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29 May 2013

Public Discussion - Citizen Engagement Platform www.ichange.ge.

On May 29, at 13:00 IDFI conducted public discussion and introduced its own concept of citizen engagement platform www.ichange.ge. Georgian government has taken an obligation to create citizen platform www.ichange.ge by 2013 in the frames of Open Government Partnership initiative action plan. IDFI studied the experience of some of the countries (the USA, Great Britain, Bahrain, Kazakhstan, Germany, Estonia), analyzed their e-platforms and elaborated its own concept. Discussion was att

28 May 2013

IDFI Signed an Ethical and Quality Standards Document

On May 21, 16 Georgian Think Tanks signed an Ethical and Quality Standards Document. The document presents comprehensive standards to guide the work of Georgian think tanks and establishes principles to ensure that the think tanks meet the highest possible professional standards. The ethical code covers organizational themes such as transparency, accountability and governance, while the quality standards focuses on research, analysis, and advocacy processes. At the sig

20 May 2013

IDFI’s presentation concerning Georgia’s Digital Broadcasting Switchover Strategy

On may 21, from 11am till 2pm, at “Tbilisi Mariot” IDFI will hold a presentation concerning Georgia’s Digital Broadcasting Switchover Strategy. The presentation will host representatives from the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia as well as experts from other executive as well as legislative bodies.

16 May 2013

A Representative of IDFI was Elected as a Member of the Council for the Disputes Related to State Procurements

On May 14th, 2013, two new member of the Council for the Disputed Related to State Procurements were elected - Ucha Seturi (IDFI - Institute for Development of Freedom of Information) and Giorgi Kotrikadze (Chairman of the Association of Oil Product Importers and Distributors). The selection procedures were initiated on April 11th, 2013. Seven NGOs nominated their candidates: 1. Institute of Economical Politics 2. Association of Oil Product Importers and Distributors 3. Institut

13 May 2013

Works in Progress: Openness in State Universities

On May 8, 2013 a public discussion about transparency of state universities was held within the format of Works in Progress. The presentation was prepared on the basis of the public information received within the framework of project Public Information Database in 2010-2013 and was made by an analyst of IDFI, Tamar Iakobidze. Georgian and Foreign representatives of academia were present at the discussion. Analysis covered public information received from ten state uni

2 May 2013

IDFI distributed informational flyers

The project Development of e-Participation in Georgia aims at increasing governments accountability, establishing modern forms of government-citizen communication and involving citizens in active social and political life. In the frames of this project IDFI planned the event which aims at increasing the social consciousness about the importance of citizen involvement in public policy. It is very important to ensure that the members of society get more actively involved in decision making

1 May 2013

Discussion with the representatives of media

The Institute for Development of Freedom of Information conducted a discussion with the representatives of media in the frames of the Development of e-Participation in Georgia project. The main topic of the meeting was the public relation strategy of government agencies and assessment of the level of usage of the communication tools. IDFI presented the tendencies that were identified during the monitoring of the web-sites and social network pages of government agencies. Particip

25 April 2013

International Conference about Freedom of Information and Open Government Partnership

On 26-27 April a conference dedicated to the issues of open government partnership and freedom of information will take place in Tbilisi. The conference was organized by the National Security Archive (George Washington University, US) and IDFI (Institute for Development of Freedom of Information). The representatives of nongovernmental and human rights organizations from seven countries - United States, Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Ukraine and Georg

22 April 2013

IDFI Data in the Report of the U.S. Department of State

U. S Department of State has published itsannual Report on Human Rights Practices. The most important human rights problems reported during the year 2012 in Georgia were: violation of the rights of prisoners, lack of independence in the Court and the problems of internally displaced persons. Apart from these problems, the report paid attention to the cases of corruption and lack of transparency in the Government of Georgia. The document also mentions the matter of the new Parliam

17 April 2013

Open Discussion - Universal Healthcare Program: Expectations and Reality

On April 15th, 2013 a discussion about Universal Healthcare Program: Expectations and Reality in the frameworks of the Discussions after a working day project of the German Adult Education Association dvv international. The goal of the project is to raise public awareness and form an active public position. Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) became the partner of the project in 2013. The director of the National Center for Disease Control and Pub