en.europa-eu-audience

Value of Public Sector Information

This is a collection of papers, articles, studies etc that look into the economics and value of public sector information (PSI).

http://community.ands.org.au/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=381&sid=9ba054b9b25272a0ba157d3afcab6f0f 

 

Public Consultation on access to information and open government data

Source: http://access-info.org/es/open-government-data

 

Access Info Europe and the Open Knowledge Foundation, in collaboration with the Open Society Institute Information Program, are holding a public consultation on open government data and the right of access to information.

This consultation is based on a new report "Beyond Access: Open Government Data and the 'Right to Reuse'" produced as a result of research into the open government data and access to information movements. The report identifies the practical, technical and legal challenges facing these movements. The report is based on discussions with activists about the main issues to be address in the next couple of years, questions such as whether a right of access is linked to a "right to reuse" the data received.

You can download the full report here  http://access-info.org/es/open-government-data  

Consultation: we would like to hear your comments on the "Beyond Access" report.

• » Did we miss any important initiatives?
• » Are there issues we should include?
• » Are you doing something you'd like us to capture in the report?
• » Do you agree with our findings and recommendations?

There are two ways to make comments:

1. Fill in our questionnaire on the report by clicking here.

2. Make comments on the individual paragraphs at WritetoReply.org/beyondaccess

Consultation closes on Monday 11 October 2010

 

The OpenCongress Voters' Toolbox

The midterm elections will be held this Tuesday, Nov. 2nd. With all the partisan half-truths being thrown at voters from all sides these days, at OpenCongress we want to help you find some actual facts about your congressional races.

On OpenCongress, you can learn about your current members of Congress, see all the candidates running in your district, and now -- watch the campaign ads running near you on our new AdTracker project.

Take a moment to check out the links below, and please pass this email along to help more voters make their decision with the best factual information out there. We're a non-profit and non-partisan public resource, independent from Congress and any political party.

To find who your current senators and representative are, use our zipcode look-up tool.

1) RaceTracker - See who the candidates are, learn about their positions, and get a snapshot of the fundraising race. This is a collaborative wiki project, so if you have information about a particular candidate, this is a great place to add your knowledge and share it on a fully-referenced, free and open-source platform.

2) AdTracker - In the wake of the Supreme Court's "Citizens United" decision allowing outside groups to spend unlimited money on campaign ads, it's more important than ever that we have transparency in how these ads are affecting the election and exactly how they're funded. AdTracker is a wiki project for tracking and watching all the ads in congressional races across the country and providing background info who's sponsoring them. It provides a unique view into the advocacy work of low-profile independent political groups.

3) Voting Records - We typically find out about candidates' voting records when they are being spun by their competitors, but on OpenCongress it is possible (and easy) to look at the actual vote data yourself. From your senators' and representative's profile pages, click the "Votes" tab and search for any topics you're interested in. Looking at the actual data gives you a more accurate picture of how your lawmakers really voted on the issues that matter to you. To find more votes, check out our one-of-a-kind listing of Hot Bills by Issue Area.

4) Compare Votes - In this election more than in most, independence from party leadership is considered an especially important trait. Our head-to-head vote comparison tool gives you a view of party loyalty that you can’t get elsewhere. Compare the voting records of any two senators or representatives to see how often they vote with their colleagues and on what votes in particular they agree or disagree.

5) Bill sponsorship - In addition to vote records, it's important to look at the bills your incumbent candidate has proposed. From senator and representative profile pages, click the "bills" tab to browse or search all sponsored and co-sponsored bills. Even more than votes, the bills lawmakers support are indicative of their overall vision and ideology.

6) Money - Last but not least, take a second to look at your candidates' campaign funding sources. Time and again it's been show that campaign finances are directly related to how members of Congress vote. Click the "Money Trail" tab on your senators' and representative’s profile pages to see which industries and special-interest groups have donated to them. This is who they'll likely owe favors to if elected to Congress in the next session.

If you need help finding out where to vote on Nov. 2nd, try this simple tool from Google and the New Organizing Institute. We sincerely hope the resources in this email help you make a satisfying decision at the voting booth. To help us continue our not-for-profit, non-partisan, free and open-source work bringing transparency to Congress, consider giving a donation. We can’t do it without you. 

 

Budget Information: Comparative Testing Study

We believe this is the most extensive cross-country exercise to access public budget information ever conducted. The six questions focus on three thematic areas closely related to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, maternal health, development assistance and the environment. 

