[open-government] What should be in the guide to opening government?

Wed Jan 23 11:21:22 UTC 2013

Hi Maya,

Thanks for forwarding this.

While I know this is about open government (rather than about open
government data or open information about government per se) I was
surprised to see only one mention of licensing/legal reuse in the whole
document (under Aid Transparency).

Open licensing/legal reusability is not even mentioned in the "Open
Government Data" chapter, which is - again - surprising, as explicit open
license or terms of use have been a major part of nearly all open
government data initiatives around the world. In order to maximise uptake,
potential users of government information need to be able to know that they
can legally reuse this information without facing potential legal action or
takedown notices.

Also while there is lots of fairly detailed information about what kinds of
information to collect and release throughout the document, without a clear
green light for citizens and end users of this information, they may not
legally be allowed to redistribute it (which may inhibit many of the
interesting and innovative open government activities that I'm sure this
initiative aims to promote).

All the best,

Jonathan

On Wed, Jan 23, 2013 at 10:52 AM, Maya Forstater <hiyamaya at gmail.com> wrote:

> Dear all,
>
>
> I am working with the Transparency & Accountability Initiative (T/AI), on
> updating the Opening Government Guide.
>
> The guide which you can find here
> http://www.transparency-initiative.org/reports/opening-government was
> published in 2011 and was the first document of its kind to compile good
> practice in transparency, accountability and citizen participation across a
> wide range of open government areas.
>
> We are now seeking to update it, and develop it into a richer hub of
> information to enable governments and civil society organisations to
> understand the range of issues that might be addressed as part of Open
> Government, to benchmark their own starting points and access guidance,
> tools and networks.
>
> The new resource will be hosted on the website of the Civil Society
> Coordinator of the Open Government Partnership.
>
> As a first step we are seeking feedback on the original guide, to help
> understand how it has been used, where people see gaps and how it can be
> improved. We are also looking for events taking place during this year that
> would be good settings for discussing the resource as it develops.
>
> If you have read or used the guide over the past couple of years, or even
> if you have just heard about it, please take 5 minutes to give us some
> feedback. There is a very short survey here goo.gl/SxcAX - or you can
> email me freestyle.
>
> If you would like to give specific feedback on a particular chapter there
> is a short survey here  goo.gl/Il5ZT.
>
> Thanks
>
> Maya Forstater
>
>
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>

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