Posts Tagged ‘FOI Notes’
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9 March 2012
FOI NOTES: Kelsey, Kroes, FOIA Game, More
Essay: “The Future is Open: Why transparency will be the organizing principle of 21st century public services,” an by Tim Kelsey, has been published Speech: Neelie Kroes, Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for the Digital Agenda, delivers a speech on “Digital Agenda and Open Data: From Crisis of Trust to Open Governing,” in Bratislava. […]
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2 March 2012
FOI Notes: Vatican, Research, Ham Sandwich
Vatican: “Does the Vatican Need a FOIA Act,” an article in the British publication Catholic Herald by Fr. Alexander Lucie-Smith. Job Postings: The Open Society Foundation’s Washington Office seeks a Senior Policy Analyst to work on transparency, media and election issues, including the Open Government Initiative, whistleblower protections, government secrecy, internet policy, media diversity, campaign […]
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24 February 2012
FOI NOTES: Open Data, FOI Literacy, United States
Open Data: The new version of the Open Data Handbook has been released by the Open Knowledge Foundation. Bangladesh: Three years after passage of the Bangladesh Right to Information Act, 98.2 per cent of the rural population have no idea on how to use it in their daily life, according to a recent baseline survey […]
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3 February 2012
FOI Notes: Open Data Book, U.S. Reports, U.K. Guide
Open Data: Josh Tauberer, self-described as “software developer, entrepreneur, and civic hacker based in Washington, DC” has posted a work-in-progress “book” on the history of open government data and providing open data principles. United States: The New York Times writes about getting a response to a 1997 FOI request and the problem of delayed responses. United […]
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27 January 2012
FOI Notes: Open Data, Climate Change, FOI Survey
Accountability: One World Trust issues its latest report on accountability (pdf). The accountability framework methodology and indicators have been changed in 11 key ways. “These range from giving more weight to the role of top level strategy, changing the way in which we score (e.g. moving from a binary to a scaled scoring system), new […]
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13 January 2012
FOI Notes: Budgets, World Bank, UK, Job
Budget Transparency: The International Budget Partnership has just published Working Papers that “address some of the gaps in the literature” on budget transparency , and verify the usefulness of its Open Budget Index as a measure of budget transparency. “As subnational governments are increasingly charged with implementing government spending, a clear understanding of where, when, […]
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6 January 2012
FOIA Notes: Video, UK, Brasil, US, India
Video: A two-minute animated video from The Access Initiative of the World Resources Initiative describes the potential value of participation in the decision-making about a new highway. United Kingdom: Martin Rosenbaum in a BBC report discusses efforts to the reform the UK law. He begins: “Freedom of information has been in force in the UK for […]
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15 December 2011
FOI NOTES: Videos, Videos, Aid Transparency, More
India: To create awareness on the Right to Information Act, It’s Time To Make a Difference (ITMD) released a short film Melukolupu. ITMD plans to screen the film in rural areas to create awareness on RTI among the lesser privileged sections. United Kingdom: BBC FOI expert Martin Rosenbaum in a video providing tips on writing […]
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1 December 2011
FOI Notes: Video, Opportunities, Articles
FOI Update: The FOI Advocates Network has announced plans to create The Right to Information World Advocacy Update. Funded by the Open Society Foundation, “the idea of the document is to help us all understand the successes and challenges for advocates in each region and learn from good case studies as well as get more […]
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25 November 2011
FOI Notes: Latin America, Kenya, U.S., Nigeria, More
Latin American: “Supreme Audit Agencies in Latin America: Report on Transparency, Participation and Accountability,” a report in English and Spanish coordinated by Asociacion Civil por la Igualdad y la Justicia. Kenya: Global Integrity has a new report out “a bottom-up scorecard of transparency, anti-corruption and accountability efforts in Kenya’s three largest cities – Kisumu, Mombasa […]
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11 November 2011
FOI Notes: Portal, Books, Studies, Video Contest
Open Data: UNESCO has created a portal that presents a snapshot of the status of Open Access to scientific information around the world. “The portal has country reports from over 148 countries with weblinks to over 2000 initiatives/projects in Member States. The portal is supported by an existing Community of Practice on Open Access on […]
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13 October 2011
FOI Notes: Studies, Maps, Music, Photos
Latin America: Alianza Regional has issued a regional report called “Saber Más III” regarding access to public information and protection of personal data. The report (in Spanish) explains the relationship and coexistence of access to public information and ensuring the protection of personal data. Fourteen countries participated in creating this report, represented by member organizations […]
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27 September 2011
FOI Notes: Bangladesh, WikiLeaks, Mobile Phones
Bangladesh: A new publication documents 15 RTI related stories in Bangladesh – The Power of Using the Right to Information Act in Bangladesh: Experiences from the Ground (PDF 1376 KB). This publication documents the experiences of NGOs working in the field and how the RTI Act has had an impact on individuals. Also, see a […]
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16 September 2011
FOI Notes: U.S. Resource on State FOI, U.K. Study on MPs
United States: The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press has published the 6th Edition of its Open Government Guide, a comprehensive overview of open records and open meetings laws in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Share: · Facebook · LinkedIn · Email Print Link The free guide allows users to cross-reference and […]
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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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8 July 2011
FOI Notes: New OECD Data, Bangladesh, Open Data
OECD: The second edition of Government at a Glance almost doubles the number of available indicators in a report on the performance of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development governments, to nearly 60. The data covers some elements of freedom of information laws. The survey was completed by 32 OECD countries, as well as by the Russian Federation […]
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27 June 2011
FOI Notes: South Asia, United States, OECD Report
South Asia: A new book, “Transparent Governance in South Asia,” published by the Indian Institute of Public Administration, provides detailed historical articles on the right to access movements in the region. The chapters cover: – Evolution of RTI Act 2009 in Bangladesh, – RTI Law Implementation in Bangladesh – RTI in Bhutan: A Background Note […]
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10 June 2011
FOI Notes: Internet, Open Data, Local Transparency
Internet: “While the Internet is empowering individuals more than ever, there is an increase globally in content filtering and censorship,” according to a new UNESCO publication, “Freedom of Connection – Freedom of Expression: The Changing Legal and Regulatory Ecology Shaping the Internet.” Professor William Dutton, Director of Oxford Internet Institute, is the main author. “Through […]
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13 May 2011
FOI Notes: Reports, Books
Budget Transparency: A report (in Spanish) on access to information on expenditures and budget in Latin American legislatures has been published by Red Latinoamericana por la Transparencia Legislativa. New Book: Wikileaks and the Age of Transparency by Micah L. Sifry. Political analyst and writer Sifry argues that WikiLeaks is not the whole story: it is […]
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6 May 2011
FOI Notes: Research Motherload, and More
Research: More than five dozen papers have just been posted that will be presented at the 1st Global Conference on Transparency Research, to be held May 19-20 at Rutgers University, Newark, New Jersey. Titles include: Bertoni, Eduardo: Freedom of Information. Three harmless words? The role of the media and access to information laws Fumega, Silvana […]