Search Results
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13 June 2013
FOI Notes: Transparency Champions, OGP Strategy, EU, Open Data
Transparency Voices: The Guardian features 12 transparency advocates: Peru Carlos Arroyo, national co-ordinator for Peru’s Anti-Corruption Network, Lima Nigeria Faith Nwadishi, Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative board member; national co-ordinator, Publish What You Pay Bangladesh Hasibur Rahman, Management and Resources Development Initiative executive director, development worker, rights activist Mexico José Luis Moyá, consultant and landlord, Mexico […]
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23 May 2013
FOI Notes: New Book on African ATI; Open Data; UK
Africa: The ATI committee of the African Network of Constitutional Lawyers has a new publication: “Access to information in Africa. Law, Culture and Practice,” edited by Fatima Diallo, African Studies Centre, Leiden, and Richard Calland, University of Cape Town. Published by BRILL. The chapters and authors are: 1. The State of the Art and the […]
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26 April 2013
FOI Notes: Open Data, Open Contracting, Commentary
Commentary: Martin Tisne writes in his blog about why open government groups are not working better together? Much abbreviated answers: different languages, etc.; competition for limited resources; and “coordination, partnership is hard work!” He asks what can be done. Open Contracting: A blog post from Open Contracting on developing standards. Germany: The FOIA law is […]
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12 April 2013
African Model Access Law Issued by Rights Panel
The long-awaited final version of the Model Law on Access to Information for Africa was posted April 12 on the website of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights. The model law is “a common approach to a common problem” wrote Pansy Tlakula, the Special Rapporteur on Access to Information in Africa and Freedom […]
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13 March 2013
Rwanda Publishes New Law on Right to Information
Rwanda has a right to information law, the 11th in Africa and the 94th in the world. The new law was formally gazetted on March 11 (See Official Gazette No 10, the March 11 issue, page 66). It was passed by parliament in November 2012. The law came into force on the date of publication and several […]
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4 March 2013
Open Data Day Expands Entries in Data Census
The Open Data Census, an almost one-year-old project of the Open Knowledge Foundation, has been increased in size and scope, now including datasets from 25 cities as well as 48 countries, plus rankings. The census was promoted around the recent Open Data Day 2013 activities and expanded by volunteer contributors who use the data submission […]
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22 February 2013
FOI Notes: Open Data Census, Research, Legislatures, OGP, Bedbugs
Open Data Census: A blog post by Rufus Pollack, founder and co-director of the Open Knowledge Foundation also includes a description of a developing effort to create a single overall ranking, an Open Data Index. Pollack also writes about how progress in open government data “is not (just) about the number of datasets being released. […]
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28 January 2013
Cameron Again Highlights Transparency for G-8 Agenda
British Prime Minister David Cameron continues to emphasize transparency as a theme for the June meeting of the G-8 nations in Ireland. Cameron expanded slightly on this agenda during a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “The third big push of our agenda is on transparency, shining a light on company ownership, […]
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6 December 2012
Irish Minister Proposes Joining OGP; Others?
A top minister in the Irish government has proposed that Ireland join the Open Government Partnership and more information has emerged about the possibility of membership by Australia, and other countries. The Irish Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Brendan Howlin, in a Dec. 5 address stated, “I intend to bring proposals to Government shortly […]
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30 October 2012
Measuring Openness: A survey of transparency ratings and the prospects for a global index
By Sheila S. Coronel This report by Columbia University journalism professor Coronel was supported by the Open Society Foundations, Right to Information Fund. We are in the midst of an explosion in the measurement of government openness and the accessibility of information to the public. This is due largely to the growing interest worldwide in […]
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5 October 2012
FOI Notes: Photos, Hubs, Jobs, Cases, Reports
Photo Contest: Winners were announced for the photo contest organised by FOIAnet (the Freedom of Information Advocates Network). There were over 120 entries. A total of 1,000 euros will be awarded to the winners.You can see the photos online here: http://bit.ly/2012FOIAPhotos The winners are: 1st place. Photo: “The other access” by Ranaivosoa Tolojanahary from Madagascar. […]
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13 July 2012
OGP Summer: Mauldin at Helm, IRM Process Plans
The Open Government Partnership, now with a temporary director, is continuing to work on its plans for the Independent Review Mechanism and still appears to be interesting possible new members. Libya, Tunisia, Nigeria, Rwanda and Zambia have started to explore whether to join by talking with existing members, according to notes from a recent meeting […]
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4 May 2012
U.S. Boosts FOI as Criteria for Receiving Foreign Aid
The United States has revised an indicator used to decide which countries qualify for foreign aid, somewhat elevating the importance of freedom of information and unfettered internet access. The changes were made last year by the Millenium Challenge Corporation, which uses a multi-faceted scorecard system to determine which under-developed countries qualify for development assistance. Not […]
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9 March 2012
Work on African Model Laws Still Under Way
Two efforts to draft model freedom of information laws in Africa remain active, with consultations continuing and the end in sight. The ongoing deliberations over model statute on freedom of expression and access to information for West Africa continued March 5 in Abuju, Nigeria, at a meeting of legal experts. The African Union process to […]
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28 October 2011
FOI Laws: Counts Vary Depending on Definitions
By Toby McIntosh How many countries have freedom of information regimes? a.) 86 b.) 87 c.) 88 d.) 90 e.) more than 90 f.) 97 g.) all of the above The answer depends on the precise question and definitions. While there is substantial consensus, disagreements exist at the margins for the handful of experts who […]
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29 September 2011
Serbia Tops New FOI Ratings, Austria Ranks Lowest
A significant variation exists in the legal environment for right to information in 89 countries studied by Access Info Europe (Spain) and the Centre for Law and Democracy (Canada) that gives Serbia the highest rating. The RTI Rating is “based on 61 indicators drawn from a wide range of international standards on the right to information, feedback […]
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27 September 2011
7 FOI Laws Pass in Past Year; 18 More Under Consideration
By Toby McIntosh Freedom of information laws were created in seven countries in the year since the last Right to Know Day, notable positive changes were recorded in four other countries and active efforts to pass laws are under way in about 18 nations, according to a FreedomInfo.org survey. Since International RTK Day 2010, first-time […]
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25 August 2011
FOI Notes: Africa, UNESCO, United States, United Kingdom
West Africa: The Africa Freedom of Information Centre has issued a study on access to information in Liberia, Ghana and Nigeria. Follow this link, and got to bottom of listings. UNESCO: The online report on the 2010 UNESCO World Press Freedom Day meeting, on the theme of: “Freedom of Information: The Right to Know” is available. […]
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22 July 2011
Challenges, Prospects for a FOI Law in Sierra Leone
By John Baimba Sesay – Freetown Reprinted with permission of Sierra Express, where this article was published July 19, 2011. When Nigeria started its campaign for an access to information law, it was not an easy task especially during the days of former President Olusegn Obasanjo, a former military General. He had his own misgivings […]
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24 May 2011
Is Transparency Losing in Fight With Corruption?
The influence of transparency on fighting corruption was questioned in several papers presented at The First Global Conference on Transparency Research held May 19-20 at Rutgers University-Newark, N.J. (See overall report in FreedomInfo.org.) The Nigerian Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI) “has at best been ineffective in the fight against corruption in Nigeria, and the assumed […]