Read more on the source :

http://www.law-democracy.org/?p=25

 

PREMIS for Digital Preservation

Source: http://www.digitalpreservation.gov/library/challenge/premis.html (LOC)

October 2010 - Behind every digital object, there is usually metadata with descriptive information about the object.  But the library world is all too aware that metadata for access and discovery is no longer enough.  Now, digital library professionals are looking to the future with an eye towards preservation, not only needing to preserve the digital objects themselves but also the valuable metadata that goes along with it.

Enter PREMIS, which stands for Preservation Metadata: Implementation Strategies. According to the publication Understanding PREMIS [pdf, 543 kb],written by Priscilla Caplan and issued by the Library of Congress, preservation metadata "supports activities intended to ensure the long-term usability of a digital resource."  

Read more  http://www.digitalpreservation.gov/library/challenge/premis.html

 

Library Linked Data Incubator Group Charter

Source: Figoblog http://www.figoblog.org/node/1995

The mission of the Library Linked Data Incubator Group is to help increase global interoperability of library data on the Web, by bringing together people involved in Semantic Web activities—focusing on Linked Data—in the library community and beyond, building on existing initiatives, and identifying collaboration tracks for the future.

The group will explore how existing building blocks of librarianship, such as metadata models, metadata schemas, standards and protocols for building interoperability and library systems and networked environments, encourage libraries to bring their content, and generally re-orient their approaches to data interoperability towards the Web, also reaching to other communities. It will also envision these communities as a potential major provider of authoritative datasets (persons, topics...) for the Linked Data Web. As these evolutions raise a need for a shared standardization effort within the library community around (Semantic) Web standards, the group will refine the knowledge of this need, express requirements for standards and guidelines, and propose a way forward for the library community to contribute to further Web standardization actions.

The incubator group has been initiated by actors from national libraries, university libraries and research units, library vendors companies and other interested stakeholders. Its scope is however not limited to libraries as institutions, but is meant to involve other cultural heritage institutions, partners from the publishing industry, and other relevant domains.

Join the Library Linked Data Incubator Group.

 

“E-couch potatoes”

Source: http://greatemancipator.com/2010/10/20/e-couch-potatoes/ The Great E-mancipator 

The E-government Bulletin issue 321 (12 October 2010) picks up on some research from Brunel University about to be published in the Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy journal.

What caught my eye were the final two paragraphs of the piece:

“Overall, the research suggests that popular issues generate significant activity in the social networking sphere that does not translate into petition signatures. In responding to petitions, officials and elected representatives need to consider how representative the petition is of wider public opinion. Traditionally, media activity around a petition has added to its weight but now perhaps social network activity should also be seen as indication of broader public sympathy.

It seems that the fact that internet users embrace technologies such as social networks for ad hoc political expression doesn’t mean that they will demonstrate equal support for formal political initiatives, even if they are concerned about them.”

Personally I find this significant. With all the coverage that social media will regenerate a politically indolent society, this seems to indicate that it applies as long as you don’t expect people to get off their backsides and do something! As someone who has been active within the community for decades this explains a lot about what is happening, it’s OK as long as you only want a virtual community. Welcome to the Matrix!

 

 

The role of communication rights in the democratization of the EU

Source : Downloaded from UvA-DARE, the Institutional Repository of the University of Amsterdam (UvA)

