Science: The relationship of the United Kingdom’s freedom of information law and scientific research is explored in a post on the blog “100 Months … and counting.” The blog reprints an article published in the Times Higher Education magazine Nov. 25.
The article asks:
Why, then, has Freedom of Information (FoI) legislation, a key tool in facilitating openness and transparency, developed such an uncomfortable relationship with UK scientific research? Were researchers “asleep at the wheel” when FoI came calling? Or, to turn the question around, was FoI legislation ready for science?
Government Data: Access Info Europe and the Open Knowledge Foundation have released the pre-publication version of their report Beyond Access: Open Government Data and the “Right to Reuse” at the Open Government Data Camp in London.
This report, written in collaboration with the Open Society Institute Information Program and initially launched in August, has been through some minor revisions following a public consultation. The draft report was described in a previous Freeedominfo.org article. Among other findings, the report identifies “serious shortcomings in the current international and national standards defining the scope of the right of access to information, resulting in the release of information in formats that cannot be reused.”
Environment: Nearly 100 public interest advocates from around the United States convened “to build an agenda for improving the public’s right to know about environmental and public health threats. Advocates for public health, safety, and the environment met to develop federal policy proposals that would enhance government engagement with communities and improve access to information crucial to protecting the public. The emerging agenda seeks to capitalize on recent openness initiatives by the federal government and the Obama administration’s efforts to improve government transparency, participation, and collaboration.” The effort was coordinated by OMB Watch.
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