Near 3-Year Mark, Open Government Partnership Success Still Unclear
BY Jessica McKenzie | Thursday, May 29 2014
In a blog post earlier this week, Martin Tisne called the progress made by the Open Government Partnership “one of the best returns on investments we've had.” Bold words from the man who helped found the Open Government Partnership in 2011, and who now works as the Director of Policy for the Omidyar Network's Government Transparency initiative, which committed US$1,480,000 to the initiative in 2012.
Read MoreFirst POST: Hashing it Out
BY Micah L. Sifry | Tuesday, May 27 2014
How the #YesAllWomen hashtag erupted in response to the Santa Barbara killings; the Internet's broken business model; why tech companies are (mostly) losing in Congress; and much, much more. Read More
First POST: Oligarchs for a Little Less Corruption
BY Micah L. Sifry | Monday, April 21 2014
Sean Parker's plans to change US politics; the New York Times' front-pages mesh networking; the Pirate Times reviews the party's impact on the European Parliament; and much, much more. Read More
First POST: Privatization
BY Micah L. Sifry | Monday, December 2 2013
The latest ups and downs of HealthCare.gov; PandoDaily.com absurdly accuses Glenn Greenwald and Laura Poitras of "privatizing" the Snowden Files; and will robot watchmen and drone deliveries be coming to your neighborhood soon? Read More
At "Peak Open," Open Government Partnership Faces Default States of Closed
BY Alex Howard | Wednesday, November 6 2013
Incoming civil society chair of the OGP, Rakesh Rajani, far left (Photo: Alex Howard)
With the second annual Open Government Partnership summit now concluded, one longtime observer of the "open government" movement, Alex Howard, offers his overview of its achievements, shortcomings and challenges ahead. Read More
Open Thread: The Second Open Government Partnership Summit
BY Susannah Vila and Christopher Wilson | Tuesday, November 5 2013
Cabinet Office/flickr
The goal of the Open Government Partnership is to get governments to make (and carry out) concrete commitments that promote transparency, empower citizens, fight corruption, and harness new technologies to strengthen governance.
How’s that going? At the end of the month about 1,200 OGP participants came together for the initiative's third annual summit. Over the course of the event we shared analyses and documentation of the issues that made it onto the agenda, the lessons learned and the next steps. Click through for the latest update.
Read MoreFirst POST: Juggernautism
BY Micah L. Sifry | Monday, November 4 2013
Google chairman Eric Schmidt calls the NSA's actions "outrageous"; the inside story of how Beltway politics doomed the launch of HealthCare.gov; Comcast's bid to knock out Seattle's mayor; and much, much more. Read More
First POST: Peak Open?
BY Micah L. Sifry | Friday, November 1 2013
The latest reports from the Open Government Partnership summit in London; how big tech companies are responding to the NSA scandal; a Palestinian hacker who taught Facebook a lesson; and much, much more. Read More
First POST: Profanity
BY Micah L. Sifry | Thursday, October 31 2013
The Washington Post exposes the NSA's hacking of Google and Yahoo; the US promises, yet again, to overhaul its FOIA administration; the states start to pass their own new privacy laws; and much, much more. Read More
U.S. Commits, Yet Again, to Modernizing Administration of Freedom of Information Act
BY Alex Howard | Thursday, October 31 2013
Pictured is, from left to right, Rageh Omaar, ITV News; Tanzanian Pres. Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete; and Rakesh Rajani (Alex Howard)
As part of its participation in the international Open Government Partnership (OGP), which is now holding its annual summit this week in London, the United States government is committing to further open government data, improve its management of natural resources, engage citizens in innovation and, perhaps most significantly, modernize the administration of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). That last item is most important. The United States has had a FOIA law since 1966, and it was expanded after the Watergate scandals. It's a critical tool for the press to hold government accountable. Compliance with FOIA, however, has long been a mixed bag. Alex Howard reports from London. Read More