[Advisors] Open Government Partnership and Canadian Civil Society

[michael gurstein]

I had the privilege of attending the Inaugural meeting of the Open
Government Partnership in Brasilia in April as a researcher but in =
addition
I was asked to contribute (participate on a panel) as a member of Civil
Society.

Among many observations that I came away with from the meeting were =
several
concerning Civil Society and specifically the very significant role that
Civil Society is being expected play in the on-going OGP, and the =
consequent
need for CS in this sector to become effectively organized and =
structured at
both the national and the global levels.  Since the intention is that =
the
OGP is a "member" organization, with a requirement on governments to =
ensure
participation in all aspects of their OGD planning and implementation =
there
is very considerable pressure for national civil societies to organize
themselves into some sort of coherent body i.e. a body that is capable =
of
acting as an effective interlocutor with government -- not necessarily
speaking with one voice but at least being able to formulate a coherent
response/intervention to government initiatives.=20

It is already clear from the lead up to the Brasilia meeting, the =
meeting
itself and the fall-out from the meeting that creating a framework out =
of
which this coherent voice might come will not be an easy or uncontested
process either globally or nationally. But just because it will be =
difficult
doesn't mean that it shouldn't be done. For we CS in Canada, the pay-off
could be significant as it would give us a voice and access to (the =
Federal)
government as it develops its OGD policies and equally as it evolves its
structures in response to the opportunities and risks that OGD presents.

Given the very non or even "anti" "Open" policies of the current Federal
government this "access" and legitimized/formal platform for comment and
consultation is a not inconsiderable opportunity.

On casual observation there are a number of streams (dare I say silos)
currently in Canadian CS with an interest in Open Government Data--the =
folks
around the civicaccess list, the very powerful and significant municipal
data movement (and its champion the CCSD), the FOI folks, the open
app/hackathon community, the community access community (Telecommunities
Canada and others), the open democracy group and I'm sure I've missed =
many
others and of course there are overlaps and double counting among all of
these.

I think it is not too early to be beginning a process of discussion =
among
all of these groups in anticipation of the next meeting of the OGP which
will be in London next year (I'm not sure if a date has been =
established).
However, whatever that date, Canadian OGD CS has a number of
tasks/opportunities in anticipation of that meeting including=20
	1. developing a means to monitor and assess the commitments made by
the Canadian government to the OGP in Brasilia
	2. undertaking that monitoring and developing a means for reporting
back on that monitoring
	3. developing a common framework for Canadian CS in participating in
the OGP meetings both nationally and internationally
	4. and others such as for example developing a Canadian OGP
declaration to match the global OGP declaration

Perhaps others might want to comment on this note. =20

If there is sufficient interest it might be useful to develop a separate
electronic space (e-list?) for carrying this discussion forward or =
perhaps
the civicaccess list is the proper venue for the discussion in which =
case
others with an interest might wish to join the list.

Comments, discussion etc.etc.

Mike Gurstein
(here speaking in a personal capacity and as a Board Member of
Telecommunities Canada)