European Civil Society Event a Success

Chester Beatty Library, Dublin Castle, Dublin 2

If the OGP Civil Society Day could be summed up as one word, it is alliance.

Enthused advocates from all corners of Europe and Ireland came together on May 7^th, 2014 to better appreciate how Open Government Partnership (OGP) is a platform from which progressive changes can be made to government and governance structures.

The OGP Civil Society event was held in Chester Beatty Library and was co-organized by the Open Knowledge Foundation Ireland and OGP’s Civil Society Coordination team.

The occasion allowed active and interested citizens from Europe and Ireland to build a connection; to work together on a vibrant exchange of ideas on open government and the OGP initiative. The civil society event also acted as a forum for civil society agents in Europe to fuse and formulate aspirations ahead of the OGP European Regional Meeting on May 8^th and 9^th.

Up to one hundred people attended this constructive event, with speakers including the civil society coordinator for the Open Government Partnership, Paul Maassen. Paul facilitated the first discussion of the – on leveraging OGP to advocate for more open government. Paul, who is familiar with civil society personalities in all OGP’s countries, called on people from the floor to share their experiences. Read his comments here.

Felipe Esefan, from Open Government Cluster, World Bank Institute also spoke on the Global Opening Government Survey.

Smari McCarthy from theIcelandic Modern Media Initiative (IMMI), attended the CSO event virtually and spoke the issue of openness versus privacy.

Information Rights consultant, Fred Logue, facilitated a discussion on the problems that come with FOI implementation. Gavin Sheridan from thestory.ie and Victoria Anderica from Access Info Europe also contributed to the discussion.

The penultimate  talk of the day was led by Neil Campbell (Head of EU Policy Development, Open Society European Policy Institute) followed by a discussion on how to stop secret contracting.

The event allowed members of European civil society organisation to learn from each other about how best to utilise the OGP as a platform to further their ideas on promoting transparency, participation and accountability.

Three main sessions were held in the main room in Chester Beatty Library:

• How to utilise the various advocacy moments of the OGP cycle
• Openness vs privacy: what role can OGP play?
• Problems faced with FOI implementation

Other discussion took place in the Library’s unconference space:

• Involving the EU in OGP
• Stop secret contracting
• Organising a European platform for budget monitoring

Find the event’s agenda and further information here.  See photographs from the event.

European Civil Society Event a Success