29th October 2015 – Points of View, United Kingdom
In my last post from the Open Government Partnership summit in Mexico this week I talked about the ‘magic of OGP’ being the focus on the collaborative development of national action plans. The trouble is that both the words ‘collaboration’ and, even more so, ‘magic’ hide a lot. As a result they aren’t that helpful for those not directly involved…
28th October 2015 – Points of View, Uncategorised, United Kingdom
A particular focus for a number of us who have made the trip over to Mexico City for the OGP Global Summit is how the OGP can be deepened to involve subnational governments and civil society. Indeed, tomorrow we’re hosting a session on “Taking OGP Subnational”, with participants including Colm Burns (Chair of the Northern…
28th October 2015 – Points of View, United Kingdom
One of the great things about the Open Government Partnership is the principle that member countries are all on an equal footing, all have something to learn from each other and all share the goal of working to achieve more open governments worldwide. In other words, OGP is a community. In the words of…
28th October 2015 – Points of View, United Kingdom
The Open Government Partnership (OGP) Summit kicked off yesterday with 1000 civil society activists from 94 countries attending the pre-summit Civil Society Organisation (CSO) Day. There were some genuinely rousing and moving speeches. We heard lots of powerful stories highlighting how the OGP is making a significant difference to the way member governments do business…
27th October 2015 – News, Uncategorised, United Kingdom
Open Government Network member, OpenCorporates, has released a new paper outlining how open company data was used to uncover the powerful elite benefiting from Myanmar’s multi-billion dollar jade industry. Today, we’re pleased to release a white paper on how OpenCorporates data was used to uncover the powerful elite benefiting from Myanmar’s multi-billion dollar jade industry, in a…
27th October 2015 – Points of View, United Kingdom
I’m writing this having just got off the plane that took to the Open Government Partnership Summit in Mexico. It’s never a good sign when the person next to you spots what you are writing and decides to challenge you on how useless democracy is. How money has corrupted democracy and it is just a…
22nd October 2015 – Meeting notes, News, Scotland
The Scottish Government, along with Northern Ireland and Wales, have agreed to make commitments in the UK’s new OGP Action plan. The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations is therefore working with support from the UK Open Government Civil Society Coordinator to coordinate Scottish civil society input to the OGP plan and build the momentum around OGP action in…
22nd October 2015 – Meeting notes, Northern Ireland
15th October 2015 – Northern Ireland, Points of View
15th October 2015 – News, United Kingdom
The Campaign for Freedom of Information and ARTICLE 19 are holding a briefing meeting for NGOs and media organisations on the consultation paper published by the Commission on Freedom of Information. The consultation suggests the Commission is considering sweeping changes to restrict the FOI Act, including: imposing charges for requests making it easier to refuse…