16th May 2017
Members of the Open Government Network have written to Professor David Ormerod QC, the Law Commissioner for Criminal Law, in response to the consultation paper ‘Protection of Official Data’. The paper proposed changes to the Official Secret’s Act. You can read the full response below. Response to the Law Commission’s consultation: ‘Protection of Official Data’…
8th May 2017
The Open Government Network (OGN) has written to political parties ahead of next month’s General Election to call on them to make commitments to open government, particularly regarding the Brexit process. The letter is signed on the behalf of the OGN by its steering committee, and can be read in full below. Your party’s commitment…
20th April 2017
Present: Chris Skidmore MP, Minister for the Constitution Thom Townsend, Government Digital Service Will Gerry, Government Digital Service Tim Davies, Practical Participation Michelle Brook, The Democratic Society Rachel Davies Teka, Transparency International UK Gavin Freeguard, The Institute for Government Andrew Parsons, Public Concern at Work Tim Hughes, Involve Matt Harriott, Involve Introductions: The…
19th April 2017
Location: Central Working, 231-233 Deansgate, Manchester, M3 4EN Date: 15 March 2017 Introduction On 15th March members of the UK Open Government Network (OGN) steering committee met to discuss the next phase for the OGN. This note outlines the key outcomes and actions from the discussion. OGN members are invited to review the note and…
15th February 2017
On 1 February 2017, members of the OGN’s steering committee and government commitment leads met to review the implementation of the 2016-18 Open Government Action Plan and the UK OGP process. This note of the meeting was produced by the Cabinet Office. In addition: Progress updates on commitments can be found at: https://www.opengovernment.org.uk/resource/2016-18-open-government-action-plan-february-2017-commitment-progress-updates/ Links to engagement…
6th February 2017
Last week, the Institute for Government published our Whitehall Monitor 2017 annual report, which uses open data to chart the size, shape and performance of government in the UK, including on transparency. In short, we couldn’t compile such a report without government openness, but there are some worrying signs for the future. Our report wouldn’t…
6th January 2017
The Open Government Partnership’s (OGP) Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM) – which is charged with tracking the progress of countries on OGP – has just published its latest report for the UK for public consultation. This progress report, prepared by Ben Worthy from Birkbeck University, assesses the implementation of the commitments in the UK’s second open government action plan,…
21st December 2016
More than 3,000 people gathered in Paris from 7-9th December for the Open Government Partnership (OGP) Global Summit 2016 hosted by the Government of France. Over the 3 days there were dozens of workshops, pitches and panel discussions on themes ranging from transparency, accountability and anti-corruption to climate and sustainable development, the digital commons and…
16th December 2016
Open Government has its own buzzwords – open data, transparency, accountability, participation, scrutiny, anti-corruption, freedom of information, open contracting, digital commons etc. Just like any other policy community this shared language unites those involved, but from the outside it can appear to set a somewhat technocratic and procedural agenda. As someone relatively new to the…
16th December 2016
Last week the Open Government Partnership Global Summit was held in Paris, bringing together 3,000 representatives from more than 70 countries, including Heads of State, government ministers, mayors, civil society representatives, public servants, members of parliament, developers, researchers, and journalists. Two significant themes of the Summit – particularly showing up in the speeches of the OGP Support…