13th March 2018 – Points of View, Scotland
Paul Bradley is Network Coordinator for Scotland’s Open Government Network and Scotland’s Sustainable Development Goals Network. Let’s assume that you think open government is a good idea. You’d be hard placed to find someone in Scotland who would say otherwise – open sounds better than closed, right? That may be so, but do…
12th March 2018 – News, Scotland
Imagine a country where decisions are honestly made, transparent and accountable, where outcomes cannot be bought or manipulated and where policy-making processes enhance democratic participation and connection. This Thursday, Open Government Networks across the UK will be coming together to host the Re-imagine Democracy conference. We want you to join us in the discussions as together we…
9th March 2018 – Northern Ireland, Points of View
Written by Colm Burns & David McBurney Conservative and DUP MPs trooped through the voting lobby of the House of Commons on Wednesday to prevent retrospective transparency on donations to political parties in Northern Ireland. With the Conservatives applying a three-line whip, the measure they were voting on – The Transparency of Donations & Loans…
7th March 2018 – News, Northern Ireland
The Northern Ireland Open Government Network welcome the intention to create transparency around donations, but are very disappointed that only donations from 1st July 2017 will be published. This goes against the agreement that all donations from January 2014 would be published. Although we welcome the opening of party political donations and see this as…
6th March 2018 – Points of View, Scotland
Original blog posted here. The pace of progress must accelerate to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). That’s according to the latest report from the UN on progress across the world. Now in our third year of action, these words ring true for Scotland as well. Our country’s commitment to the SDGs will be shown by the…
6th March 2018 – Meeting notes, Scotland
Open Rights Group: https://www.openrightsgroup.org 1. Reason for this round-table SG consultation on electoral reform, including options around e-voting: https://consult.gov.scot/elections/electoral-reform/ 2. Initial thoughts Elections must be secure verifiable (trustworthy and accurate, recountable) anonymous (to prevent vote-buying, coercion etc). No-one has achieved all three of these. There is secure online banking, but this isn’t a worthwhile analogy…
5th March 2018 – News, Northern Ireland, Points of View
Ruchir Shah from the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations explores why we need to #reimaginedemocracy for 2018 On Thursday March 15th next week, a stramash of people frustrated with the way political decisions are made will descend on the Mac in Belfast. They will be binded by their concern for democracy, and the way in…
5th March 2018 – Meeting notes, Scotland
As we move towards wider discussions on what Scotland’s next Open Government Action Plan should cover we would appreciate your help and feedback on how best to frame those discussions. We know from speaking to people that it’s not always easy to understand the links between Open Government and your own areas of interest or…
26th February 2018 – Northern Ireland, Points of View
Written by Colm Burns There are many perceptions of our Executive and Assembly; one of them probably isn’t that they are transparent or accountable. Yet in 2016 our Executive signed up to four commitments to help them become more open: Commitment 1: Develop & trial effective open policy-making and public engagement methods Commitment 2: Promote…
26th February 2018 – News, United Kingdom
A letter was sent to Minister Oliver Dowden on 15th February to congratulate the government’s progress with implementing Commitment 6 of the 2016-18 National Action Plan on collecting and publishing more granular data on grantmaking in line with the 360Giving Standard. The data published includes information on grants totalling £4 billion, and has been released…