Build a community of organizations and activists in Central and Eastern Europe and beyond that use technology to drive social change. Increase the capacity, knowledge, and skills of these groups in areas like technology usage, open data, citizen participation, and government collaboration. Empower local actors by sharing knowledge, tools, and expanding personal networks across regions.
The World Wide Web Foundation was founded by Sir Tim Berners-Lee to advance open data and transparency on the web. While some government data is available openly, like budgets, company registers, and spending, beneficial ownership information remains mostly closed. This lack of transparency enables corruption and hurts societies. The OpenOwnership initiative aims to address this by creating an open global standard and platform for registering beneficial ownership information to increase accountability. Currently, some countries like the UK and Ukraine have committed to integrating open beneficial ownership data, and the beta platform is available for testing. Stakeholders can get involved by supporting advocacy for open registers and providing feedback on the platform.
- Elections were held in Macedonia in December 2016 following multiple postponements. The ruling VMRO-DPMNE party was accused of election fraud, corruption, and abuse of power to suppress the opposition SDSM party.
- VMRO-DPMNE narrowly won the election but did not have enough seats to form a government on its own. It refused to allow the constitutionally mandated transfer of power to a SDSM-led coalition for 4 months.
- In April 2017, protesters attacked the Macedonian parliament building following the election of a new SDSM-aligned speaker, deepening the political crisis. VMRO-DPMNE did not condemn the attack and questioned the legitimacy of the election results.
Oraclum Intelligence Systems is a UK-based company that uses social networks to predict elections and consumer behavior. They developed a unique forecasting method called the Bayesian Adjusted Social Network Survey that asks participants questions to gauge voter sentiment and accounts for social network biases. This method accurately predicted 47/50 US states in the 2016 election, including swing states within a single percentage point.
This document discusses gathering Twitter data about the UK-EU referendum in an unbiased way. It describes collecting tweets using hashtags from an expert panel, key terms, and users known to tweet about the EU. It also discusses analyzing the metadata of the collected tweets to understand any biases in the dataset and ensuring tweets and users are not duplicated between collection methods.
PushOCCRP is an ecosystem for building mobile apps for media organizations, activists, and civil societies. It includes plugins for CMSs like WordPress and Joomla that adjust content for mobile, a backend that delivers notifications and analytics, and mobile clients for Android and iOS. The system is already in use by partners in Serbia, Bulgaria, Moldova, and Azerbaijan and is being expanded to more organizations. The open source project is maintained by two developers and seeks more organizations to deploy and improve it.
The document summarizes the Decode Darfur project, which used crowd-sourced mapping to identify villages in Darfur, Sudan. Over 28,000 volunteers from 147 countries mapped over 326,000 square kilometers of Darfur, identifying 1,146,602 tasks and 283 square kilometers mapped per hour. The project helped map villages that had been destroyed or abandoned when thousands of people were forced to flee their homes in Darfur.
Build a community of organizations and activists in Central and Eastern Europe and beyond that use technology to drive social change. Increase the capacity, knowledge, and skills of these groups in areas like technology usage, open data, citizen participation, and government collaboration. Empower local actors by sharing knowledge, tools, and expanding personal networks across regions.
The World Wide Web Foundation was founded by Sir Tim Berners-Lee to advance open data and transparency on the web. While some government data is available openly, like budgets, company registers, and spending, beneficial ownership information remains mostly closed. This lack of transparency enables corruption and hurts societies. The OpenOwnership initiative aims to address this by creating an open global standard and platform for registering beneficial ownership information to increase accountability. Currently, some countries like the UK and Ukraine have committed to integrating open beneficial ownership data, and the beta platform is available for testing. Stakeholders can get involved by supporting advocacy for open registers and providing feedback on the platform.
- Elections were held in Macedonia in December 2016 following multiple postponements. The ruling VMRO-DPMNE party was accused of election fraud, corruption, and abuse of power to suppress the opposition SDSM party.
- VMRO-DPMNE narrowly won the election but did not have enough seats to form a government on its own. It refused to allow the constitutionally mandated transfer of power to a SDSM-led coalition for 4 months.
