Posts Tagged ‘open government partnership’
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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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3 December 2012
Perfect Score Club at OGP Has 16 Members Out of 58
Sixteen of the 58 members of the Open Government Partnership have the highest score they could have achieved on the OGP eligibility criteria, according to a FreedomInfo.org tally. Or, looked at another way, 42 countries did not get the top rating, although eligible to join. Eleven countries rated a 16 on the 16 point, four […]
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3 December 2012
OGP Names Three Members to Review Mechanism
The Open Government Partnership on Nov. 30 announced three senior advisors to lead the Independent Reporting Mechanism The OGP chose: – Mary Robinson, Ireland’s first female President and former UN High Commissioner for Refugees, – Mo Ibrahim, a Sudanese-born entrepreneur, and – Graca Machel, a Mozambican politician and wife of Nelson Mandela. They will serve on […]
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29 November 2012
OGP to Focus on Reviews, Finances at London Meeting
The Open Government Partnership is running a little behind on country action plan reviews and needs member countries to come through with contributions to support a growing agenda. These and other topics are on the packed agenda for a Dec. 4 London Steering Committee meeting, according to documents released in advance. The goals of the […]
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19 November 2012
UK OGP Officials Exploring Corporate Transparency
Officials in the United Kingdom who are managing the UK’s leadership stint with the Open Government Partnership are exploring how to place more emphasis on corporate transparency. While always an area in which member countries were encouraged to make commitments, corporate transparency was rarely addressed in the national action plans. UK officials are at the early […]
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19 November 2012
President Obama Says Myanmar Plans to Join OGP
U.S. President Barack Obama Nov. 19 said he welcomed Myanmar’s intention to join the Open Government Partnership. In advance of Obama’s arrival, the Myanmar government pledged to join the OGP by 2016. Obama cited the move during a speech at the University of Yangon in Rangoon, saying, “And I very much welcome your government’s recent […]
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12 November 2012
OGP Plans December Meetings in London
The Open Government Partnership Steering Committee has scheduled a Dec. 4 meeting to consider a variety of organization topics, including fine-tuning its independent review mechanism and possibly settling on a revised strategic plan. Public comments on both matters were just posted on the OGP website. Also posted was a long summary of the civil society […]
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9 November 2012
Five ‘Late’ Governments Report on OGP Activities
Five governments that missed the April deadline to submit their Open Government Partnership national action plans have either submitted plans or are working on them, according to information provided by the OGP to FreedomInfo.org. The plans for two of the countries – Azerbaijan and Macedonia – are now posted (look under “related files”). The other […]
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6 November 2012
Argentina Joins OGP, Becomes 58th Member
Argentina has committed to join the Open Government Partnership, bringing OGP membership to 58. A short notice posted on the OGP website Nov. 6 links to the brief letter dated Oct. 29 from the Argentine government. Argentina will become the 58th country to participate in OGP, and the 14th from Latin America. “OGP welcomes Argentina’s […]
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2 November 2012
Ghana Parliament Adjourns Without Passing FOI Law
Ghana recently held public meetings on its overdue national action plan as a member of the Open Government Partnership and is nearing creation of an open data portal, but parliament just adjourned without fulfilling the promise of the ruling party to pass a right to information law. The ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), Ghana’s new president and […]
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1 November 2012
Peruvian Group Forms to Monitor OGP Efforts
The Working Group of the Alliance for Open Government in Peru on Oct. 25 announced the creation of a matrix of indicators to assist in monitoring the implementation of the national action plan the Peruvian government created as a member of the Open Government Partnership. The membership of the working group includes members from the […]
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31 October 2012
OGP Selects Linda Frey to Be New Executive Director
The Open Government Partnership Oct. 31 announced that Linda Frey of the Hewlett Foundation will be the new OGP Executive Director. The same announcement also says Joseph Foti is the OGP’s Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM) Program Manager. (See previous FreedomInfo.org report.) Further expansion is in the offing. Job postings are now on the OGP website for […]
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29 October 2012
OGP May Modify Selection Plan for CSO Leadership
The Open Government Partnership is considering a substantially simplified system for selecting new civil society members for the OGP Steering Committee. Instead of planned elections, the OGP has proposed creating a selection committee to pick new members. Public comments on the plan were requested in an OGP Twitter message that announced the “rotation note” proposal. […]
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19 October 2012
OGP Picks Joe Foti as IRM Program Manager
The Open Government Partnership has chosen Joe Foti, formerly with the environmental group World Resources Institute, as the program manager for the Independent Review Mechanism. Foti, who will start Oct. 22, was Senior Associate with the Institutions and Governance Program at WRI. According to information on the WRI website, he was the lead author of […]
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16 October 2012
OGP SC Addresses Evaluations, Eligibility
The Open Government Partnership Steering Committee has indicated a “strong endorsement” of efforts to encourage member countries to improve their scores on the basic eligibility criteria for membership. The Steering Committee’s opinion is revealed in newly released minutes for its meeting of Sept. 26 in New York City. The minutes also show that the Steering […]
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15 October 2012
FOI Notes: Proactive Disclosure, OGP, RTI Video, Argentina, Open Data
Proactive Disclosure: An article based on a recent lecture given in China by Mitchell W. Pearlman, former executive director of the Connecticut Freedom of Information Commission and is now a lecturer in media law at the University of Connecticut. Posted on the website of the U.S. National Freedom of Information Coalition. It concludes in part: […]
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12 October 2012
OGP Subcommittee Plans Guidance for Reviewers
The Open Government Partnership is moving toward providing some basic guidance for countries and independent experts on how to do their evaluations of the national action plans, according to recently released minutes of the Criteria and Standards Subcommittee meeting of Sept. 25. The OGP is expected to soon announce the membership of the International Expert […]
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26 September 2012
OGP Looks to Future at One Year Anniversary
Commemorating its one-year anniversary, the Open Government Partnership is continuing to wrestle with finding the right balance between carrots and sticks. The multilateral effort has attracted 57 members who together have made more than 300 specific commitments to improve transparency and open government in their national action plans. Speakers at the two-hour reception attended by […]
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26 September 2012
UK Proposes Four Top Priorities for OGP
The United Kingdom has proposed four top priorities for its upcoming year as the lead co-chair of the 57-nation Open Government Partnership. The UK list puts an emphasis on demonstrating the value of transparency and open governments while also addressing the strengthening of the OGP organizationally. The UK issued the list and requested comments on […]
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20 September 2012
U.S. Effort Impressive on OGP Plan, Group Says
The Obama administration has put an “impressive amount of effort” into fulfilling the commitments made in the U.S. national action plan, created as a member of the multilateral Open Government Partnership, according to an assessment by a watchdog group. The progress report by OpenTheGovernment.org and others organizations evaluates the administration’s implementation of the plan so […]