Several nongovernmental organizations have requested comments on the meaning of “open government,” with the goal of creating international standards.
The announcement states:
Open Government is a hot topic right now, but what does it really mean in practice? What should governments be doing in the areas of Transparency, Participation and Accountability to qualify as “open governments”? What are the uses of new communications technologies which really advance openness as opposed to merely perpetuating existing bureaucratic practices in a digital environment?
The nongovernmental organization hope “over the next few months” to “reach an agreement on the basic elements of what constitutes open government so that we can call on our governments to meet this standard.”
“We will also identify the actions that governments should take in order to make real progress in promoting the three core pillars of open government: Transparency, accountability, and participation,” the announcement says.
The effort is sponsored by Access Info Europe and Alianza Regional
“If you have ideas about what should be included in the standards, we would love to hear from you. Otherwise, what we are looking for at this point is a simple expression of interest, by writing to ideas@opengovstandards.org.”
For more information there is temporary website: http://www.opengovstandards.org/
OK Conference Looks in Same Direction
Similar topics will be addressed at a planned series of forums at the upcoming Open Knowledge conference Sept. 17-22 in Helsinki, Finland.
The synopsis for one session says:
Description: Openness and transparency are becoming defining elements of governance in the 21st century after long campaigns by advocates of transparency and access to information laws. But it is also the result of the vertiginous development by civic hackers throughout the world of projects that enable both the re-use of public information and citizen engagement. On the supply side developments on Open Data have played a key role, to the point that sometimes they almost appear to be equated with Open Government. But is this the case? Technology and Open Data are critical enablers of 21st century transparency, but they need to fit into a comprehensive model of open and participatory governance. Conversely opening government data only covers some of the data that affects citizens’ lives, with much of the data that keeps the world going – finance, energy, social media… – only accessible to small elites or companies with deep pockets. How can we overcome these information asymetry and build a knowledge society that is truly inclusive and open?
Panelists: Andrew Stott (UK, Open Data Evangelist), Banjamin Ooghe (France, Regards Citoyens), Alison Tilley (South Africa, Open Democracy), Ton Zijlstra (Netherlands, ePSI platform), María Baron (Argentina, Directorio Legislativo), Stephen Davenport (US, Development Gateway)
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