Projects

Project Name: Family Support Policy – EU Member States and Georgia
Donor Organization: MagtiCom LTD
Grant Amount: 35,000 GEL
Period of Performance: April – December, 2015

Project Description 

According to UN, Georgia is among 20 countries worldwide which are affected with depopulation. Economic hardships, as well as political instability in the country have resulted in critically low birth-rates and increased death rates. In contrast with 1980ies, when there were approximately 94 thousand newborns annually, currently this number has almost halved.

One of the important factors which can improve demographic situation in a country, is state social policy, a combination of state assistance and support programs, as well as active involvement of the society. Unfortunately, the programs that have existed until today, as well as current ones can be assessed as ineffective, which has resulted in more active work from CSOs.

Goal

The Goal of the project is to prepare recommendations and a project of legislative initiatives for the state policy supporting families with many children, based on analysis of public information as well as international practice.

Activities

• Analysis of demographic data of Georgia
• Analysis of international best practice of demographic and social policy
• Preparing recommendations and a project of legislative initiatives for state support policy

The Project is funded in the framework of European Union and the Parliament of Georgia Program: “Strengthening the System of Parliamentary Democracy in Georgia Project Document” which is implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

Project Name: Supporting Parliament of Georgia Involvement in Open Government Partnership Initiative
Donor Organization: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
Country: Georgia. Through the European Union funded Program: “Strengthening the System of Parliamentary Democracy in Georgia Project Document”
Partner organization: Parliament of Georgia
Grant Amount: 149 700,30 USD
Period of Performance: December 10, 2014 – November 30, 2015.

Background

Open Government Partnership (OGP) is a multilateral initiative that aims to secure concrete commitments from governments to promote transparency, empower citizens, fight corruption, and harness new technologies to make government more open, effective and accountable, leading to more efficient use of public resources, innovation and inclusive growth. It was launched by eight founding governments, including the United States and the United Kingdom. UNDP is an active supporter of the OGP globally, especially in the component of Legislative Openness.

In September 2011 Georgia joined OGP. Among 65 OGP member countries, at the onset of its membership, Georgia was scored among the highest (15 out of 16 maximum) on budget transparency, access to information and asset disclosure. Nonetheless, Georgia received one of the lowest scores on citizen engagement, which highlights the need to strengthen its capacity to communicate with citizens and civil society. The Government of Georgia committed to increase transparency and accountability within its national institutions, as well as enhance citizen participation, improve government services and integrity in public sector. As an OGP member state, Georgia dedicated itself to transparent and collaborative processes in public service, state procurement, public finances, and administration of justice, public participation and developing innovative technologies. Within almost three years Georgia managed to adopt and implement the first Action Plan (2012-13), participate in the OGP Steering Committee elections and adopt the second Action Plan (2014-15). In September 2014, Georgia was elected as an OGP Steering Committee Member for two years.

OGP Georgia 2014-15 Action Plan encompasses 27 commitments and 16 responsible agencies. The commitments meet four challenges of OGP: public service, increase of public participation, improved management of public resources and creating safe environment. It is notable that both Action Plans of the Government of Georgia (2012-2013 and 2014-15) were elaborated with the active cooperation of the government and the civil society. Representatives of Government and NGOs had been cooperating through the national coordination mechanism – Forum, which is co-chaired by the Government through the Ministry of Justice and the civil society through the IDFI.

Despite the advocacy of the civil society organization in Georgia, commitment of the Parliament of Georgia was not included in the National Action Plan 2014-2015, namely supporting the civic engagement in legislative processes through establishing citizens’ petitions system and a tool to enable citizens to comment on draft laws.

In fact, parliaments’ engagement in citizen participation in democracy is crucial. Parliaments as representative branches of democratic governments are meant to provide citizens with links to the policy-making process and with methods of holding the executive branch to account. As a place for informed debate on the issues affecting citizens, parliaments are ultimately responsible for finding compromise among competing interests, enacting these compromises into laws, and ensuring their successful implementation. Meaningful commitments to advance parliamentary openness should demonstrate a respect for citizens’ right to openness, participation and accountability, as well as a desire to deepen the relationship of trust between citizens and their parliaments more broadly.

OGP pays much attention especially to Legislative Openness which is the newest direction in OGP (as most of the commitments are related to Executive branch of the government.). Legislative Openness Working Group (LOWG) provides peer to peer support and sharing of experience, in response to specific requests from partners.

Overall Objective

Openness and transparency of the Parliament of Georgia must be increased and effective citizen participation in legislative processes has to be ensured through active engagement of the Parliament in OGP.

Specific Objectives

• Raising awareness of the Parliament on Open Government Partnership and Legislative Openness
• Developing and adopting Open Parliament Georgia Action Plan by the Parliament of Georgia
• Launching the process of Open Parliament Georgia Action Plan implementation

Expected Outputs

• Members and Staff of the Parliament of Georgia are aware of the concept of open parliament concept and importance of transparent legislative processes
• Strategy, commitments and mechanisms of institutionalizing the concept of open parliament are elaborated and its monitoring tools are available to the Parliament
• Openness and transparency of the Georgian Parliament is improved through implementation of the commitments undertaken by the Open Parliament Georgia Action Plan.

