The eighth International Conference of Information Commissioners convened Sept. 18 in Berlin with attendance of more than 150, incuding more than 30 commissioners.
Peter Schaar, the German Federal Commissioner for Data Protection, in his opening remarks, laid out a broad agenda on access.
Among his points, Schaar said:
– Transparency should be available for those who do not use the intranet.
– National security agencies “must not dodge” transparency.
– Freedom of information acts can play an important role in fighting corruption.
– Germany should ratify the Council of Europe convention on access to information.
– There should be more transparency by large corporations.
– International organizations must commit to more transparency.
– The United Nation’s Article XIX on freedom of expression should be expanded to strengthen access to information.
– Germany should join the Open Government Partnership.
Hans-Jurgen Papier, the former president of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany now at the University of Munich, who reviewed German law on access to information, observed that Germany seems to have no intention of signing and ratifying the Council of Europe access resolution in light of opposition of German states.
A prepared welcome statement from German Federal President Joachim Gauck expressed concern with the monitoring of Internet traffic by the U.S. National Security Agency.
Klaus Topfer, a former German minister and United Nations official with an expertise in the environment, stressed, “We need to tap the knowledge of our citizens in our decision-making processes.”
Topfer, the executive director of the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies, said it’s necessary to learn what knowledge we do not have, and then move to correct information gaps, including by tapping citizen knowledge. He said citizens should be “proud” to live in a society where they have access to information and can participate in the development of decisions.
There are 220 registered participants for the two-day conference which includes panels on topics such as “Freedom of Information as a political task,” “Will corporate data remain off-limits?” and “Open data and open government.”
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