India: An article in Legally India says the Bar Council of India (BCI) requires lawyers who take the All India Bar Examination to agree not to file Right to Information requests for their AIBE answer sheets or the answer key, and overrides the provisions of the RTI Act by imposing a time limit of 20 days from “cause of action” for filing an RTI.
Open Gov Opportunity/Latin America: The Organization of American States (OAS) is accepting applications for an initiative known in English as “The OAS Fellowship on Open Government in the Americas.” The deadline for applications is Jan. 31, 2015. The objective is to create a network of young change agents, bringing together the next generation of leaders from throughout the region, offering a space for reflection, discussion and exchange of knowledge and experiences on issues of open government. Participants are being sought from government, civil society and the private sector who are 25-40 years in age and come from an OAS member state. Twenty-one participants will be selected, whose costs of participation in the multi-stage program will be covered. Sponsors include the governments of Mexico and Canada, the Avina Foundation, The Carter Center, the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and Hivos.
Sierra Leone: The handling of Ebola funds continues as a controversy in Sierra Leone, Express Media reports. The president calls for more transparency.
United States: A Wall Street Journal blog reports that a government entity, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has taken the position that information about tenants in the newly-completed One World Trade Center office tower is private information, and should be withheld given that it could impair the agency.
United States: The FOIA Ombudsman issues the first assessment of an agency FOIA program; the National Archives and Records Administration’s Office of General Counsel.
Open Data/India: A report on the website of the Open Data Research Network by Sumandro Chattapadhyay addresses “Opening Government Data through Mediation: Exploring the Roles, Practices and Strategies of Data Intermediary Organisations in India.” Among other findings, the author reports that one “key barrier” for the open data agenda in India is “the lack of organised and publicly articulated demand for open (disaggregated, updated, and anonymised) government and nongovernment data.”
Transparency Research: Whitney B Afonso on the blog of the London School of Economics and Political Science wrote an article entitled: A lack of transparency is leading to a fiscal illusion where citizens underestimate their tax burdens and the cost of government.
United States: According to a year-end statement on press-related topics by the National Press Club’s Press Freedom Committee:
The Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA, is failing. It takes so long to obtain records under the law, and they are often so heavily redacted, that the law is losing its value for the press. U.S. congressional leaders, at the end of the session this year, permitted a bill that would strengthen FOIA to die, despite widespread bipartisan support for it in the House and Senate. Moreover, reporters’ Freedom of Information Act requests are increasingly reported to public affairs officers and other political appointees so they can monitor reporters’ work.
United States: A more upbeat assessment by Joseph Trevithick says FOI “is a powerful tool for journalists and private citizens. And 2014 was an especially big year for those who make use of the law—including us here at War Is Boring.”
India: The government of the state of Maharashtra began receiving RTI online applications on its new website, according to reports.
Open Data: Abstracts of papers are being sought by Feb. 28 for the Open Data Research Symposium to be held May 27 in Ottawa. Suggested themes include: “Linkages between transparency, freedom of information and open data.”
United Kingdom: The Mirror publishes “Freedom of Information Act 10 years on: What we’ve learnt from decade of exposés and insights.”
Jersey: The access law came in to force on New Year’s Day and requests started coming in, the BBC reports.
Open Labels: Another entry in the “open” movement. An announcement of a project using barcodes on products to allow users to share their thoughts on products, “empowering consumers to make smarter choices when shopping.”
Open Data: The Journalist’s Resource at Harvard’s Shorenstein Center authored recommendations to help the principal federal statistical agencies communicate better with media and, by extension, interested citizens.
United States: An article by James McNair on how some agencies in the state of Kentucky use old technology to respond to FOIA requests.
United States: Journalist Jason Leopold offers this advice to reporters: “File a few FOIA requests each month to get a pipeline of information in an “era of secrecy.”
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