Description of Activities

Over the period from 1 December 2014 to 30 November 2015, the project will focus on the following activities:

• Raising awareness of the Parliament on Open Government Partnership and Legislative Openness
  
  • Prepare a study of international practices of parliament-related commitments in National Action Plans
  • Organize an awareness raising workshop on OGP
• Open Parliament Georgia Action Plan will be developed and adopted by the Parliament of Georgia
  
  • Draft the Terms of Reference of the Open Parliament Georgia Working Group
  • Create Open Parliament Georgia Working Group
  • Develop draft Open Parliament Georgia Action Plan
  • Facilitate public consultations to finalize Open Parliament Georgia Action Plan
  • Support peer exchanges and participation of the WG members at international OGP-related events
  • Finalize the Open Parliament Georgia Action Plan for its adoption by the Parliament of Georgia
• Open Parliament Georgia Action Plan implementation process will be launched
  
  • Support the WG in the implementation of the Action Plan
  • Launch public awareness campaign

Action Plan

Please, see the project report here. 

/public/upload/IDFI/OGP/Final Report Project.pdf

Call on EU to join OGP

The Bureau of the Parliament of Georgia Adopted the Open Parliament Georgia Action Plan

Parliament of Georgia has finalized working on the Open Parliament Georgia Action Plan 

The Inter-Factional Group approved the Open Parliament Georgia Action Plan 

The final version of the Open Parliament Georgia Action Plan was agreed between the Inter-Factional Group of the Parliament of Georgia and the Open Parliament Georgia Working Group

The Voice of a Customer - Open Government Partnership Reward Competition

Strengthening the role of the society in the process of drafting the Open Parliament Action Plan | 18 June 2015

Meeting with Students regarding Parliamentary Openness | 12 June 2015

The Opening Remark of the Chair of the Parliament of Georgia Regarding the Parliamentary Openness | 5 June 2015

OGP European Regional Meeting Has Closed | 4 June 2015

Faces of Open Government - Giorgi Kldiashvili | 3 June 2015

Regional meeting in Georgia regarding Open Government Partnership | 1 Junw 2015

The Field Meeting of the Inter-Factional Group and the Open Parliament Georgia Working Group | 25 May 2015

Meeting Regarding Recommendations on Parliamentary Openness |21 May 2015

First meeting with the students on the issues of the parlamentary openness | 15 May 2015

Meeting on the Issues of the Parliamentary Openness | 14 May 2015

Parliament of Georgia joined the Open Government Partnership | 1 May 2015

The Presentation of the Research – the Issues of Open Parliament in OGP Member Countries | 1 May 2015

Issues of Open Parliament in OGP Member Countries | 28 April 2015

The Meeting of the Non-Governmental and International Organizations of the Open Parliament Georgia Working Group | 27 April 2015

Signing the Declaration on Parliamentary Openness and the Memorandum | 24 April 2015

IDFI Organized the First Meeting of the Inter-Factional Group and the Open Parliament Georgia Working Group | 3 April 2015

Project Name: Facilitate Open Government Partnership Initiative
Project dates: July 22 – November 1, 2014
Financial Support: USAID, Good Governance in Georgia (G-3) Program
Budget: 104,100.00 Georgian Lari (59 500,00 USD)

Project Description:
Open Government Partnership (OGP) is an international initiative to promote and seek commitments from participating governments to promote transparency, increase civic participation, fight corruption, and harness new technologies to make government more open, effective and accountable.

OGP was founded in 2011 upon the initiative of the presidents of the USA and Brazil and units 65 countries. As an OGP member state, Georgia dedicated itself to transparent and collaborative processes in public service, state procurement, public finances, and administration of justice, public participation and developing innovative technologies to achieve the above mentioned goals.

The OGP calls for country commitments in five (grand) challenges of: (1) improving public service delivery, (2) increasing public integrity, (3) more effectively managing public resources, (4) creating safer communities, and (5) increasing corporate accountability.

Among the 65 OGP member countries, at the onset of its membership, Georgia was scored among the highest (15 out of 16 maximum) on budget transparency, access to information and asset disclosure. Nonetheless, Georgia received one of the lowest scores on citizen engagement, which highlights the need to strengthen its capacity to communicate with citizens and civil society.

In 2014 Georgia created second National Action Plan 2014-2015 within the frame work of OGP. It comprises 27 commitments. The Government of Georgia’s OGP commitments are coordinated by the OGP Forum and its secretariat, which is a national coordination mechanism as foreseen under the Articles of Governance, and which is functioning in a new format since January 15, 2014.