- In April 2017, protesters attacked the Macedonian parliament building following the election of a new SDSM-aligned speaker, deepening the political crisis. VMRO-DPMNE did not condemn the attack and questioned the legitimacy of the election results.
Oraclum Intelligence Systems is a UK-based company that uses social networks to predict elections and consumer behavior. They developed a unique forecasting method called the Bayesian Adjusted Social Network Survey that asks participants questions to gauge voter sentiment and accounts for social network biases. This method accurately predicted 47/50 US states in the 2016 election, including swing states within a single percentage point.
This document discusses gathering Twitter data about the UK-EU referendum in an unbiased way. It describes collecting tweets using hashtags from an expert panel, key terms, and users known to tweet about the EU. It also discusses analyzing the metadata of the collected tweets to understand any biases in the dataset and ensuring tweets and users are not duplicated between collection methods.
PushOCCRP is an ecosystem for building mobile apps for media organizations, activists, and civil societies. It includes plugins for CMSs like WordPress and Joomla that adjust content for mobile, a backend that delivers notifications and analytics, and mobile clients for Android and iOS. The system is already in use by partners in Serbia, Bulgaria, Moldova, and Azerbaijan and is being expanded to more organizations. The open source project is maintained by two developers and seeks more organizations to deploy and improve it.
The document summarizes the Decode Darfur project, which used crowd-sourced mapping to identify villages in Darfur, Sudan. Over 28,000 volunteers from 147 countries mapped over 326,000 square kilometers of Darfur, identifying 1,146,602 tasks and 283 square kilometers mapped per hour. The project helped map villages that had been destroyed or abandoned when thousands of people were forced to flee their homes in Darfur.
Courts should be open to increase transparency and public trust in the judicial system. Transparency International Lithuanian Chapter advocates for more open courts to prevent corruption and help citizens understand and participate in the judicial process. The organization maintains a website and Facebook page to provide information about improving judicial transparency.
2017 Romanian protests - A legal and an open government perspectivePoint_conference
The document summarizes protests that occurred in Romania in 2017 in response to government actions seen as weakening rule of law. It provides a chronology of events, including the government passing an emergency decree decriminalizing abuse of power offenses and proposing crime pardons, resulting in massive protests. After protests, the government repealed the decree but proposed similar bills, sustaining protests. The constitutional court both protected fundamental rights but also ruled the government's actions did not violate the constitution, showing mixed views. Despite challenges, checks and balances have remained in Romania and EU integration support remains strong.
The document discusses insights from Romanian protests in 2017. It notes that during the protests, people shared more than double the typical number of posts per day on social media. The protests activated people and groups from various domains and categories on Facebook. News sites played an important role in the protests by how much they shared posts in different categories during February 2017. The document is from Florin Badita who studies corruption and protests in Romania through digital data.
This document outlines 7 tips for planning a revolution: 1) Ensure strong support, 2) Train well in preparation, 3) Have clear aims from the start, 4) Understand your capabilities, 5) Assess what is achievable, 6) Don't let down allies, 7) If initial attempts fail, don't escalate further. The overall message is to plan carefully and be realistic about what can be achieved for a revolution to succeed.
This document discusses a methodology for opening a budget. It aims to make the budgeting process more transparent. In a few sentences, it acknowledges the request and thanks the person for their interest.
This document describes a platform called Javnarasprava.ba that aims to connect citizens and parliament in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The platform provides summaries of proposed laws to help citizens understand them, identifies key policy issues, and allows citizens to vote and submit questions to parliamentarians. It has seen over 600,000 visits and 350 laws analyzed. Parliamentarians can use it to gauge public opinion and promote their positions. The goals are to increase participation from more parliamentarians, expand the platform to all cantonal parliaments, and make citizen engagement through the platform a decisive factor in lawmaking.
This document discusses using big data and technology to improve political journalism. It notes that while government data is now open, political journalism remains inefficient. It proposes using machines to process and design the large amounts of open data, making the results free and accessible, focusing on summarizing key insights rather than requiring people to read everything, and empowering users to find what interests them.