http://dare.uva.nl/document/156780

Abstract􏰁 

The􏰁supranational􏰁architecture􏰁of􏰁the􏰁European􏰁Communities􏰁(EC)􏰁which􏰁gives􏰁direct􏰁effect􏰁to􏰁 its􏰁 law􏰁 combined􏰁 with􏰁 the􏰁 indirect􏰁 legitimation􏰁 of􏰁 European􏰁 Union􏰁 (EU)􏰁 decision􏰂making􏰁 bodies􏰁 other􏰁 than􏰁 the􏰁 European􏰁 Parliament􏰁 have􏰁 posed􏰁 challenges􏰁 to􏰁 “traditional”􏰁 conceptions􏰁 of􏰁 democracy􏰁 that􏰁warrant􏰁 normative􏰁 re􏰂thinking􏰁 of􏰁 its􏰁 core􏰁 assumptions􏰁 and,consequently,􏰁the􏰁notion􏰁of􏰁citizenship􏰁itself.􏰁􏰁 It􏰁is􏰁argued􏰁here􏰁that􏰁in􏰁order􏰁to􏰁alleviate􏰁what􏰁has􏰁been􏰁termed􏰁the􏰁“democratic􏰁deficit”􏰁of􏰁 the􏰁 Union,􏰁 it􏰁 will􏰁 be􏰁 mandatory􏰁 to􏰁 supplement􏰁 the􏰁 ongoing􏰁 legal􏰁 constitutionalism􏰁 with􏰁 political􏰁 constitutionalism􏰁 (Bellamy,􏰁 2001)􏰁 that􏰁 emphasizes􏰁 the􏰁 opportunities􏰁 of􏰁 active􏰁 participation􏰁 of􏰁 European􏰁 citizens􏰁 in􏰁 constituting􏰁 themselves􏰁 in􏰁 an􏰁 ongoing􏰁 process􏰁 of􏰁 disagreement,􏰁 dialogue􏰁 and􏰁 compromise.􏰁 A􏰁 deliberative􏰁 approach􏰁 to􏰁 European􏰁 democracy􏰁 constitutes􏰁 the􏰁 basis􏰁 of􏰁 the􏰁 present􏰁 argument􏰁 which􏰁 concludes􏰁 by􏰁proposing􏰁that􏰁communication􏰁rights􏰁ought􏰁to􏰁be􏰁conceived􏰁of􏰁not􏰁only􏰁as􏰁fundamental􏰁human􏰁rights,􏰁but􏰁as􏰁citizenship􏰁rights􏰁in􏰁evolving􏰁models􏰁of􏰁supranational􏰁democratic􏰁legitimacy.

 

Personal Democracy Forum (PdF) the European way

Source : http://personaldemocracy.com/

Posted on 12/10/2010 by Bente Kalsnes

 

An overview of the last PdForum  by the OpenCongress

 

For several years, Personal Democracy Forum has been my favorite conference. It’s been the place where I’ve gotten most inspiration, met most like-minded people, felt incredible welcomed and always got my mind challenged. This was also the case at the recent PdF Europe in Barcelona. But more than before, especially compared with last year, it felt like the conference was on its own home turf … 

Read more on http://personaldemocracy.com/

 

The Pitfalls of Email, The Power of Openness

Source: http://www.opencongress.org/articles/view/2086-The-Pitfalls-of-Email-The-Power-of-Openness

An interesting post issued by OpenCongress

October 21, 2010 - by Donny Shaw

Here’s a scary indicator of the state of politics. Of all the substantial legislation has gone through Congress this session that people might be reviewing as the midterms approach — i.e. health care reform, financial reform, stimulus measures — the two bills people are viewing most often these days on on OpenCongress are outlandish, non-viable proposals that have no support and no chance of being taken seriously by congressional leaders, ever. These bills are getting twice as much attention as the new health care law, and five times the attention of financial reform. In fact, the closer we get to the midterms, the more attention they get.

The most-viewed bill in the past few weeks is Rep. Chaka Fattah’s [D, PA-2] Debt Free America Act, which would replace the income tax with a new tax on all financial transactions, including paying with cash. The second most-viewed bill is Rep. Bobby Rush’s [D, IL-1] Blair Holt Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act, which would set up a nationwide gun licensing system and prohibit the ownership of unlicensed guns. As we’ve discussed several times on this blog, the attention paid to these bills is mainly the result of a gross misunderstanding of what bills in Congress are.

This bill-view data is just one illustration of how misinformation, propaganda and irrational fear drives politics. Of course, there’s nothing new about this. It stems from long-standing issues in our society — the inadequacy of our civics education programs, the corruption in government that leads to general mistrust, the failures of the mainstream media, and the lack of openness in government data that has stunted the development of online civic engagement.

Visitors to these bill pages are coming via search, and Snopes.com has documented the kind of chain emails that spread all the false information. To me, the fact that this stuff tends to spread over email is a testament to the value of open, public communication. If the same text was posted as a blog post, it wouldn’t spread. Indeed, no blogs with any kind of reach have reported on these bills. When the conversation is public and open to public comment, the wisdom of the crowds tends to keep the bad information in check. The technical features of email make it almost impossible for someone with valuable information to keep bad information from going viral. With email, people can choose to forward or not, but they can’t influence the decisions of other recipients. Activists off all stripes have known this and used it for years.

The good news is that this seems to be a generational issue. Surveys show that the older people are, the more likely they are to use email for engaging in politics. The younger they are, the more likely they are to use blogging and social networking for politics. Millenials seems to “get” the value of open networks in a way that older generation, in general, don’t. It’s a good sign for the future of political discourse, but in the meantime it’s important to monitor where and how people are engaging in Congress, and politics at large, and do the time-honored work of educating and demystifying.