Project Objectives:
The aim of this assistance is to facilitate the work of the Government of Georgia, through support to the GoG’s OGP Forum to advance the goals of the Open Government Partnership that include logistic and organizational support for the OGP Forum and manage OGP’s external communications through an intensive public awareness campaign on the OGP that will ensure the continuity of organizational relationships with OGP’s partners.

Project Activities:
• Plan and implement public awareness campaign on OGP at Central and Regional levels with various target groups
• In close consultations with Open Government Georgia Forum and its secretariat develop the design and content of the printed materials – Flayers and OGP Action Plan of Georgia 2014-2015 for domestic and international dissemination (in Georgian and English languages);
• Printed materials dissemination in Universities, libraries, Public Service Halls and USAID-funded Centers of Civic Engagement throughout Georgia
• Agree upon the theme, message and length of the videos with the Open Government Georgia Forum and its secretariat
• Produce the videos in different file formats suitable for television broadcast (local commercial and public television outlets), internet and social media platforms

Implemented Activites:

• 14 public awareness meetings were planned and conducted with students of various universities, media and NGO representatives, and librarians. Meetings were held in Tbilisi and in different regions – in Batumi, Kutaisi, Akhaltsikhe and Kvareli

• In close consultations with Open Government Georgia Forum and its secretariat develop the design and content of the printed materials
• In close consultations with Open Government Georgia Forum and its secretariat developed the design and content of flyers on OGP
• National Action Plan (2014-2015) in English/Georgian was printed. Design of was prepared and agreed with the Ministry of Justice of the Government.
• Shorthorn version National Action Plan (2014-2015) with illustration was printed in English and Georgian
• Printed Materials were delivered to universities, libraries, USAID Civic Engagement Centers. Part of these materials were delivered to the Ministry of Justice for dissemination to state agencies
• Three graphical videos on OGP were prepared according to the agreed content with the MoJ of Georgia. Videos were broadcasted by Public Broadcaster and privet TVs as well The first video describes the commitments taken by the government agencies. The second video describes the OGP in general.

Budget:

Open Government Partnership Action Plan Georgia 2014-2015

Open Government Parnership Action Plan Georgia 2014-2015 Brochure

Open Government Partnership (Video)

Workshop with Students of LibCenter about OGP
Bosnia and Herzegovina Joined OGP
OGP Celebrated Its Three-Year Anniversary
Discussion with students about OGP
Open Government Georgia Forum Holds its Next Meeting
Meetings with students for awareness raising on OGP continue
Civil Society Dialogue [VIDEO]
Seminars about OGP in different regions of Georgia
Workshops at University of Georgia and at GIPA
New Response Policy for OGP Countries
Another Monthly Meeting of OGG Forum Discussed Oversight Mechanism of the National Action Plan Implementation
Official website of Ministry of Internal Affairs has become adaptive for blind people

Name of Grant Activity: Internet Freedom as Human Right in Georgia
Donor Organization: Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
Grant Recipient: Institute for Development of Freedom of Information
Total Grant Amount: 6499.35 €
Period of Performance: November-December, 2014

In 2014 Web turns 25. This quarter of century has seen internet affect virtually all aspects of our lives including communication, services, education, news, entertainment, business, governance etc. However, along with the unarguable advantages, internet has also brought new challenges and debatable questions: how to protect human rights in internet? Should internet be regulated? If yes, how, by whom and to what extent?

While common to any country, these questions are of even more importance for those countries struggling with protecting human rights offline – Georgia, as one of the newer democracies, being one of the examples. Despite impressive progress in terms of e-governance, Georgia is still facing such basic problems as lack of internet access, with only less than half of its population being connected to World Wide Web. However, the biggest challenge remains lack of strategic view on internet development. Despite high level of public interest there have been considerably few opportunities to discuss and debate on such issues.

With the goal to fill this existing gap about internet as human right, there could be no better timing as December – since December 10th is celebrated worldwide as international human rights day. Thus, IDFI with the support of Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Georgia plans to organize an event with the goal to promote discussion on diverse aspects of internet freedom as human right and create space for debate on whether, when, how and to what extent to regulate internet.

Activities:

Discussion "Internet as a Human Right", December 6th, Multimedia Education Centre (MEC)

• Moderator: Joseph Alexander Smith, Journalist, Georgia Today
• Key-note Speaker: Xander Bouwman, Social Media Activist (the Kingdom of Netherlands) – Internet access as a human right

Panel Discussion: Challenges of Internet Freedom in Georgia

• Internet access in Georgia: David Lee, President of MagtiCom
• Surveillance: Lasha Tughushi, Commission on Secret Surveillance, editor of newspaper "Resonance", chairman of Georgian Civil Society National Platform for the Eastern Partnership
• Hate speech: Gubaz Koberidze, No Hate Speech Movement, Council of Europe
• Copyright & Censorship: Giorgi Gogua, RFERL

