Posts Tagged ‘open government partnership’
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29 March 2013
Four African Leaders Say They Hope to Join OGP
President Obama March 28 met with the heads of state of four African countries – Cape Verde, Malawi, Senegal and Sierra Leone – indicating afterwards that all four hope to join the Open Government Partnership. “So what our discussion has focused on is, number one, how do we continue to build on strong democracies; how […]
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20 March 2013
FOI Notes: Southeast Asia, Info Commissioners, Latin America, Job
Southeast Asia: The extensive minutes of the Transparency Advisory Group meeting in January provide an excellent overview of RTI activities in the region. Many topics are covered in the presentations and discussions, including: the value of examples of RTI use, proactive disclosure, indicators of success. TAG’s workplan and other information are available on its website. […]
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11 March 2013
Few Governments Providing Financial Support to OGP
By Toby McIntosh Only six of the 58 member countries of the Open Government Partnership have contributed financially to the young organization. Three of the nine government members on the Steering Committee have not provided any funding – Indonesia, Mexico and Tanzania. The lack of contributions comes despite long-standing expectations of voluntary government support, especially […]
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11 March 2013
24 Persons Nominated to Serve as CSO Reps to OGP
Two dozen persons have been nominated to fill three soon-to-be vacant positions as civil society organization representatives on the Open Government Partnership Steering Committee. A list of the names was posted March 11 on the OGP website. There are 6 candidates from Latin America, 2 from North America, 4 from Africa, 5 from Asia and […]
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23 February 2013
OGP Leaders Decide Against Reacting to National Issues
The Steering Committee of the Open Government Partnership will only comment on national controversies in several defined “exceptional circumstances,” according to a Feb. 21 statement. The two-page statement comes in the wake of a request that the Steering Committee “signal” disappointment that the Philippines, a Steering Committee member, failed to pass freedom of information legislation. […]
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22 February 2013
OGP Proposes Guide for Independent Evaluators
The Open Government Partnership has invited public comment on a detailed research draft guide to be used by the independent evaluators who will review national action plans. Comments will be accepted through March 7, according to posting about the draft guide, which includes the necessary links to documents. The 20-25 page reports to be prepared […]
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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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22 February 2013
Germany Urged to Join OGP, Improve Open Data Releases
Activists in Germany are urging the government to make the data sets it releases more useable and join the Open Government Partnership. In a recent joint statement signed by more than 300 groups and persons from the German open data community criticized the government data portal started last year and recommended improvements, such as releasing […]
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18 February 2013
OGP Leaders Hold Meeting on Future Directions, Strategy
Leaders of the Open Government Partnership Feb. 18 held a meeting in Jakarta “to start a dialogue for renewed strategic vision & future” of the OGP, according to a tweet from the Indonesian government. The governments of Indonesia and the United Kingdom tweeted about the meeting, the OGP “storified” the tweets, there are photos posted […]
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18 February 2013
Philippines Official Replies to Criticisms on FOI Legislation
A Philippines official has replied to allegations that the Aquino administration failed to live up to its commitments by not making sure a freedom of information bill passed, saying that other priorities took precedence. The government has taken other steps to increase transparency, according to the Feb. 13 letter which was sent to the members […]
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15 February 2013
FOI Notes: UK, US, OGP, Open Data, Sunlight Foundation
United Kingdom: “Your right to know? The future for transparency in England,” a report by The Centre for Public Scrutiny (CfPS), “the leading national organisation for ideas, thinking and the application and development of policy and practice to promote transparent, inclusive and accountable public services.” United States: An overview of the Obama record on transparency […]
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13 February 2013
OGP Subcommittee Expected to Discuss Philippines, FOI
A subcommittee of the Open Government Partnership is expected this week to discuss whether the OGP should signal its disappointment with the Philippines government for failing to pass freedom of information legislation. The request from FOI advocates poses a challenge to OGP officials, who have said that criticizing governments is not an OGP function. The […]
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11 February 2013
Australian Documents Show Very Slight Interest in OGP
Australia’s timid thoughts on whether to join to the Open Government Partnership are now revealed in a handful of government documents released to Australian blogger Peter Timmins, who sees some recent hints that Australia might join. The internal assessments, beginning in May of 2012, exhibit what Timmins calls “limited safe within the square thinking.” One document observes […]
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4 February 2013
Last OGP Action Plans to Be Presented in April Meeting
Eleven countries will present their Open Government Partnership national action plans at a meeting April 24 in London, according to OGP officials. The presentations will mean that all but one of the 58 OGP member countries will have submitted the plans that embody their commitments to more open governance. Argentina, the most recent country to […]
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25 January 2013
OGP Continues Steps for Reviews of Action Plans
The Open Government Partnership has opened 2013 with a call for the independent reviewers who will evaluate the first eight national action plans. The hiring and training reviewers will be finished by the end of March if things go as planned. By late October, when the OGP will hold its second annual meeting, the first […]
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21 January 2013
Scotland FOI Modifications Disappoint Reformers
The Scottish Parliament has passed amendments to the freedom of information law, but only made what critics called a “timid” move toward expanding its scope as sought by reformers. The bill approved Jan. 16 would strengthen enforcement against destruction of documents and unify at 15 years the time frame for releasing historical documents. However, it would not extend the […]
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15 January 2013
OGP Seeks to Recruit New Steering Committee Members
The Open Government Partnership is moving to add new members to its Steering Committee, which has turned out to be a touchy challenge. Incumbent government members have been reluctant to leave. A significant step forward occurred Jan. 15 when the OGP issued a public call for nominations of civil society leaders interested in serving on the OGP […]
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21 December 2012
OGP to Recruit Two More Senior IRM Advisors
The Open Government Partnership will pick two more senior advisors to help guide the Independent Review Mechanism by which national action plans will be evaluated, according to recently published minutes of an OGP Steering Committee meeting held Dec. 4 in London. The OGP will seek nominations from Asia and Latin America. The two additional senior […]
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20 December 2012
New Zealand Viewed Joining OGP as Resource Drain
Joining the Open Government Partnership was viewed as a low priority and a potential drain on resources in a memo prepared in February 2012 within the New Zealand government. New Zealand has not joined the OGP. This prompted Andrew Ecclestone, a researcher and consultant on freedom of information, to request documents relevant to the government’s deliberations […]
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7 December 2012
OGP Picks Five Persons as IRM Technical Experts
Five persons, mostly academics, have been chosen as the five technical experts who will help guide the Open Government Partnership’s Independent Review Mechanism (IRM), along with three senior advisors named earlier. The technical experts are: – South African researcher Debbie Budlender, – U.S. professor Jonathan Fox, – Indian research fellow Yamini Aiyar, – U.K. research fellow […]