First European Open Data Summit: 5-7 May, Brussels
<http://www.followthemoney.eu/open-data-summit/>
By Jack Thurston, April 16, 2009
The people who brought European Union farm subsidy payments into the open
(and who are behind the FollowTheMoney.eu website) are proud to announce the
first European Open Data Summit, 5-7 May, in Brussels.
The Summit will bring together the farmsubsidy.org <http://farmsubsidy.org/>
team and leading lights in access to information, investigative and
computer-assisted reporting and 'civic hacking' for three days of intensive
collaboration, very much with an emphasis on getting things done. We will
take stock of recent moves towards greater transparency in the EU publish a
new inventory of European open data and work on new democracy and
transparency websites. The Summit itself is invitation-only but it will
conclude with a press conference / briefing session at the International
Press Centre, in the Residence Palace, from 2.15pm to 3.45pm. Commission
Vice-President Siim Kallas, who is responsible for the European Transparency
Initiative, will open the session and there will be short presentations from
Brigitte Alfter (wobbing.eu), Sara Hagermann (EU Vote Watch), Markus Knigge
(Pew Environment Group), Jana Mittermaier (Transparency International), Nils
Mulvad (farmsubsidy.org), and me, followed by a Q&A session.
Who we are
A network of journalists, researchers, activists and programmers working
together, across borders, to push the boundaries of government data
transparency in the EU.
What we do
We use our rights under access-to-information law to open up government-held
data to public scrutiny and make public data available in ways that are
useful to people. So far our work has mostly focussed on budget data but we
are expanding our work to other types of data.
Why we do it
We all have a right to know how what the government does on our behalf,
whether that means spending money or doing other things that affect our
everyday lives. National governments and EU institutions hold enormous
quantities of data, collected at our expense but too often kept secret.
Transparency is equally important in both in the fight against corruption
and the pursuit of better government and democracy.
Why a 'summit'?
Summits seem to be in fashion this year and we like the metaphor of scaling
a mountain of government data. Sometimes it really feels that way. And a few
of us like to climb real mountains too.
Where's the data?
In addition to the data we have already obtained on farm and fisheries
subsidies, we are building an inventory of data over here
<http://ckan.net/tag/read/eutransparency> .
Want to get involved?
Are you a database sleuth, investigative reporter, civic hacktivist, or an
expert in EU policies and institutions? Do you know where government data is
held and want help getting it out? Have you got a great idea for a democracy
or transparency website? Would like to take part in the Summit? If so, send
an email to summit {at} eutransparency(.)org
<mailto:summit%40eutransparency.org> explaining why or register your
interest on the project wiki <http://wiki.okfn.org/ckan/eutransparency/> ,
kindly hosted by the Open Knowledge Foundation. If you're not based in
Brussels and really can't afford to pay your own way, we may be able to help
with travel costs.
----
Mark Perkins MLIS, MCLIP
www.markperkins.info
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