Panel Discussion: Internet regulation – do’s and don’ts

• Tamta Tepnadze, Public Defender of Consumers’ Rights at GNCC (Georgian National Communications Commission)
• Nino Sarishvili, Office of the Personal Data Protection Inspector, Head of International Relations and Communications Department
• Zviad Koridze, Media expert
• David Kldiashvili, Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics, Secretary of the Council

Contract

Title of the project: Concept for the New Web-Page of Tbilisi City Hall
Financial Support of the Project: "Open Society-Georgia" Foundation (OSGF)
Budget of the Project: $ 24680
Duration of the project: October 2014 - February 2015

Long term perspective of the project

With creation and implementation of a new concept of the web-page of Tbilisi City Hall guaranteed proactive access of the public information and formation of a citizen-oriented informational web-system.

Objectives of the Project:

• Increasing the level of transparency and accountability of Tbilisi City Hall;
• Promoting effective and transparent spending of public funds;
• Supporting the development of freedom of information via establishing the standards of e-democracy;
• Improving the public control on the public service agencies with the involvement of the citizens, ngo sector and media;
• Informing the citizens and increasing their engagement in the discussion and decision-making process in the public sector.

Project Description

Specifying the Project (Analysis of the current state)

For years citizens were putting questions about the accountability and transparency of the Tbilisi City Hall. This was mainly caused by not having the financial and other kind of data about the Tbilisi City Hall and the non-commercial and private legal persons that where under its subordination. At the same time journalists and other interested persons were not given the possibility to evaluate level of effectiveness and fullfillment of the obligations by the decision making personalities of the Tbilisi City Hall that was mainly caused by the restriction of the access to public information. Besides citizens were not equipped with the legal mechanizms and methods that would give them the opportunity for fully taking part in the city governance.

We think that, on the one hand, for eradication of these problems, it is very important to inform citizens and to have a maximum transparency in the financial and other key data about the Tbilisi City Hall. On the other hand, the abovementioned agency should start implementing services that oriented on citizens activities and involvments. Formation of a new web-page will have utmost importance to accomplish these aims. We have advised our view to Tbilisi City Hall – about issues that we think is essential for eradicating the current problems and implementing new trends.

Project Implementation Ways

Strategy

• The study of the internal procedures of the Tbilisi City Hall and logicasl designation of the frames of business-procedures;
• The determination of the current public requirements towards the new web-page;
• The collaboration of the concept and the prototype of the web-page.

Methods of Implementation

The study of the internal procedures of the Tbilisi City Hall and logical designation of the frames of business-procedures

Tbilisi City Hall, as a system, is one of the biggest and most difficult, from the governance point of view, public body. In order to determine the content of the web-page, to unify the standards of the disclosure of the public information, to combine the current information about municipalities, commercial entities and non-commercial legal persons in a single system and to draw out corresponding procedural documents, it is necessary to work up and research the internal business-procedures and the information about the management.

On the first stage of the project, it is planned to collect and analyze the information about the internal managerial procedures of the Tbilisi City Hall with the collaboration of the corresponding personalities of the Tbilisi City Hall. Initial studies of the work up, exchange and publishing of the information in the Tbilisi City Hall and its structural or dependant bodies is essential for effective functioning, sharing the responsibilities and obligations, evaluating administrative resources and technical opportunities, for integration and development in current and upcoming electronic service web-page.

The determination of the current public requirements towards the new web-page
It is important to understand the expectations and the requirements of the consumers (both from the side of service and information recipients) of the web-page in order to determine its functional and the content. From one point availability of public information is important, and from the other point, Tbilisi City Hall offers various services and programs to habitants of Tbilisi. Accordingly, both informational content sector and services, applications and other activation mechanisms of involvement sector should be integrated in the web-page. Correspondingly, it is necessary to determine the priorities of the web-page from the functional point of view. Public meeting with the relevant organizations and experts will help us in drawing out the additional indicators that must be taken into account in creating the technical assignment project.

At the same time it is important to research the best international practice, based on which the modern technical and innovative projects should be offered. The analysis of the innovative systems or transparency mechanisms of the web-pages of the foreign countries municipalities will assist the project’s team to consider the modern standards, and on the other hand to work out the conceptual document and recommendations based on the arguments and international practice.

The collaboration of the concept and the prototype of the web-page

After the research of the administrative and consumers sides, based on the received information and international practice the detailed description of the web-page will be drawn out that implies:

• Preparation of the description of the structure and navigation of the web-page;
• Preparation of the necessary technical instruction for collaborating of the web-page;
• Designation of the structure of the division of public information and open data and its management optimizing plan;
• Determination of the structure of involvement applications (platform of petitions, online platform for defending the nature and cultural heritage; public consultations platform);
• Preparation of technical instruction for the systemic requirements of the web-page and for the cyber-safety regulations;
• Preparation of the content sharing, basic functional and navigation descriptive HTML prototype.

