If you haven’t read the recent terrific posts from Tom Steinberg over at mySociety and Tiago Peixoto worrying about the labeling confusion around open government/data/everything, you should. They raise important points about the naming conventions we “practitioners” use and abuse to describe the novelty of our work. Tom has concerns about the fact that as…
DetailsThough not a new debate, it’s worth revisiting the core arguments around what can or should come first: open data or open government? I was jolted into this discussion again after haphazardly glancing at the World Bank-sponsored “crowd sourcing” process to stimulate ideas for how to make a Smart Rwanda (yes, you can groan a…
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“Nobody is listening to your telephone calls,” said a defiant President Obama—now in full damage control mode—to a crowd Friday in California. Unfortunately for the administration, the claim is too little, too late. Had the disclosure come at the program’s inception and been justified as a way to prevent attacks at home and overseas, perhaps…
DetailsThe nomination of Open Government Partnership architect Samantha Power for US Ambassador to the United Nations represents a tremendous opportunity to promote government transparency and accountability around the world, especially in those countries not yet part of the nascent initiative. (Disclaimer: Jeremy Weinstein, who sits on our board, also worked closely with Power in launching…
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The Associated Press just published a fascinating investigation into the use of secret, non-public email addresses by senior US government officials. While the AP has yet to uncover a smoking gun suggesting that the alternate emails were being used to deliberately evade disclosure of information under US Freedom of Information laws, the controversy raises important…
DetailsLast week, Global Integrity was selected as a runner-up for the Omidyar Network Award, an award given out by the Omidyar Network to grantee organizations “who are collaborating with one another in exciting ways as well as those who are exemplifying the values of the network in their own sectors and communities.” We were flattered…
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