> > The Right to information and transparency in the digital age: Policy, > tools and practices**** > > Workshop organized by Liberation Technology Program at Stanford > University, United States, 11.-12. March, 2013**** > > Call for Papers**** > > Access to information has become one of the most promising tools to combat > corruption, increase people’s participation in (self) governance and thus, > to strengthen democracy. Since the 1960s there has been a steady progress > in the number of countries that have legislated access to information laws, > and over eighty countries have such laws today. There have also been > several social developments and innovations which embrace access to > information, such as open constitution reform process in Iceland, open > innovation challenges by the United States government, participatory > budgeting processes in Germany, Finland and Canada and social audits in > India, just to mention few. As a parallel development, the open data > movement is evolving in several countries, pushed forward by both civil > society and governments, and incentivized by the global Open Government > Partnership network. These practices are supported by open innovation and > open design strategies, which the public sector is increasingly adopting. > **** > > These open and participatory practices give tools for citizens to monitor > governments, to hold them accountable, and to practice agency in the public > sphere. The right to information and transparency movements can be > considerably strengthened by creative use of information technologies – but > realizing this potential requires us to revisit the design of RTI policies, > tools and practices to update them to serve citizens in the digital age. In > re-evaluating the tools for accountability, we should be mindful that > increased use of accountability technologies suggests re-articulations of > the power structures in modern societies, including new forms of social > control, new spaces for public deliberation and new conceptualizations of > participation in democracy. **** > > The workshop will convene both practitioners and academics to discuss > their work in the area and to examine the theoretical and practical > implications of these phenomena. We seek to bring together people engaged > in law, policy, social movements, administration, technology, design and > the use of technology for accessing information. We propose to go well > beyond the issue of accessing information by looking at the use of > technology to record, store, process and disseminate public information, > and to create interactive spaces in the public sphere so that the full > potential of ICT for transparency can be realized.**** > > We welcome submissions focusing on intersection of technology, the right > to information and participatory practices, which enhance transparency, > including, but are not limited to, the following areas:**** > > 1. Technology for transparency**** > > **- **What are the design improvements and practices to improve > digital tools that are used to record, store, process and disseminate > information to empower right to information activists? How can, for > instance, open design practices enhance transparency, access to information > and participatory practices?**** > > **- **How do social movements use technology, and can technology be > empowering for the poor and the marginalized or will/is it be a tool for > the privileged?**** > > **- **What are the emerging power structures in digital democracy, and > what is the role of technology in mediating and distributing power?**** > > **2. **Open data, open knowledge and open access**** > > **- **What is the role of open data ecosystem in the right to information > movement? What are the tools, practices and policies to encourage the use > of open data?**** > > **- **How do open knowledge, open access and open science practices serve > transparency in society?**** > > **3. **Open innovation and transparency **** > > - How does open innovation support transparency in governance, and > strengthen right to information?**** > > 4. Legal and policy considerations in the use of technology for right to > information: **** > > **- **What are the current limitations of right to information laws > established based in the pre-digital age, and what kinds of legal changes > are desirable in the digital age? **** > > **- **What are the legal challenges to accessing information in digital > format?**** > > **- **What are the laws that prepare the context in which the right to > information is exercised, and how should they change in the digital age? > For example, how should public records laws and the system of recording and > managing public information adapt to play a supportive role, and what are > the best practices in public record management systems that will enable the > effective use of technology by RTI activists? **** > > **- **What are the challenges involved in using technology to make > corporations, civil society organizations and other non-government > organizations transparent?**** > > 1. Role of media and journalism in transparency**** > > - How do journalists use data to monitor governments? What are the > challenges in using data for monitoring and reporting as it stands today? > **** > > - What kinds of tools, data formats or practices could enrich data driven > journalism.**** > > 6. Digital tools for transparency**** > > - How can maps help citizens hold their governments accountable? How > should information be designed such that government activities can be > mapped?**** > > **- **How could public agencies use videos and photographs to record > their activities, and how can the citizen use such information effectively? > **** > > **- **How do citizens use modern surveillance and other monitoring > practices for transparency?**** > > - How can satellites be used to monitor governments?**** > > - How can mobile phones be used to record and access information**** > > - Can better visualization of data make a difference for the right to > information movement?**** > > - What is the role of crowdsourcing and co-creation in combatting > corruption?**** > Things to do**** > > The deadline for submissions is 18th of January, 2013. Accepted presenters > will be informed by February 1st, 2013.**** > > The form of submission is either full paper (maximum 25 pages) or extended > abstract (6 pages). The submissions should be sent to the following email > address: vivekdse+...@gmail.com.**** > > The workshop will be organized at Stanford University in March 11-12, > 2013. The workshop is being organized by the Program *on* Liberation > Technology at Stanford University, an interdisciplinary program at the > intersection of political science, computer science and design > engineering. **** > > There is no fee for participating in the conference, and participants are > expected to make their own travel and lodging arrangements. **** > > For more information, please contact Tanja Aitamurto at > tan...@stanford.edu or Vivek Srinivasan at vivek...@stanford.edu. >
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