Posts Tagged ‘transparency research’
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7 May 2012
Cambodians Want Right to Information Study Says
More than 80 percent of Cambodians want the right to access government information and believe that government, including elected bodies, should publish national budget and spending information, according to a new survey by the Cambodian Center for Independent Media. Cambodia does not have a FOI law. The research was commissioned by the Cambodia Centre for […]
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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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23 April 2012
Local Bodies Score Better in Georgia Access Study
Access to information by local governments in Georgia is provided “at a higher level and commitment” than by the central government, according to a study by the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information. The latest study was the second phase of research using requests to numerous government bodies to gauge compliance with the law. […]
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13 April 2012
FOI NOTES: MENA, Canada, Open Data, US, UK
MENA: A new newsletter has been started to follow access to information developments in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Said Almadhoun, now a human rights officer at the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and an adjunct professor of law at the University of Palestine, writes about “the […]
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6 April 2012
FOI Notes: Constitutions, Research, Photos, More
Constitutions: The Centre for Law and Democracy has published a comparative report on international and comparative constitutional guarantees of the right to information. The report, “Entrenching RTI: An Analysis of Constitutional Protections of the Right to Information,” is part of CLD’s ongoing work to support right to information reform in Egypt. Social Media/FOI: An Australia […]
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12 March 2012
Reports Critically Assess RTI Performance in Indonesia
Two years after implementation of the Indonesian right to information law, several new reports look closely at how exemptions in the law are being handled and how three agencies are implementing the law. Government officials are still taking the same approach to disclosure as they did before the law, according to one report (English) (Indonesian), […]
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5 March 2012
Research Questions Obama Administration FOIA Policy
Research by The FOIA Project questions whether an early Obama administration policy shift has made any difference in the handling of freedom of information cases. In March 2009 the new administration issued a directive which set forth new “defensive standards” memo that reversed a Bush administration interpretation. Under the new standard, the Department of Justice […]
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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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10 February 2012
FOI Notes: Research in EU, US, Canada; Consultancy
Research: “Transparency and Trust. An experimental study of online disclosure and trust in government,” by Stephan van Grimmelikhuijsen. The full text can also be accessed via the link (warning: it is a large file). From abstract: “The experiments show that transparency is merely a ‘hygiene factor’: it does not contribute to higher levels of trust […]
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3 February 2012
FOI Training for Government Officials: Main Trends
By Natalia Torres Torres is Senior Researcher for the Center for Studies on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information (CELE) in Argentina. See this article in Spanish. CELE has just released a brief note on access to information training for government officials. The note, elaborated by Natalia Torres and Luis Esquivel, describes different approaches […]
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3 February 2012
Acceso a la información: principales tendencias en la capacitación de funcionarios
Por Natalia Torres Investigadora Principal del CELE El CELE acaba de publicar una breve documento sobre capacitación de funcionarios en acceso a la información pública. El documento, elaborado por Natalia Torres y Luis Esquivel, describe las diferentes estrategias utilizadas por los gobiernos para asegurar que sus funcionarios se encuentren preparados para la implementación de las […]
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31 January 2012
UN Body Planning Website on FOI, Data Protection
A United Nations body has requested advice on its plans to create an online platform concerning freedom of information and data protection. The platform (http://www.unpan.org/unpacs) also will cover other topics related to public administration. The call for comments is an “informal” outreach effort mainly designed to get input from civil society organizations and academics. The […]
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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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19 December 2011
Access to Information in Cyprus Poor, Study Finds
The official channels in Cyprus for releasing government information are weak and the public strongly favors improvements, according to the results of a recently completed study. The report was based on research, opinion surveys and consultations conducted by three nongovernmental organizations: Access Info Europe, Cyprus EU Association (KAB) and the Socio-political Studies Institute (IKME), as […]
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18 November 2011
Donor Group Plans $5 Million Transparency Research Effort
The Transparency?and ?Accountability Initiative is planning “a rigorous ?multi?year? research proposal?on? the? impact ?of ?T/A? interventions.” The London-based organization on Dec. 14 requested submissions?by?research or evaluation institutions or consortia to develop a project. The “budget envelope” is $5 million. “The ?aim ?is ?to ?fill ?critical ?gaps ?in ?our ?knowledge?about T/A [transparency and accountability] interventions? and […]
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4 October 2011
Few Requests for Information Answered, Global Study Says
Only one out of four requests for budget information made in 80 countries were fully answered, according to a study released Oct. 4. The monitoring effort was done by the Ask Your Government! 6 Question Campaign. 480 requests for budget information were submitted in 80 countries by a global network of civil society organizations. “No […]
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1 August 2011
FreedomInfo.org Publishes List of Blogs With FOI News
FreedomInfo.org has posted a list of 97 websites containing news about FOI developments, nationally and internationally. To qualify for this list, the blog or website needs to be pretty active and significantly focused on the subject of access to information whether it is called freedom of information (FOI), right to know (RTK), right to information […]
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24 June 2011
Detailed Reports Finds Weakneses in AfDB Policy
Obtaining information from the African Development Bank can be frustrating, according to researchers who visited the Bank’s website and went to Bank local offices. Their experiences informed a detailed study, the results of which have just been released. It was conducted for the Global Transparency Initiative by Idasa, an Africa democracy institute based in South Africa. […]
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24 May 2011
Donor Community Eager for Deeper Research, Tisne Says
Martin Tisne, program manager for the Transparency and Accountability Initiative, a research effort set up about a year ago by eight major funders to inform their work, suggested May 20 that considerable additional research is necessary, not only to understand the impact of FOI laws, but to know how change occurs. His remarks sparked some […]