This document discusses the importance of making government budgets transparent and accessible to citizens. It notes that budgets can often be boring and too technical, using many jargons. It defines transparency as the government sharing information with citizens, while open means the data can be freely used and shared. It then describes Mwazna, a project that aims to make government budgets available and understandable to all citizens.
Regional Index_Presentation of the Recommendations and resultsPoint_conference
Albania requires public authorities to respond to FOI requests within 10 days, the shortest response time in the region. However, public servants have low awareness of transparency principles and some institutions do not properly respect or implement transparency laws. Kosovo has the highest scores in the region for integrity declarations but lowest for budget transparency, while executive and legislative powers fail to properly evaluate and monitor laws and policies. Across the region, governments score poorly on transparency, with most failing to publish materials discussed in sessions, budgets, work programs, and properly engaging with citizens.
This document introduces Javnarasprava.ba, an online platform that aims to connect citizens and parliament in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It summarizes proposed laws in a clear way, allows citizens to vote and ask questions about proposals, and gives parliamentarians a forum to discuss issues. The platform has seen over 130,000 visits and significant engagement from both citizens and politicians. Its goals are to increase transparency around the legislative process and give citizens more influence over laws being adopted.
Civil activism and elections in Ukraine and RussiaPoint_conference
The Civil Leadership School provides training to activists across Russia to strengthen civil society. It holds multi-day training sessions in Moscow for select activists to provide skills, best practices, and knowledge on important topics. Over 160 people have graduated from these sessions since 2011. It also offers single-day regional trainings for a broader audience in major cities, as well as webinars that are open to anyone in Russia or beyond. Additionally, the Ukraine De Visu project organizes visits to Ukraine for Russian opinion leaders to meet with local experts and organizations. In total, the programs have educated over 650 people since 2011.
Bosnia and Herzegovina is launching an initiative supported by the UN to get more girls and women into IT careers by teaching coding. The initiative is called "Code away!" and is led by Smári McCarthy of itgirls.ba, which aims to encourage girls and women to pursue careers in technology by showing that IT is not just for men.
Elections in the Balkans - What can citizens do?Point_conference
Coalition Pod lupom held a POINT 5.0 conference in Sarajevo on May 26, 2016 to discuss their activities monitoring elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 2015-2018, including early national elections, local elections, and media monitoring. They have a head office that oversees 7 regional offices across the country led by regional coordinators, with over 3,000 short term observers deployed on election days.
Opening Data in Albania – Open Contracting and Mapping MoneyPoint_conference
All countries of the Western Balkans have joined, in recent years, the Partnership for Open Government and Albania is one of the regional leaders in this field.
Georgia - How to become the best public service in the world Point_conference
This document summarizes reforms made to Georgia's public service system. It outlines issues like corruption and lack of resources that previously plagued the system. Reforms introduced a new Public Service Hall model with one-stop shops, simplified procedures, increased salaries, and new technologies. This improved staff motivation and modernized infrastructure. The reforms improved various metrics like customer satisfaction, processing times, and international rankings. The Public Service Hall model has received international recognition for innovations in public service delivery.
Skopje 2014 - Using Cool Apps to Expose Corrupt GovernmentPoint_conference
BIRN Macedonia has developed an interactive app for Android devices called “Skopje 2014 Uncovered” that allows users to know the cost of buildings and monuments that form part of the government sponsored revamp of the capital.Through photographing a specific structure, users can now get its exact cost.
The document discusses the role of technology in empowering civil society organizations. It describes TechSoup, a social enterprise that provides technology donations and services to NGOs globally. Specifically, it outlines:
1) The Apps4Warsaw project, which held a contest for apps using open data from Warsaw, engaged citizens in civic tech, and aims to promote open data.
2) TechSoup's partnerships with corporations and foundations to provide resources to NGOs, and its presence across Europe and the Balkans region.
3) The services TechSoup offers NGOs, including a technology donation program, communities around social tech, and solutions to help non-profits achieve their missions.
