Creating a Commons for Europe
Inspired by programs such as Code For America, the newly-formed Commons4Europe program is working with seven cities to bring together government administrations, digital innovators, volunteers and local businesses to develop and push a civic transformation program. Esteve Almirall and Carles Ferreiro from the Commons4EU consortium, based in Barcelona, Spain, explain the integrated approach they’re taking to innovation and development across a diverse range of civic cultures.
Counting down to the Open Gov News Challenge 2013
As the deadline for submissions approaches for the News Challenge on Open Government, John Bracken, the Knight Foundation’s Director of Media Innovation shares his observations on the journey so far and provides some insights for making project submissions, as well as how everyone can contribute to this timely Challenge to accelerate better ways that government and citizens can interact.
Open Government: Launching Knight News Challenge 2013
Ahead of taking formal applications, an “inspiration phase” has been launched for the 2013 Knight News Challenge. Some $5 million of Knight Foundation funding will be announced in June for innovative projects around Open Government.
Helping governments understand the information economy
How can ICT-fuelled trade and economic development help build sustainable communities? The United Nations Commission on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) focuses on innovative ways to improve living standards through trade, investment, finance and technology, particularly for developing countries.
Escalating open government for the Francophone world
Jean-François Gauthier and Mario Asselin from Démocratie Ouverte discuss how they have been working with the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) as well as their colleagues across the French speaking world to support Governments to broaden and deepen the opengov and open democracy movement.
Control and trust: the future of governance
The electronic government landscape is increasingly pointing towards a diffusion of power, and an increased role and voice for citizens in public decision-making. Tomasz Janowski from the UNU-IIST Center for Electronic Governance discusses some of the global trends that he is observing: participatory democracy, the increased regulation of new service delivery channels and the need for leadership in ICT services, challenging the notion of what “whole of government” really means in practice.
The ongoing eGovernment evolution
With the emergence of new trends like open government and open data, there is a perception by many that eGovernment is yesterday’s news, and has largely been completed. In a candid conversation, Barbara-Chiara Ubaldi, head of the OECD’s eGovernment unit, explains that there is much work still to be done to bring eGovernment into the daily work of the public sector.
Open Government: Real world cases; Real innovation
Beyond the buzz, for many agencies the journey to open government and open data is tempered by a need to see and understand the evidence of benefits.
The Semantic Web: Data linked to data = New insights
In 2001 Professor Jim Hendler jointly conceptualised the semantic web along with Tim Berners-Lee and Ora Lassila. When he invented the World Wide Web, Berners-Lee always envisaged it as highly linked, and the idea of the semantic web – a web of linked data with meaning – is now emerging as a reality.
Open Government and trustworthy records
Digital public sector recordkeeping is one of the unsung cornerstones in the open government and open data discussion.
Dr Anne Thurston talks about past and current challenges of digital recordkeeping and preservation for government – particularly in developing countries. She also highlights how the open government movement holds opportunities for the public sector recordkeeping profession.