Finished document, recommendations, the model of the web-page prototype and procedural documents will be presented on the name of the Tbilisi Mayor further for its technical creation.

Tbilisi City Hall, based on the collaborated conception of the initial agreement, particularly, non-commercial NNLE “Tbilisi Portal” will start the creation process of the web-page of Tbilisi City Hall. Consequently, consultations of the Tbilisi City Hall employees and the monitoring process of the performed activities will be important for the proper conduct of this process.

The Timeline of the Project

Budget

Name of Grant Activity: Strategic Plan Georgia 2020 – Strengthening Public Involvement (ZigB)
Donor Organization: Federal Foreign Office of Germany
Grant Recipient: Institute for Development of Freedom of Information
Partner Organization: Bremen University
Total Grant Amount: 86 580 €
Period of Performance: 10 October, 2014-10 February, 2015

Objectives:
The project aims to give rise to the interest of various groups of civil society towards involvement and extension of knowledge about the Strategic Document (Socio-Economic Development Strategy of Georgia “Georgia-2020) in order for them to be more involved in discussions for the future.

Current State:
The problematic spheres that prevent the growth of Georgian economy are identified in strategic document with using Growth Diagnostic Method. These problems are - low level of competitiveness, insufficiently developed human resources (Educational System, Health Care and Social Protection System) and the credit accessibility. Based on the current situation main aim of the Georgian Government is specified in the document as supporting private sector, supporting development of human resources and improving the financial availability. Various activities and objectives are included in strategy to eradicate the aforementioned problems for the years of 2017-2020.

Project’s connection with other projects and activities of governmental and non-governmental organizations:
As Georgian government neither organized, nor initiated the public involvement process, there is no current possibility for understudying it.

Activities:

• Organizing the special-courses of Lecturers and PhD students of Georgian and Germany Universities at Georgian State universities (most importantly in regions), for example, in Batumi, Kutaisi, Telavi and in other regions. Four special-courses will be organized within the project: financial development, social protection systems, economic policy, and culture management.
• Supporting Georgian bloggers and young analytics:
  • Organizing three day workshop for Georgian bloggers and young analytics of non-governmental organizations;
  • Selecting the young Georgian bloggers and analytics of Georgian non-governmental organizations for receiving the financial assistance; granting a 3 month stipend;
  • Organizing the Blogger’s Day for Georgian Bloggers and awarding them in various categories;
• Organizing the conference “Scientific Analysis of the Perspectives of the Strategic Document – “Georgia 2020” in February 2014. Famous German experts will be invited together with Georgian experts (with the collaboration of Tbilisi State University).
• Organizing the discussions in connection with the Strategic Document of Georgian Government “Georgia – 2020” with the presence of relative public groups. Three public discussions will be organized. Corresponding representatives of the relative ministries and state agencies, also other representatives of the given spheres will be invited to the discussions. The topics of the discussions will be the ongoing reforms in social protection sphere (healthcare and pension reforms) and educational reform, also current financial development of Georgia.

Target Group:
Target Groups of the project are social activists (bloggers, analytics of non-governmental organizations), Georgian scientists and students, also other stakeholders who are interested in state actions within the scopes of the strategic document.

Indicators of Success:
The success of the project will be experienced in various ways. The questionnaire will be spread among the researcher/scientist participants of the conference for the possible feedback. Also we’ll monitor the public discussions about the Strategic Document with the collaboration of the Georgian non-governmental organizations. Especially, we are expecting the big public response about the conference “Scientific Analysis of the Perspectives of the Strategic Document – “Georgia 2020” that will be held in February. Also after the end of the scholarship period we’ll receive the final document from the participants (bloggers/analytics of non-governmental organizations) that will also designate how was this scholarship used and whether the grant supported the development of the participants. Besides, the questionnaire should be spread during special courses, where the gained knowledge of each participant can be specified.

What activities are planned for raising the public awareness of the project:
For the project’s various activities, to attract the public attention, close connection with the Georgian media (TV channels, newspapers and web-pages) is being planned. IDFI has multiple contacts of printing and digital media, and at the same time IDFI has successfully launched various public awareness campaigns in former projects.

Name of Grant Activity: Improving the Practice of Compliance with the Proactive Disclosure of Public Information Obligation by State Authorities of Georgia
Donor Organization: USAID Good Governance in Georgia Program (G-3)
Grant Recipient: Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI)
Partner Organization: Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA)
Grant Agreement No.: 493700.01-14-17-IDFI
Client Contract No.: AID-114-TO-11-00001
MSI Project No.: 493700.01
Type of Grant: Fixed Obligation Grant
Total Grant Amount: GEL 34,779.14 (USD 19 873,80) 
Period of Performance: 25 Sept. – 27 Nov. 2014

Objectives:
The objective of this grant is to assist Government of Georgia institutions to effectively manage FOIA compliance, engage civil society in monitoring implementation of FOIA provisions, and publicize information on implementation and constraints to implementation of FOIA provisions.