Bharat Mata - History of Indian culture.pdfBharat Mata
Bharat Mata Channel is an initiative towards keeping the culture of this country alive. Our effort is to spread the knowledge of Indian history, culture, religion and Vedas to the masses.
Jennifer Schaus and Associates hosts a complimentary webinar series on The FAR in 2024. Join the webinars on Wednesdays and Fridays at noon, eastern.
Recordings are on YouTube and the company website.
https://www.youtube.com/@jenniferschaus/videos
Courts should be open to increase transparency and public trust in the judicial system. Transparency International Lithuanian Chapter advocates for more open courts to prevent corruption and help citizens understand and participate in the judicial process. The organization maintains a website and Facebook page to provide information about improving judicial transparency.
2017 Romanian protests - A legal and an open government perspectivePoint_conference
The document summarizes protests that occurred in Romania in 2017 in response to government actions seen as weakening rule of law. It provides a chronology of events, including the government passing an emergency decree decriminalizing abuse of power offenses and proposing crime pardons, resulting in massive protests. After protests, the government repealed the decree but proposed similar bills, sustaining protests. The constitutional court both protected fundamental rights but also ruled the government's actions did not violate the constitution, showing mixed views. Despite challenges, checks and balances have remained in Romania and EU integration support remains strong.
The document discusses insights from Romanian protests in 2017. It notes that during the protests, people shared more than double the typical number of posts per day on social media. The protests activated people and groups from various domains and categories on Facebook. News sites played an important role in the protests by how much they shared posts in different categories during February 2017. The document is from Florin Badita who studies corruption and protests in Romania through digital data.
This document outlines 7 tips for planning a revolution: 1) Ensure strong support, 2) Train well in preparation, 3) Have clear aims from the start, 4) Understand your capabilities, 5) Assess what is achievable, 6) Don't let down allies, 7) If initial attempts fail, don't escalate further. The overall message is to plan carefully and be realistic about what can be achieved for a revolution to succeed.
This document discusses a methodology for opening a budget. It aims to make the budgeting process more transparent. In a few sentences, it acknowledges the request and thanks the person for their interest.
This document describes a platform called Javnarasprava.ba that aims to connect citizens and parliament in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The platform provides summaries of proposed laws to help citizens understand them, identifies key policy issues, and allows citizens to vote and submit questions to parliamentarians. It has seen over 600,000 visits and 350 laws analyzed. Parliamentarians can use it to gauge public opinion and promote their positions. The goals are to increase participation from more parliamentarians, expand the platform to all cantonal parliaments, and make citizen engagement through the platform a decisive factor in lawmaking.
This document discusses using big data and technology to improve political journalism. It notes that while government data is now open, political journalism remains inefficient. It proposes using machines to process and design the large amounts of open data, making the results free and accessible, focusing on summarizing key insights rather than requiring people to read everything, and empowering users to find what interests them.
This document discusses the importance of making government budgets transparent and accessible to citizens. It notes that budgets can often be boring and too technical, using many jargons. It defines transparency as the government sharing information with citizens, while open means the data can be freely used and shared. It then describes Mwazna, a project that aims to make government budgets available and understandable to all citizens.
Regional Index_Presentation of the Recommendations and resultsPoint_conference
Albania requires public authorities to respond to FOI requests within 10 days, the shortest response time in the region. However, public servants have low awareness of transparency principles and some institutions do not properly respect or implement transparency laws. Kosovo has the highest scores in the region for integrity declarations but lowest for budget transparency, while executive and legislative powers fail to properly evaluate and monitor laws and policies. Across the region, governments score poorly on transparency, with most failing to publish materials discussed in sessions, budgets, work programs, and properly engaging with citizens.
This document introduces Javnarasprava.ba, an online platform that aims to connect citizens and parliament in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It summarizes proposed laws in a clear way, allows citizens to vote and ask questions about proposals, and gives parliamentarians a forum to discuss issues. The platform has seen over 130,000 visits and significant engagement from both citizens and politicians. Its goals are to increase transparency around the legislative process and give citizens more influence over laws being adopted.
