Irish Govt urged to open its data to citizens to prove accountability

The Irish Government has been called upon to follow US President Barack Obama’s lead and join the Open Government Partnership to drive transparency and innovation in Ireland. It would also send out a strong signal about its intentions towards accountability to citizens, an independent TD has said.

The Open Government Partnership (OGP) is a new international initiative aimed at securing concrete commitments from governments to promote transparency, increase civic participation, fight corruption, and harness new technologies to make government more open, effective, and accountable.

A multi-stakeholder International Steering Committee, co-chaired by the United States and Brazil in its inaugural year, is comprised of government and civil society representatives from around the world. A high-level international meeting is being hosted by the US Department of State in Washington in July, at which senior officials from the UK, US, Mexico and India will show how they are harnessing new technologies to make government more open and accountable...