Activities to be provided:

1. Study of the implementation process of Proactive Disclosure of Public Information in Georgia

In order to assess the level of online transparency of public sector, IDFI will research official web-sites of the state authorities of Georgia who are obliged by the decree of the Government of Georgia to publish information in the framework of the list accepted by the Government.
Research of the gained data will reveal compliance of the target institutions with the decree of GoG “About the Form of the Electronic Request of Information and Proactive Disclosure of Public Information”.

2. A statistical study of GoG’s compliance with the FOIA:

GYLA will request from target institutions (State Chancellery of Georgia, Ministries of Georgia, Offices of the State Minister of Georgia, Parliament of Georgia, and Supreme Court of Georgia) all FOIA requests (both electronic and written) received in 2013-2014 and administrative acts containing an answer in response to those requests.
Based on the documentation received, GYLA will categorize the issues of the most requested information by institution. Thus, by defining the public interest, it will be possible to identify the list which will be recommended for further improving the practice of e- transparency.
By analyzing the answers of institutions on the FOIA request, research team will be able to identify possible areas for improvement which are currently impeding transparent and citizen- oriented activities.

3. Case studies of international practice of 3 foreign countries with experience in implanting provisions to more readily disclose public information:

In addition to this study, the IDFI will provide research supplemented by case studies of 3 foreign countries (Italy, New Zealand, Canada), and with experience implementing FOIA provisions. The indicated countries have highest scores in terms of e-information and e-governance according to the latest, 2014 United Nations E-Government Survey.

4. Targeted focus groups with civil society organizations:

In order to gather feedback on the strengths and weaknesses of civil society interaction with the GoG institutions vis-à-vis requests for public information and take into account their practice and experience in this regard, three focus groups will be organized: two in Tbilisi and another in Adjara. NGO, media and civil society representatives from different regions will be invited to these events.

5. Workshop on best practices of disclosing public information for the GoG’s FOIA officers:

A workshop will be held with GoG stakeholders to present best practices revealed from the above-mentioned case studies and to present the combined statistical and focus group findings.

6. Providing recommendations for improving FOIA provision practice in Georgia:

Based on research findings, IDFI & GYLA will present a set of recommendations with the aim of improving the partner GoG institutions compliance with FOIA provisions. The package of recommendations will be delivered to all target public institutions.

Key Assumptions:

As a result of the activities conducted within the framework of the project:

• Paper on FOIA compliance by focus GOG institutions will be published;
• The new list of the public information to be proactively published will be identified;
• Paper on international experience on disclosing public information will be published;
• Recommendation paper on improving FOIA compliance by GoG institutions will be worked out. 

Work Plan:

 Detailed project budget:

/public/upload/projects/IDFI-Budget-9-19-2014-UPD.pdf

Contract

IDFI is involved in the project as a volunteer partner

Background information

The IREX-sponsored Beyond Access program works around the globe to support the role of libraries in development efforts. Over 230,000 public libraries are in developing countries, including about 500 in Georgia. Their historic role as information hubs makes public libraries ideal sustainable partners to support Georgia’s development goals in improving public health, education, agriculture, and civic engagement. The government can do this by investing in librarians and demonstrating the value of public access to ICTs.

As part of its development goals, the Georgian Government has committed to ensuring the entire population has access to its services. In support of this goal, the Ministry of Justice’s Public Services Development Agency (PSDA) has identified 17 public services to be delivered online. The majority of the rural population of Georgia, however, has little to no access to these services. To bridge this gap, Beyond Access and its partners are implementing the GPS Lib project, which aims to pilot a model where libraries help deliver public services and provide access to information to rural populations.

Project goals

• Provide equal access to information and public services through community spaces 
• Develop economic opportunity at all levels
• Bring citizens' voices online and connect them to government resources

GPSLib Fast Facts

• Partners: Public Services Development Agency (PSDA), Georgian Libraries Association (GLA), Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI)
• Working with 4 libraries to reach a total of 20-30,000 Georgians
• Developing new services in libraries around access to information and government resources

Modernizing Libraries
The initial phase of the project will focus on four libraries in two villages and two municipalities. All four libraries will reopen with more “modern” looks and be equipped with new computer workstations and WiFi throughout. The modern libraries will feature open, welcoming environments, meeting rooms, and multiple Internet access points. This will allow libraries to serve the current needs of the population and become Community Engagement Spaces — places where residents can come together with local businesses, NGOs, or government officials to address community needs.

Training Librarians
The modern libraries in Zugdidi, Khulo, Khidistavi, and Nukriani will require “modern” librarians – that is to say, librarians who are not only familiar with all the services of the new libraries, but can also assist library visitors in using these services to their best benefit. The GPS Lib project will deliver three phases of trainings to project participants. The first phase will focus primarily on basic IT skills and how to teach these skills to others. The second phase will focus on delivering new services, including e-Government. The final phase will focus on access to information and project planning and implementation, giving participants the tools needed to develop and execute programs beneficial to their community. These trainings will include librarians from the four partner libraries, as well as librarians from nearby libraries, local community organizations, and municipal offices, to ensure that all sectors can appreciate the benefits.