Civil activism and elections in Ukraine and RussiaPoint_conference
The Civil Leadership School provides training to activists across Russia to strengthen civil society. It holds multi-day training sessions in Moscow for select activists to provide skills, best practices, and knowledge on important topics. Over 160 people have graduated from these sessions since 2011. It also offers single-day regional trainings for a broader audience in major cities, as well as webinars that are open to anyone in Russia or beyond. Additionally, the Ukraine De Visu project organizes visits to Ukraine for Russian opinion leaders to meet with local experts and organizations. In total, the programs have educated over 650 people since 2011.
Bosnia and Herzegovina is launching an initiative supported by the UN to get more girls and women into IT careers by teaching coding. The initiative is called "Code away!" and is led by Smári McCarthy of itgirls.ba, which aims to encourage girls and women to pursue careers in technology by showing that IT is not just for men.
Elections in the Balkans - What can citizens do?Point_conference
Coalition Pod lupom held a POINT 5.0 conference in Sarajevo on May 26, 2016 to discuss their activities monitoring elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 2015-2018, including early national elections, local elections, and media monitoring. They have a head office that oversees 7 regional offices across the country led by regional coordinators, with over 3,000 short term observers deployed on election days.
Opening Data in Albania – Open Contracting and Mapping MoneyPoint_conference
All countries of the Western Balkans have joined, in recent years, the Partnership for Open Government and Albania is one of the regional leaders in this field.
Georgia - How to become the best public service in the world Point_conference
This document summarizes reforms made to Georgia's public service system. It outlines issues like corruption and lack of resources that previously plagued the system. Reforms introduced a new Public Service Hall model with one-stop shops, simplified procedures, increased salaries, and new technologies. This improved staff motivation and modernized infrastructure. The reforms improved various metrics like customer satisfaction, processing times, and international rankings. The Public Service Hall model has received international recognition for innovations in public service delivery.
Skopje 2014 - Using Cool Apps to Expose Corrupt GovernmentPoint_conference
BIRN Macedonia has developed an interactive app for Android devices called “Skopje 2014 Uncovered” that allows users to know the cost of buildings and monuments that form part of the government sponsored revamp of the capital.Through photographing a specific structure, users can now get its exact cost.
The document discusses the role of technology in empowering civil society organizations. It describes TechSoup, a social enterprise that provides technology donations and services to NGOs globally. Specifically, it outlines:
1) The Apps4Warsaw project, which held a contest for apps using open data from Warsaw, engaged citizens in civic tech, and aims to promote open data.
2) TechSoup's partnerships with corporations and foundations to provide resources to NGOs, and its presence across Europe and the Balkans region.
3) The services TechSoup offers NGOs, including a technology donation program, communities around social tech, and solutions to help non-profits achieve their missions.
Bharat Mata - History of Indian culture.pdfBharat Mata
Bharat Mata Channel is an initiative towards keeping the culture of this country alive. Our effort is to spread the knowledge of Indian history, culture, religion and Vedas to the masses.
Jennifer Schaus and Associates hosts a complimentary webinar series on The FAR in 2024. Join the webinars on Wednesdays and Fridays at noon, eastern.
Recordings are on YouTube and the company website.
https://www.youtube.com/@jenniferschaus/videos
Jennifer Schaus and Associates hosts a complimentary webinar series on The FAR in 2024. Join the webinars on Wednesdays and Fridays at noon, eastern.
Recordings are on YouTube and the company website.
https://www.youtube.com/@jenniferschaus/videos
United Nations World Oceans Day 2024; June 8th " Awaken new dephts".Christina Parmionova
The program will expand our perspectives and appreciation for our blue planet, build new foundations for our relationship to the ocean, and ignite a wave of action toward necessary change.
Jennifer Schaus and Associates hosts a complimentary webinar series on The FAR in 2024. Join the webinars on Wednesdays and Fridays at noon, eastern.
Recordings are on YouTube and the company website.
https://www.youtube.com/@jenniferschaus/videos