Government Information Day will be taking place on Monday, December 7th in Waterloo, Ontario.
Registration [free] for the event is now available and the program is forthcoming. Please visit the following site for more information:
http://www.eventbrite.ca/e/government-information-day-in-ontario-gid-2015-tickets-19226121848
Government Information Day [Ontario]
Date: Monday, December 7th, 2015
Speaker recommendations / proposals [deadline October 30]:
Agnes Zientarska-Kayko: azientarskakayko@uwaterloo.ca
Hélène LeBlanc: hleblanc@wlu.ca
Government Information Day [British Columbia]
Date: Friday, May 6th, 2016
Speaker recommendations / proposals [deadline mid-January]:
Carla Graebner cgraebne@sfu.ca / 778.782.6881
From coast to coast, 150-200 attendees from businesses, nonprofits, governments, media, and academia are expected to gather on May 25 in Ottawa for this year’s theme of building sustainable, dynamic, and innovative open data communities. Summit participants will be invited to reflect on the following four big questions, which we’ll be unpacking in upcoming blog articles.
The initial schedule has been released and early bird registration is open until March 13th.
Click here for more information and to register. Follow @opennorth and #CODS15 for updates.
If you find yourself in Toronto on Friday, February 6th, be sure to register for and attend this event on digital information management in Canada.
Click here to learn more and register.
Disturbing Developments in Digital Government
Professor David Brown will speak about concerns in digital information management in Canada.
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David C.G. Brown is an Assistant Professor in the School of Political Studies in the University of Ottawa. After studying at the University of Toronto (BA, MA in political science), he spent a career in the federal public service, working in the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages, the Department of External Affairs, Privy Council Office, the British Cabinet Office, Treasury Board Secretariat and the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency. Among his Treasury Board Secretariat responsibilities he was for four years Executive Director, Information, Communications and Security Policy. After working in the Public Policy Forum, an Ottawa-based think tank, he completed a PhD in political science at Carleton University in 2011. From 2012-14 he was a SSHRC Post-doctoral Fellow at the University of Ottawa. For several years he chaired the international committee of the Institute of Public Administration of Canada and later was a member of the executive committee of its international counterpart, the International Institute of Administrative Sciences (IIAS), including three years as IIAS President.
Changing technology and the policies that drive it have radically altered the government information landscape in Canada. It’s time to document the context, tools, and techniques used to produce, acquire, organize, preserve, and access government information in Canada. We intend to do this via an edited book with the working title Government Information in Canada and encourage you to contribute to this project.
In the space of ten to twelve chapters, we expect to provide a platform for practitioners to present overviews, comparative studies, research papers, and case studies on these potential topics (note that individual topics may be combined into a single chapter):
Please submit a 300 to 500 word abstract about the chapter you wish to submit, noting the proposed title of the chapter and authors, to Sam-Chin Li before April 1st, 2015.
Important dates:
Intent to submit: April 1st, 2015
Notification of Acceptance: June 1st, 2015
Full Chapter Deadline: December 1st, 2015
Review Results to Authors: April 1st, 2016
Revised Chapter Due: June 1st, 2016
Note: publisher to be secured by May, 2015
Web page: https://sites.google.com/a/ualberta.ca/wakaruk/research/cfp2015
Editors:
Amanda Wakaruk
Government Information Librarian
University of Alberta Library
Amanda.wakaruk@ualberta.ca
Sam-chin Li
Government Information Librarian
University of Toronto Libraries
Samchin.li@utoronto.ca
Ontario Council of University Libraries has made available information on the impact of the cancellation of the mandatory long-form census and the current process in Parliament to reinstate it for 2016.
n July 2010, OCUL joined many concerned organizations and individuals in Canada in objecting to the government of Canada’s decision to cancel the mandatory long-form questionnaire as part of the 2011 Census of Population.
OCUL represents 21 Ontario university libraries with more than 450,000 students and faculty across the province. In addition, we provide support to researchers from municipalities, provincial and territorial governments, NGO’s, social and cultural associations, as well as private sector marketing and business firms and organizations.
The OCUL Data Community is a community of data professionals with expertise and interests in the use of all forms of data, including the Canadian census. The information presented here has been prepared to identify the impact of the cancellation of the mandatory long-form census and ensure that researchers have a full understanding of the current situation.
These links provide:
background information on the mandatory long-form census cancellation and its impact on research and public policy [click here]
the current process in Parliament to reinstate the mandatory long-form census for 2016 [click here]
The Government of Canada has released a Summary Report on the Open Action Plan 2.0 Consultations that took place between April and October 2014.
What We Heard – Summary Report
The report includes many visual representations of the data collected and offers examples of comments received on different parts of the Action Plan 2.0.
Of particular interest is the section addressing the ‘Open Information Core Commitment’ and the Appendices which include summaries of the commentary from specific groups.
The Government of Canada also continues to seek feedback from the community on these issues: http://open.canada.ca/en/forms/contact-us
I’d like to take this opportunity to announce the addition of Michelle Lake as CLA-GIN Co-Moderator, replacing Caron Rollins. Michelle is the Government Publications Librarian at Concordia University and started her term with the network on January 1st, 2015.
Please, join me in thanking Caron for all her hard work with CLA-GIN over the last several years and in welcoming Michelle to her new role!
Any network-related questions can now be directed to either Michelle or me.
Earlier this morning, the Government of Canada announced its Second Action Plan on Open Government. Of particular interest is the open information page and search engine, which, at this stage, provides integrated access to LAC and GoC Publications holdings. For more information, check out the following resources:
Action Plan on Open Government 2.0
New website: open.canada.ca
Note the handy feedback button at the bottom of the page. Send in your comments, suggestions, questions, etc.!
The CLA believes that access to the widest variety of information and points of view is critical to the functioning and evolution of a democratic society. Citizens, organizations, and governments make better, more informed decisions when they take part in a free exchange of ideas facilitated by open, affordable, equitable, and timely access to information.
It is with such values in mind that CLA responds to the Government of Canada’s Action Plan on Open Government 2.0 Consultation, with specific recommendations to support openness, transparency, and access to and the preservation of government information in Canada.
Read the full response here.
Government Information Network 