[open-government] open-government Digest, Vol 20, Issue 3

Sun Oct 2 08:40:08 UTC 2011

Aline

Paul and I are organizing a similar workshop and it might make sense to coordinate this. 

Jeanne Holm
Evangelist, Data.gov
General Services Administration
1-818-434-5037 (cell)
@JeanneHolm

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Today's Topics:

   1. Workshop session proposal: Open government data	and public
      action (Pennisi Aline)
   2. Access Info press release re OGP (Helen Darbishire)

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Message: 1
Date: Fri, 30 Sep 2011 16:18:04 +0200
From: Pennisi Aline <aline.pennisi at tesoro.it>
Subject: [open-government] Workshop session proposal: Open government
	data	and public action
To: "open-government at lists.okfn.org" <open-government at lists.okfn.org>
Message-ID:
	<7143B1BB956DBA409E2C2AEDF274F4DA01687EB67D78 at EPMMEV02ST.interop.tesoro.it>

Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Hello.

My name is Aline, I'm an Italian civil servant and I will be happy to join you all at the forthcoming OGDC 2011.

Would anyone be interested in set up a session with me on:

 Open government data and public action:
 - challenges and opportunities for public administration
 - challenges and opportunities for operators and citizens
 - what is transparency really about ? 
 - experiences of citizen participation through OGD
 - is the problem only on the supply-side or also on the demand-side?

The session would be primarily dedicated to explore the views of civil servants and citizen associations, activists, others on the above themes.

Looking forward to meeting you all

Aline

------------------------------

Message: 2
Date: Wed, 21 Sep 2011 16:57:38 +0200
From: "Helen Darbishire" <helen at access-info.org>
Subject: [open-government] Access Info press release re OGP
To: <open-government at lists.okfn.org>,	<euopendata at lists.okfn.org>
Message-ID: <061601cc786e$cf630310$6e290930$@org>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

ACCESS INFO EUROPE 

Press Release

Open Government Partnership should mark end to "transparency hypocrisy"

20 September 2011: With 46 countries gathering in New York today to launch
the Open Government Partnership <http://www.opengovpartnership.org/> ,
Access Info Europe warned that the promises being made must be carefully
monitored to prevent participating governments from using the process to
give a false impression of their transparency credentials. 

"This initiative has the potential to promote higher standards of openness,
in particular in the area of proactive publication of information, but care
must be taken to ensure that it does not become a window-dressing exercise,"
said Helen Darbishire, Executive Director of Access Info Europe. 

The danger of "transparency hypocrisy" is very real: at the same time as
participating as a leading member of the OGP, the UK government is engaged
in litigation against Access Info Europe to block access to documents about
reform of the EU's own access to documents rules. 

Three other OGP participating countries - the Czech Republic, Greece, and
Spain - are also involved in this legal battle against transparency and
citizen engagement in EU decision making, in direct conflict with the OGP
standards on open and participatory government.

The lack of rigorous entry criteria for members of the OGP "club" could make
it easier for members to avoid full respect for the right of access to
information: two of the EU participating states, Spain and Luxembourg, do
not have an access to information law nor a constitutional protection of the
right, and both have very limited levels of access to information in
practice. 

"No mechanism for promoting open government should tolerate failures to meet
international standards," concluded Darbishire. 

Access Info Europe also raised a concern that Open Government Partnership
member countries are free to select the indicators on which they will report
progress. 

"Voluntary goals monitored by civil society are useful for raising a public
debate around open government," commented Helen Darbishire, "but this in no
way substitutes for the obligation to respect the right of access to
information, nor for transparency commitments made in treaties such as the
UN Convention against Corruption." 

For more information - in English, French or Spanish - please contact:

Helen Darbishire, Executive Director, Access Info Europe 
helen at access-info.org | +34 667 685 319

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