Access to information

A meeting was held 11 AM on 3 April at the Meeting Room of Bangladesh Computer Council (BCS) to discuss on presentation of the country paper from Bangladesh in the ensuing UN World Summit on the Information Society (UN WSIS) Forum 2013 scheduled to be held in Geneva, Switzerland on May 13-17 this year. The meeting was presided over by Mr. Mustafa Mohammad Faruq, MP Honorable Minister for the...

Information is power! However, creating an equitable society is one of the core challenges in India. Indians constitute about 17% of the world’s population, yet about 35% of the world’s poor and 40% of the illiterates in the world. When 70% of India’s population is residing in villages, the agenda of achieving inclusive growth cannot be fulfilled unless access to information, ...

In July 2012, Canada, along with 84 co-sponsors at the UN Human Rights Council, confirmed the importance of the promotion, protection and enjoyment of human rights on the internet, and in particular, freedom of expression online. This joint submission follows up on recommendations made in the first Canadian UPR and covers the following topics: - Public oversight and transparency in the context...

Between January and April 2012, CIPESA conducted two studies on open governance in Uganda with APC’s Action Research Network. These studies were intended to form the basis of awareness-raising, advocacy and network building activities. The completed work will serve as a springboard for future activities such as advocating for open governance by building a network of actors to raise awareness ...

The need to move towards a rights-based approach to local and alternative media was a major theme at the second World Forum of Free Media, which took place June 16th and 17th, in parallel to the Rio+20 UN summit on sustainable development. Focusing primarily on the right to information and freedom of expression, several participants highlighted the opportunity for a rights-based approach, which...

The aim of this study was to capture citizens’ perceptions on open governance data (OGD) in Uganda, with a view to making prospective open governance initiatives in the country responsive to the needs and aspirations of citizens. The study revealed that there is a high level of knowledge about open governance in Uganda, as well as great expectations of the benefits which OGD would bring to th...

This study assessed Uganda’s readiness for open government data (OGD). It explored three basic tenets with regards to readiness: knowledge, attitudes and practice. In undertaking a study of this nature it was imperative to appreciate how knowledgeable the key actors were about the subject matter, their attitudes towards the subject matter and current practices. Besides assessing the open data...