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23 July 2013

24th July Round Table on Proactive Disclosure of Public Information

On July 24th, 2013 the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI), with support of the USAID Good Governance in Georgia (G-3) Program organized a round table: Proactive Disclosure of Public Information and invited NGOs, experts and Mass-media representatives working in the field of freedom of Information. The Round table was welcomed by Maia Gogoladze, USAID, G-3 Program Deputy Chief of Party,. She in general introduced the IDFI/ USAID, G-3 project Improving of

19 July 2013

Decree “About the Necessary Measures for the Implementation of the Action Plan of Georgia for the Open Government Partnership”

The Government of Georgia published an official decree “about the necessary measures for the implementation of the action plan of Georgia for the Open Government Partnership”, in which it took into account the recommendations developed by the Civil Society of Georgia, led by IDFI, regarding the action plan of Georgia, sent to the Prime Minister of Georgia on February 5th, 2012.

10 July 2013

Principles to Consider: Rural Estonian E-Participation and Internet Accessibility

Estonia is a post-Soviet Baltic nation of 1.3 million people, with Russia located on its Eastern border. The past ten years have seen Estonia implement comprehensive e-Government policies providing quality internet access to 70% of rural citizens (Statistics Estonia, 2012). In 2012, Estonia was the highest ranked post-Soviet country in e-Government capabilities by the UN Public Administration Program at 20th overall.

5 July 2013

Conference on Open Government Partnership Gathered the Representatives of NGOs and Experts from Seven Countries

On April 25th, 2013, the National Security Archive (George Washington University, DC) and the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) organized a two-day conference in the Kopala Hotel in Tbilisi, Georgia.

24 June 2013

Presentation of Final Results of the Project “Development of e-Participation in Georgia”

Institute for Development of Freedom of Information in cooperation with the Center for Post Soviet Studies will present the final results of monitoring of official Facebook and web-pages of public institutions on June 25th, Tuesday, at Courtyard Marriot. Presentation will cover the concept of citizen platform www.ichange.ge, rating of public institutions according to the communication mechanisms of their e-resources and recommendations for improving bilateral communication be

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