Making Government Transparent and Accountable
The Sunlight Foundation uses cutting-edge technology and ideas to make government transparent and accountable. Underlying all of our efforts is a fundamental belief that increased transparency will improve the public's confidence in government
The Sunlight Foundation Blog
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Power Of Information Report
Yesterday, I blogged about WriteToReply.org, a brand new site built by two smart and enterprising fellows to research online and comment publicly on a new report released by the U.K. government’s Ministry of Communications, Technology and Broadcasting on what the government should to enhance digital capacity and enterprise in the UK. The agency came under criticism for not including a means for citizens to comment and make suggestions online. Thus, earlier this week, WriteToReplay.org site was born and went live.
Another important Internet-related report in the U.K. has emerged, the Power of Information Task Force Report. And the principals of this report have taken a very different approach than the Ministry of Communications, they’ve placed it online and are asking interested citizens to read and comment on it.
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WriteToReply.org
Last week, Stephen Carter, the U.K. government’s minister for communications, technology and broadcasting, released an interim report on the state of Britain’s digital capacity with recommendations for enhancements. The report, “Digital Britain – Interim Report,” is the result of a review Carter launched in October with the mandate of providing a comprehensive analysis of Britain’s digital economy.
Bill Thompson, BBC technology columnist, criticized Carter and his agency for producing a report lacking public engagement and that “reflects an approach based around control and secrecy.” Thompson points out that it’s 72 pages into the report before the authors added an invitation with an email address (digitalbritain@berr.gsi.gov.uk) for interested citizens and organizations to offer suggestions and join the discussion. Thompson added that it would be up to Carter and his Digital Britain team to follow up on these expressions of interest, “which is nice of them, and we must just hope that Carter and his expert panel will be carefully reviewing every blog post and online comment to ensure they don’t miss anything important.”
