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IN ARMENIA & GEORGIA, DATA SITES MEANT TO BRING TRANSPARENCY TO GOV'T FACE UPHILL BATTLES
techPresident-
May 7 2014
BY Jessica McKenzie | Wednesday, May 7 2014
Young Georgians learn how to file a freedom of information request
in the video below
The website OpenData.ge launched at the end of February as a place
to store, organize and display freedom of information requests. It
is a collaborative effort of four Georgian NGOs with assistance from
the international NGO Huridocs, which works with organizations around
the globe to harness the power of information to advance human rights.
Georgia, however, has the advantage of relative government
cooperation. In neighboring Armenia an organization of journalists
launched PublicData.am with help from Huridocs in 2011 but have since
struggled both against an unresponsive government and an indifferent
media.
The Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI)
launched the first iteration of OpenData.ge in 2010. A representative
of Huridocs, Friedhelm Weinberg, told techPresident that OpenData.ge
benefitted from the previous experience, and from the data the
government had already made available. (The right to request
information from the government has been a Georgian law since 1999.)
However, working with four organizations--in addition to IDFI there is
Green Alternative, Transparency International Georgia, and the Georgian
Young Lawyers Association--is a challenge in itself. Weinberg told
techPresident that its difficult when the organizations don't work in
the same way. They don't even agree on what seems like simple matters,
like the definition of a Freedom of Information Request.
Examples of available information of OpenData.ge include "hotly
debated dam projects, bonuses and salaries of state officials, [and]
money spent on cultural events." It also provides information on how
and why citizens should file their own freedom of information requests.
Weinberg explained to techPresident that Georgia has substantially
reduced low-level corruption in recent years. Transparency
International notes that positive developments in the country include
an electronic public platform introduced in 2010, and free online
access to public records like the company registry and the land and
property registry, all of which encourages government transparency.
Weinberg adds that the "overall government in Georgia [is] relatively
responsive, but [OpenData.ge] is still an important tool to keep the
pressure on them."
Armenia is a much different story. There the journalists who launched
PublicData.am often receive government responses on paper, and have to
manually transcribe the information to the site. They also struggle
to get mainstream media to address the need for transparency and
government accountability.
Levon Barseghyan, activist and founder of the Journalists Club
Asparez, the organization that runs PublicData.am, told the Open
Society Foundation earlier this year that mainstream TV has so little
credibility, Armenians watch it with "a vice versa approach."
(The Open Society Foundation supported the launch of PublicData.am
in 2010.)
The news site Asparez.am is one of Armenia's top 10 news sites, and
in many ways PublicData.am is an extension of their journalism. They
track public funding to schools and regional government by sending
3,500 or so freedom of information requests annually, to schools,
communities, and government offices.
When requests for information are ignored or refused, the journalists
take it to the judicial system. According to the Open Society
Foundation, "In the four years since Asparez began its FOI campaigning,
they have brought 55 lawsuits seeking full compliance under the 2003
federal FOI law. Barseghyan says they have won or resolved 54 of
those suits."
Personal Democracy Media is grateful to the Omidyar Network and the UN
Foundation for their generous support of techPresident's WeGov section.
http://techpresident.com/news/wegov/24998/armenia-georgia-data-sites-meant-bring-transparency-govt-face-uphill-battles
techPresident-
May 7 2014
BY Jessica McKenzie | Wednesday, May 7 2014
Young Georgians learn how to file a freedom of information request
in the video below
The website OpenData.ge launched at the end of February as a place
to store, organize and display freedom of information requests. It
is a collaborative effort of four Georgian NGOs with assistance from
the international NGO Huridocs, which works with organizations around
the globe to harness the power of information to advance human rights.
Georgia, however, has the advantage of relative government
cooperation. In neighboring Armenia an organization of journalists
launched PublicData.am with help from Huridocs in 2011 but have since
struggled both against an unresponsive government and an indifferent
media.
The Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI)
launched the first iteration of OpenData.ge in 2010. A representative
of Huridocs, Friedhelm Weinberg, told techPresident that OpenData.ge
benefitted from the previous experience, and from the data the
government had already made available. (The right to request
information from the government has been a Georgian law since 1999.)
However, working with four organizations--in addition to IDFI there is
Green Alternative, Transparency International Georgia, and the Georgian
Young Lawyers Association--is a challenge in itself. Weinberg told
techPresident that its difficult when the organizations don't work in
the same way. They don't even agree on what seems like simple matters,
like the definition of a Freedom of Information Request.
Examples of available information of OpenData.ge include "hotly
debated dam projects, bonuses and salaries of state officials, [and]
money spent on cultural events." It also provides information on how
and why citizens should file their own freedom of information requests.
Weinberg explained to techPresident that Georgia has substantially
reduced low-level corruption in recent years. Transparency
International notes that positive developments in the country include
an electronic public platform introduced in 2010, and free online
access to public records like the company registry and the land and
property registry, all of which encourages government transparency.
Weinberg adds that the "overall government in Georgia [is] relatively
responsive, but [OpenData.ge] is still an important tool to keep the
pressure on them."
Armenia is a much different story. There the journalists who launched
PublicData.am often receive government responses on paper, and have to
manually transcribe the information to the site. They also struggle
to get mainstream media to address the need for transparency and
government accountability.
Levon Barseghyan, activist and founder of the Journalists Club
Asparez, the organization that runs PublicData.am, told the Open
Society Foundation earlier this year that mainstream TV has so little
credibility, Armenians watch it with "a vice versa approach."
(The Open Society Foundation supported the launch of PublicData.am
in 2010.)
The news site Asparez.am is one of Armenia's top 10 news sites, and
in many ways PublicData.am is an extension of their journalism. They
track public funding to schools and regional government by sending
3,500 or so freedom of information requests annually, to schools,
communities, and government offices.
When requests for information are ignored or refused, the journalists
take it to the judicial system. According to the Open Society
Foundation, "In the four years since Asparez began its FOI campaigning,
they have brought 55 lawsuits seeking full compliance under the 2003
federal FOI law. Barseghyan says they have won or resolved 54 of
those suits."
Personal Democracy Media is grateful to the Omidyar Network and the UN
Foundation for their generous support of techPresident's WeGov section.
http://techpresident.com/news/wegov/24998/armenia-georgia-data-sites-meant-bring-transparency-govt-face-uphill-battles