Connecting Citizens to Public Services
Through partnerships with the PSDA and private companies, the four participant libraries will help their patrons access e-government services, mobile companies, financial information, and a host of other beneficial resources related to citizenship and migration, social assistance programs, and social-legal certifications. The libraries in Nukriani and Khidistavi will house the same 17 e-Government services offered by PSDA. In addition to being able to train patrons on different 21st century skills, the librarians involved in the GPS Lib project will also work with them to identify information needs and direct them to the appropriate resources.

/public/upload/pdf/Memorandum-Of-Understanding-IDFI-IREX-PSDA-GLA.pdf

Project Title: Enhancing E-Skills of Controlling Government among Young People

Project Funded:  U.S. Embassy in Georgia

Project Budget: 19 330 USD

Project Duration: August 1, 2014 – March 30, 2015

Brief description of the project

The project “Enhancing E-Skills of Controlling Government among Young People” strives to further develop critical thinking of youth. In particular, project aims to raise awareness among the students, young activists and civil society representatives about contemporary mechanisms how to hold government accountable and build up direct contact with decision-makers as well as enhance their practical skills in these directions.

In order to achieve the mentioned goal, project team plans to organize trainings for young people (in Tbilisi) and discussions for wider society of ten regions of Georgia and equip them with all necessary tools for achieving higher accountability of public institutions and their openness towards suggestions and feedback provided by citizens.

Trainings will cover the following issues:

• Electronic request of public information;
• Methodology of monitoring of governmental activities by checking effective functioning of electronic tools of public institutions (social networks, websites, e-mail, discussion forums developed on e-resources of public institutions etc.);
• Usage of open sources for controlling government.

Trainers will use both formal and informal methods during trainings.

Apart from educational activities, project enables participants to use newly gained knowledge practically, conduct their own monitoring with the permanent consultation of IDFI staff and prepare analytical articles on the basis of the main findings of the monitoring.

In order to expand outreach and impact of the project, IDFI aims to organize discussions in 10 regions about monitoring of electronic resources of public institutions. These regions include: Akhaltsikhe, Batumi, Gori, Zugdidi, Telavi, Marneuli, Ozurgeti, Rustavi, Sagarejo, Kutaisi. Centers for civic engagement will be utilized for these meetings. The problems related to interaction between government and civil society representatives will be raised during these events. Representatives of media, civil society and public institutions will be invited to these discussions.

Result of the project will be evaluated and the authors of the best articles will be rewarded during the final presentation of the project.

Project Timeline

Project Budget

Project Title:  Supporting and Monitoring of the Transition to Digital Terrestrial Broadcasting in Georgia

Project Funded: Open Society - Georgia Foundation-OSGF

Project Budget:  60 645,04 USD

Project Duration: April, 2014 – December 2014

Project Description

During 2013, with the active participation and engagement of IDFI, important activities were carried out in terms of digital terrestrial broadcasting; however, despite such positive changes problems connected to de-monopolization, transparency of access tariffs, considering the interests of the regional media, introducing the competitive and open competition procedures still remain. State Strategy of Georgia, approved by the Government of Georgia in February 2014 reflects the proposals, recommendations and remarks of our organization; however, minor problems still remain on the stage of defining the strategic objectives.

Advocacy stage has crucial importance; other than making number of decisions regarding the activities directed at the end user (awareness raising), very important legal package must be prepared which will dramatically change the technical and legal basis of the media environment. Special attention must be paid to the process of selecting the digital terrestrial broadcasting platform operator, conducted by the Georgian National Communications Commission. 

It is preferable to control the issues connected to the access to terrestrial signal networks of the national, local and regional broadcasters in order to eliminate the so called systematic and unsystematic obstacles.  The role of the Georgian National Communications Commission is crucially important in these processes, which according to the government plan, must commence in 2014. Formation of the fully competitive market is likely to be completed by 2017 by creating number of alternative networks; in order to ensure the competitive media environment, it is important to control the digital terrestrial broadcasting network access tariffs, transparency and non-discrimination of the conditions of access, as well as focusing on the broadcasting tariffs which will be cost-oriented and reasonable.

Project Objectives:  

During the next 7 months, in terms of monitoring the process of digital switchover, project will cover the following key directions:

- Implementing the process of digital switchover in accordance to the directives of EU, Georgian media market operators and European Court of Justice, identifying flaws and defining the ways of eliminating these defects.

- Eliminating the technical, competitive, economic barriers of the process of digital switchover.

- Monitoring the work of the LEPL Digital Broadcasting Agency, studying the current practice and the legal acts that were designed to regulated the process, elaborating the recommendations and advocacy; submitting the proposal of legislative amendments to the Parliament of Georgia and the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia.

