best regards.
>
> //Erik
>
>
> Erik Josefsson
> Adviser on internet policies
> Greens/EFA Group
> BXL: PHS 04C025 TEL: +3222832667
> SBG: WIC M03005 TEL: +33388173776
> GSM: +32484082063
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: open-government-bounces at lists.okfn.org on behalf of Neil McEvoy
> Sent: Wed 7/27/2011 4:55 PM
> To: open-government at lists.okfn.org
> Subject: [open-government] Open Public Services - Democratic
> Decentralisation
>
>
> Hey folks
>
> Here's my blog viewpoint on the recent 'Open Public Services' initiative
> from the UK.
>
> I think this is a critical step for the Open Government movement, as it
> provides a meaningful policy context for the technology tools like Open
> Data.
>
> http://tinyurl.com/OpenPublicServices
>
> Regards,
>
> --
> Neil McEvoy
> Founder
> Cloud Best Practices Network
> http://mcevoy.biz
>
>
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>
>

-- 
Neil McEvoy
Founder
Cloud Best Practices Network
http://mcevoy.biz