Open Data: An “Open Data Academic Research” session will be taking place at OKFest this year, and proposals for papers are being requested.The session will bring together a community of researchers from a variety of disciplines who are exploring Open Data from a range of perspectives, including: mapping the movement, open data impacts, open data and grassroots communities, open data internationally, open data and democracy, and open data as a tool for research. Submissions should consist of a 2 page extended abstract of a position paper of current research. Accepted authors will require to produce a 4-6 page paper and 15 minute presentation to be given at the workshop. Please send all submissions to academictrack.okfest [@] gmail.com
Research Request: Teams at the Institute of Development studies (UK) would like to know about papers and publications on the experiences and realities of users of technology for transparency initiatives, according to a request. “What do we know about citizens’ uptake and use of technology-for-transparency-and-accountability initiatives, and what do we assume? Are our assumptions proven right by actual take-up and engagement with such initiatives? A team at the Institute of Development Studies (UK) and Hivos (Netherlands and East Africa) is doing a small study on these questions. We’re starting by reviewing available published literature and other non-published documentation that discusses the assumed or actual take-up and users of Accountability and Transparency Initiatives in general, and T4T&A initiatives in particular. We would be most grateful if you could share with us relevant published literature or programme documentation that you know of. Please e-mail the documents, or URLs or reference details, to Rosie McGee at T4T&AUsersStudy@ids.ac.uk by Friday July 6.
OGP Jobs: The Open Government Partnership has posted two openings: Executive Director of the Support Unit and Program Manager of the OGP Independent Reporting Mechanism.
MENA Facebook: Visit a Facebook page on access to information in the Middle East.
Aid Transparency: The AidWatch 2012 Report and ONE Data Report were launched together in London, detailing concerns about the quantity and quality of aid being spent by the European Union.
Open Government: “The State of Open Government Data in GCC Countries,” by Ibrahim Elbadawi, was presented at the 12th European Conference in eGovernment in Barcelona, Spain. The abstract is available here. The conference proceedings are here.
FOI Administration: “The Loneliness of the FOI Officer,” a blog post on the British site FOI Man by Paul Gibbons.
RTI Ratings: Canadian chemist and eclectic blogger Sierra Rayne addresses the prospect of access to information legislation in Morocco, saying, “The notion that the authoritarian government of this country gives real concern to improving the information rights of its citizens is effectively ridiculous.” She also comments on RTI ratings, saying, “It is nonsensical to have authoritarian regimes ranked superior to full democracies in terms of the right to information.”
Media: The Center for International Media Assistance (CIMA) releases a new report, Is There a Link Between Media and Good Governance? What the Academics Say, by Mary Myers, an expert on international media development. According to a highlights document: “The conclusion points out that there are obvious differences between the media environments about which each academic is talking: established democracies, developing countries, fragile/post-conflict states, etc. Stemming from that, the point is made that contexts may vary, but the case for press freedom is based on the universal right to freedom of expression, and this still stands, irrespective of whether or not the effects of media are “positive” or “negative” from a governance perspective. So, apart from the common-sense recommendation to donors and policy-makers within the aid community, to do no harm and to thoroughly understand media and politics in a given country before intervening, there is no set of recommendations, since the aim is to introduce and shine a light on the work of 11 writers, all of whom have different interests, take different perspectives on the subject of media and democracy, and have different conceptual starting points.”
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