[open-government] Invitation 30 May: Future of Freedom of Information? Book talk & discussion panel on government transparency

[Antti Halonen]

Dear all,

List members might be interested to know that The Finnish Institute in
London and Embassy of Finland will host a discussion event on FOI and open
data on Thursday 30 May, 2-6pm. The event is open for everyone interested
but a RSVP is required if you wish to attend.

Please see a detailed event description below.

Best wishes,
Antti Halonen

-- 
Mr Antti Halonen
Head of Society Programme
The Finnish Institute in London
35-36 Eagle Street
WC1R 4AQ
London

@ajhalo
+442074043309

*The Future of Freedom of Information? Government Transparency and its*****

*Unintended Consequences*****

Dear Sir/Madam,****

** **

You are cordially invited to join in a discussion on “Government
Transparency and its Unintended Consequences” on *30 May* at the residence
of the Ambassador of Finland, HE *Pekka Huhtaniemi*.****

** **

The event consists of two parts: we will start off with a talk by *Dr Tero
Erkkilä*, assistant professor in the Department of Political and Economic
studies at the University of Helsinki, followed by a comment from *Dr Ben
Worthy*, lecturer in politics at the Birkbeck University. Dr Erkkilä’s talk
will be based on his new book “Government Transparency: Impacts and
Unintended Consequences” (Palgrave Macmillan 2012).****

** **

In the second part, we will have a panel discussion with plenty of time for
questions from the floor. *Christopher Cook* from the Financial Times and *Paul
Gibbons* (Information Compliance Manager at SOAS & creator of the FoI Man
blog) have kindly agreed to join the panel. A third panelist is to be
confirmed. ****

** **

*Date and time*: Thursday 30 May 2013, 2pm-6pm****

*Venue*: Finnish ambassador’s residence, 14 Kensington Palace Gardens,
London W8 4QP****

** **

Please find enclosed an invitation and programme, including a more detailed
description of the themes and questions what will be debated at the event.**
**

** **

*The event is open for everyone interested, so feel free to share the
invitation but please do RSVP in advance if you’d like to attend.***

** **

RSVP by 23 May: tiina.heinila at formin.fi****

** **

With best wishes,****

The Finnish Institute in London & Embassy of Finland


*

Programme:

14-14.30 Registration

14.30-14.45 Introductions

14.45-15.15 Dr Tero Erkkilä

15.15-15.45 Dr Ben Worthy

15.45-16.00 Coffee

16.00-17.00 Panel and Q&A

17.00-18.00 Drinks and canapés

***

Transparency has recently become one of the defining concepts in public
administration. Arguably transparency is now globally seen as a key part of
democratic governance, and it has gained an increasingly significant status
in debate over government and institutional design.

This event aims at identifying why and how transparency has become such a
topical concept and how has it reacted with the rapid digital development.
The main questions that will be asked are as follows:


   -

   What are the impacts of freedom of information and digital transparency?
   -

   What are the possible unintended consequences of transparency especially
   in performance management?
   -

   What is the state of government transparency in Finland and in the UK
   today?
   -

   What is the future of government transparency in an increasingly digital
   society? How should the freedom of information law be amended in order to
   fully satisfy citizens’ right to information?


Post-industrialised societies have recently taken a form where many key
infrastructures are increasingly based on digital data and where the
friction in creating and disseminating information has rapidly vanished.
The amount of information available has increased exponentially and the
relationship between governments and citizens in this data society has
arguably changed in terms of information creation and use.

In addition to the amount of information, also the diversity of information
types has increased exponentially. In the digital age information can refer
to anything from genes to geodata and from literature to source code. The
questions of fair access to information and universal right to use
information are topical societal challenges that remain unsolved. Moreover,
research results indicate towards a vast economic potential in the free
reuse of public sector information.

One of the key questions for contemporary information societies, however,
is to distinguish between open data’s potential for growth and innovation
in one hand, and for democracy in the other. What also needs to be
addressed is the potential risk of undermining freedom of information if
open data policies prematurely replace reactive freedom of information
laws. We need to be aware of the potential ambiguity of government
transparency: does increased “transparency” in fact increase democratic
accountability or merely administrative efficiency.

The event is targeted at a high-level audience consisting of policy-makers,
journalists, civil servants, academics and public policy enthusiasts.
*
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