News from the OpeningParliament.org community:
In Argentina, a group of NGOs and members from both houses of congress launched a working group on legislative transparency in May. Shortly after, a summit was held in Buenos Aires to showcase regional experiences regarding legislative transparency. At the summit, members of both chambers agreed to introduce legislation to modernize their access to information policies.
In Paraguay, an access to information bill was passed in the Chamber of Deputies after a controversial amendment making it easier for the government to withhold certain types of information was removed. The bill now returns to the Senate, which passed a similar version earlier this year.
In France, Regards Citoyens and Sciences Po launched a new project, La Fabrique De La Loi, which hosts tools to analyze parliamentary debates and track the evolution of bills throughout the legislative process. The project utilizes public data in order to shed light on parliamentary procedures and their impact on the lawmaking process.
In Morocco, SimSim-Civic Participation will launch Nouabook.ma this week, Morocco’s first website to facilitate citizen engagement with parliament.
In Hungary, the government included K-Monitor on a list of “problematic” NGOs that are routinely critical of the government. The list follows a disagreement between the government and Norway Grants, the organization that funds many of the organizations, several of which were recently raided by government officials.
In Kenya, Mzalendo made each member of parliament’s hansard record available directly on their site. Mzalendo also launched #InTheirWords, a social media initiative to crowdsource a list of top issues covered by each MP, in addition to both amusing and politically significant quotations.
In Nepal, Local Interventions and several other groups working on open data and transparency issues opened the first international OpenGov Hub, a co-working space that brings together and encourages increased interaction between organizations working toward greater government transparency and openness.
In Mexico, the organizations Congreso Ciudadano de Jalisco and Observatorio Legislativo created a new platform in April called Haz tu Ley, or “Make Your Law.” Through an agreement with the Citizens’ Movement Party, the project allows citizens to develop and submit legislative initiatives to the Jalisco State Congress.
In the European Union, ALTER - EU, a coalition of European NGOs pushing for lobbying transparency, secured the signatures of 174 newly elected Members of the European Parliament who have committed to “stand up for citizens and democracy against the excessive lobbying influence of banks and big business.”
In Ukraine, the OPORA Network will conduct an assessment of local councils in 13 cities in order to produce a local government transparency index. The index will include recommendations for improving local governance practices and aims to encourage officials to be more transparent, and for communities to assert their “right to know.”
In India, with focus shifting from national to upcoming state elections, PRS Legislative Research highlighted troubling performance indicators in various state assemblies, concluding that “Inadequate number of sitting days, lack of discussion on Bills, and passing of the Budget and demands for grants without discussion are symptoms of institutional ennui and do not do justice to the enormous import of these legislative bodies.”
In Greece, Vouliwatch launched in March. The organization will use a digital platform to engage Greek citizens with legislative politics by enabling them to communicate with and evaluate their MPs and MEPs. Read more about their work here.
In Tunisia, Al Bawsala submitted a series of proposals on open data, parliamentary transparency and citizen participation to the national public consultation website for Tunisia’s OGP action plan. OGP Dialogue, the review process for civil society recommendations, began May 28 and will culminate June 20-21 with an event attended by CSOs, government representatives, and OGP Support Unit Staff.
Other related news:
In the United Kingdom, the British Parliament launched an open data portal. The website is currently an alpha version containing limited data, but users can stay informed about the release of future datasets and the platform’s progress on the website’s blog. Meanwhile, the parliament’s Rapid Apps Team launched a Members Data Portal that shows the results of recent votes in the House of Commons and House of Lords.
In South Africa, the Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) began exploring the feasibility of launching an open data portal with a call for applications for organizations that will conduct a study of the country’s readiness for such a project. The country declared its intention for such a portal earlier, through an OGP Commitment and its National Development Plan, as a means to fight corruption and further the objectives of the Promotion of Access to Information Act.
In the Philippines, the first crowdsourced bill, The Magna Carta for Philippine Internet Freedom, has received strong support within the House of Representatives ICT committee, but will likely require separation into several consolidated bills in order to be passed.
In Germany, the Senate hosted the 4th Berlin Open Data Day. This year the event focused on constructing content management tools that can make public information more accessible to citizens.
France recently created the position of State Chief Data Officer, with the responsibility, among others, to ensure the production of essential data, initiate data-driven experiments to improve governance, and serve as an open data evangelist within government.
Resources:
The Transparency & Accountability Initiative published a new guide called “Fundamentals for Using Technology in Transparency and Accountability Organisations.” The guide features numerous recommendations on how to implement technology and evaluate its impact in accountability work. A webinar series that expands upon the recommendations will be held this summer.
Stephanie Evergreen and Anne Emery produced a Data Visualization Checklist for the development of high impact visualizations.
During Transparency Camp 2014, the GovLab launched a Tech-Policy Dictionary, a prototype crowdsourced guide that aims to help both tech and policy communities better understand terms and concepts that are frequently used by each other.
A user’s guide for monitoring tech and accountability programming was released by WeGov and the engine room. The guide addresses the lack of best practice information targeted at small tech for accountability initiatives and offers how to develop tailored monitoring and evaluation strategies, taking into account the unique restraints and limited resources many of these organizations face.
JumpStart Georgia created Story Builder, a platform that helps organizations use data, pictures, and text to create mixed media stories as a compelling alternative to lengthy research reports. The platform’s code is open source and available for anyone to use.
Events:
June 16: The GovLab will hold the second part of its online unconference #Crowdlaw. To register or learn about takeaways from the first session, see here.
July 15-17: The Open Knowledge Foundation’s OKFestival 2014 will be held in Berlin.
