OGP/FOI: A report prepared for the World Bank on the progress of access to information commitments within OGP national action plans. The report analyzes all 133 ATI commitments submitted by OGP participating countries since 2011 as part of their national action plans and uses implementation-related data of such commitments produced by the Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM) of the OGP. The report was prepared by Alvaro Herrero, President, Public Policies Lab (Argentina). “Since 2011, OGP has been a major driving force in the promotion of ATI reforms worldwide,” concludes the report, which also makes recommendations.
Ghana: A video documentary has been prepared by advocates for the passage of the RTI Bill into law.
Latin America: The Regional Alliance for Free Expression and Information presents a video: “Tools for Advocacy.” The video includes testimony by Alianza Regional members about the value of carrying out collective actions and the different strategies for advocacy. Watch the video here.
India: To encourage its officials to get acquainted with the provisions of Right to Information Act, the Delhi government has decided to conduct a 100 question RTI comprehension test for them in September, according to an article.
United States: 20 organizations urge application of the Freedom of Information Act to non-federal entities that contract with the federal government to hold federal detainees or prisoners.
Open Data: The creators of the Global Open Data Index seek advice on what should be included in the index, as described here. “We want you to help us decide on the priority datasets that we should be tracking and advocating to have opened up. We want to work with our global network to collaboratively determine the datasets that are most important to obtaining progress on different issues – from democratic accountability, to stronger action on climate change, to tackling tax avoidance and tax evasion.”
France: France is debating the concept of “public interest data” — datasets held by the private sector whose publication would serve the public interest. This requirement could be added to the upcoming Law on Digital Matters that will be introduced into parliament by the government in Autumn, according to a request for comment through a very short questionnaire.
Open Data: Steven Adler, Chief Information Strategist for IBM, writes, “We need people data programs in Africa, and I’m calling on all international aid agencies and foundations to prioritize these programs to make the data revolutions succeed in Africa.” In November, he described “people data,” saying, “Governments may have begun Open Data, but the next wave is People Data. Any group in any part of the world can self-organize to collect data about their community and publish it on the cloud to effect change.”
Open Data: “The Politics of Open Data: Past, Present and Future,” slides from a talk by Jonathan Gray, Director of Policy and Research at Open Knowledge.
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