OGP: The OGP Working Group on Access to Information has extended until March 23 the deadline for applications to serve on the Steering Committee. Complete the attached form and return it to megan.card@cartercenter.org with a CV. OGP ATI WG Steering Committee App_FINAL_with fillable text
OGP: The OGP announces the names of the 16 “shortlisted candidates” vying for six open positions as representatives of civil society on the OGP Steering Committee and for the first time releases the evaluation scores.
OGP: A US group, the Center for American Progress says in a report that the OGP “can point to a number of significant successes but faces an important transition as it nears its fifth anniversary.”
Human Rights: A representative from Mexico, on behalf of 42 countries, presented a statement on the right to information at the UN Human Rights Council.
UNESCO: Frank La Rue, the former UN Special Rapporteur for the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression from 2008 to 2014, has been named UNESCO’s new Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information.
United States: The trends on transparency are “troubling” according to the National Freedom of Information Center and the New York-based Media Law Resource Center as they report on the fourth in a series of national surveys.
United States: Many, many state and local articles and editorial during “Sunshine Week.” A good one by Casey Fabria of The Roanoke Times details the sometimes high costs of FOIA requests. Another, by Gary Craig in The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle is headlined, “FOI request logs show many local citizens make use of law.” Kelly Hinchcliffe of Poynter summarizes other FOIA stories. The Associated Press investigates the prevalence of exemptions from access laws by state legislators. WITHOUT FOIA is a project of the Sunshine in Government Initiative to show FOIA’s impact by collecting FOIA-based stories. “As state legislative sessions shift into high gear, lawmakers are proposing significant new ethics and transparency laws in nearly a dozen states,” according to the Center for Public Integrity. Bad FOIA experiences are described by Philip Eil on the Freedom of the Press Foundation blog.
Germany: The German Parliament announces the release of thousands of previously nonpublic reports conducted by the Research Section of Parliament in reaction to a campaign by FragDenBundestag! (“Ask Parliament!”), the group reports.
Canada: Charges are filed in the case of a former British Columbia government employee who allegedly deleted emails to skirt a FOI request, according to the Vancouver Sun.
Mexico: Only six states have complied with legislation that demands harmonized transparency laws between state and federal governments, the News Daily reports.
Australia: “Will the siege on the Office of Australian Information Commissioner continue?” asks Peter Timmins in his Open and Shut blog.
Environmental Transparency: Issue briefs from the OGP Openness in Natural Resources Working Group’s co-anchors (the governments of Mexico and Indonesia, NRGI and WRI). “These briefs aim to encourage and orient OGP governments to commit to natural resource transparency and accountability in their national action plans. They can also help civil society actors frame the discussion during consultations and provide ideas on innovative commitments. They focus on three specific topics: beneficial ownership, environmental information and resource contracts.
United States: The updated Justice Department fiscal year 2015 FOIA data on FOIA.gov shows that the government processed record high numbers of FOIA requests and reduced its backlog by over 35 percent, DOJ says. Separately, the annual report by the FOIA ombudsman says requests for assistance rose 32 percent in FY 2015.
Research/Nigeria: “The Nigeria Freedom of Information Law: Progress, Implementation Challenges and Prospects,” by Funmilola Olubunmi Omotayo, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.
Abstract: Freedom of Information (FoI) refers to the right which citizens in a society are expected to have to access information held by government institutions and officials. This paper reviews the Nigeria Freedom of Information Act, 2011 and discusses the progress that has been made so far with the enactment of the law. Challenges that are confronting the implementation of the Act are highlighted while solutions are proffered to the overcome these challenges. The paper also looks at the practicability of the law in relation to the current Nigerian context in terms of the understandings and attitudes of citizens and public officials to government information, and the resources available for the effective implementation of the Act.
Research/UK: A new study by Abdullah Abid Oztoprak and Erna Ruijer published in Local Government Studies is titled: “Variants of transparency: an analysis of the English Local Government Transparency Code 2015.”
Abstract: Transparency policies and initiatives at the local level have expanded around the world but our academic understanding is still limited. Few studies have systematically analysed transparency practices at the local government level. This paper develops an analytical framework to examine local government transparency practices based on the literature. The framework is used to analyse the English Local Government Transparency Code 2015. The study shows that the Code delivers openness to a partial extent but has not yet met all criteria for transparent practices. The findings could contribute to the development and improvement of transparency practices at local governments.
Civic Tech: A comprehensive overview focusing on co-production, written by Mark Head, the former Chief Data Officer for the City of Philadelphia.
Open Data: Submissions are sought by for a conference to be held in September called “Frontiers of Data Science for Government.”
India: A public authority that claimed that records were eaten by the termite and could not be provided is fodder for a column by Sridhar Acharyulu who calls the explanation “pathetic.”
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