Ten Open Data Guidelines launched in Tbilisi Access Info Europe welcome the publication this week of the Ten Open Data Guidelines drafted by TI Georgia, in consultation with Access Info Europe. These guidelines are designed as a guide to help agency heads, IT managers, and web developers create open data websites. The guidelines provide details of how these are to be achieved. They provide a useful structure which Access Info recommends as a model for the elaboration of similar principles in other countries and at an international level.

Barcamp: Data Journalism Pro Bono Publico and Access Info Europe are organising a Barcamp about Data Journalism on Tuesday the 15th of february at 17:00 in MediaLab Madrid (Plaza de las Letras. C/ Alameda, 15, 28014 Madrid – Metro and Train Station: Atocha). The disclosure of public data (public databases and other collectives) raises the questions “who is going to process this data so that citizens can use it?” and “who is going to extract the stories that arise from the combination and comparison of various data sources.

Threat to Open Data withdrawn by French Parliament Madrid/Paris, 20 December 2010 – Access Info Europe and Regards Citoyens welcomed the withdrawal on 16 December 2010 of a proposed amendment to France’s security and access to information laws which would have required background behaviour checks on users of government information. The proposed amendment was significantly changed in the French parliament on Thursday 16 December following an international campaign by 35 organisations and experts from 25 countries which had raised concerns that the new law would seriously constrain both access to information and freedom of expression. Read the campaign letter (here).

[UPDATE 19 November 2010 - Beyond Access: Pre-Publication Version, Access Info Europe and the Open Knowledge Foundation today presented the pre-publication version of their report Beyond Access: Open Government Data and the “Right to Reuse” at the Open Government Data Camp in London. This report, written in collaboration with the Open Society Institute Information Program and initially launched in August, has been through some minor revisions following a public consultation. You can download the pre-publication version of the report here ] [UPDATE October 2010: Access Info Europe and the Open Knowledge Foundation, in collaboration with the Open Society Institute Information

OPEN GOVERNMENT DATA What is Open Government Data? Open government data is about getting access to information held by government bodies formats that anyone can use for any purpose. Read more... Read the Beyond Access Report to know more about the relation between the right of access to information and the Open Government Data.