Project Activities:

In order to improve the Georgian media environment, activities must be carried out in the following four directions:

• Monitoring and advocating the process of digital terrestrial switchover and promoting through recommendations and highly professional researches.
• Monitoring and promoting the process of awareness raising among the population; evaluating, elaborating the recommendations and studying the effectiveness of public awareness raising implementation process.
• Studying, evaluating, elaborating recommendations, promoting the implementation and advocating the activities related to the digital terrestrial switchover.
• Monitoring the activities of the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development, LEPL Digital Broadcasting Agency, Georgian National Communications Commission, “Georgian Teleradio Center” LTD, and LEPL Georgian Public Broadcaster, connected to the process of digital switchover. Studying their practice and legislative acts, monitoring, submitting the recommendations and advocating.
• Monitoring, elaborating the recommendations and advocating the implementation of the activities of 2014-2015 of Georgian Public Broadcaster related to the process of digital switchover.
  

Project Title: Sharing the Georgian Experience with Tajik Specialists, Involved in the Process of Monitoring the Implementation of Anti-corruption Strategy.

Project Funded By: Open Society Institute – Support Foundation in Tajikistan

Project Budget: 5 500,00 USD

Project Duration: January 7, 2014 – January 31, 2014

Partners: Center of Anti-corruption Education and Support of Tajikistan

Project Description:Project aims at sharing the Georgian experience and making the Tajik colleagues familiar with the anti-corruption reforms and new projects that Georgia is implementing.

Project Activities: Within the frames of the project, specialists involved in the monitoring of anti-corruption strategy, will visit Tbilisi. During the visit, delegates will conduct meetings with the representatives of public institutions, NGOs and media. Tajik colleagues will be made familiar with the electronic procurement and public service system and concept of Service Halls; as well as the electronic projects implemented with the aim of improving the human resource management, legal amendments and future strategy.

Round table discussion will be conducted with the representatives of civic sector and media to talk about the steps taken by Georgia for fighting against corruption and discussing the current challenges.

Contract

Project Title:  State-owned enterprises (SOE) and their efficiency in Georgia - Focus: Agriculture Sector
Project Funded by:  “East-West Management Institute" (EWMI) program “Public Policy, Advocacy and Civil Society Development in Georgia” (G-PAC)

Project Budget: USD 43,052.10

Project Duration: December 02.2013 – July 01. 2014

Partner Organizations: Tax Payers Union, Ministry of Agriculture of Georgia

Project Description:

Institute of Development of the Freedom of Information (IDFI) in partnership with the taxpayers Union and the Ministry of Agriculture of Georgia, is implementing project "State-owned enterprises (SOE) and their efficiency in Georgia; Focus: Agriculture Sector".

The main purpose of the project is to conduct a study on state-owned enterprises (SOE) whose shares of 50% or more are under direct or indirect ownership of the state. The research aims to reveal the effectiveness and efficiency of the SOE’s and expediency of Government ownership. Based on the research results, the research team will offer the recommendations to Government bodies. Also project aims on elaborating and advocating for recommendations on improvement of transparency of state owned enterprises.

Project Objectives

• Project aims at increasing transparency of the sector and initiating public discussions about the role and operational purposes of the SOEs. This will assist public servants, experts, and other stakeholders in further analyses.  
• Study the current and past financial conditions of SOEs, in order to make proper and intelligent decisions about these SOEs in future.
• Prepare general analysis about existing market competition in the agriculture sector, and what is the role of SOEs in this sector.  
• Prepare recommendation package for the Government about future policy related to certain SOEs.

Project Activities

• Audit reports will be studied and the information about the SOEs will be obtained.
• High officials, heads of the enterprises, farmers, representatives of the private sector and experts will be interviewed in Tbilisi and the regions, where SOEs are located.
• Discussions will be conducted in the round table format for the experts, decision makers and the representatives of the private sector.
• Project team will study the legal bases that ensure the growth of transparency of SOEs and elaborate recommendations.
• Meeting with the representatives of the government and parliament will be organized in order to make them familiar with the outcomes of the project and the recommendations.

Contract

Title of the Project: Pilot International Survey on Governmental Online Openness

Project funded: Volunteer project

Project Budget: 0 USD

Project Duration: December, 2013 – August, 2014

Coordinator Organization: Freedom of Information Foundation (Russian Federation)

Partner Organizations: Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (Georgia),
“Lawtrend” Legal Transformation Center (Republic of Belarus),
National Security Archive at George Washington University (the United States of America)

Description of the project:

In an attempt to create a worldwide measure for the openness of governments NGO representatives of Russia, Georgia, USA and Belarus organized a pilot survey on the basis of an already-completed method of grading the openness of government websites. The survey is based on measures similar to parameters (categories of information which must be published on the websites, in accordance with regulatory requirements and expertise) measured according to a set of criteria (availability, degree of completeness, degree to which it is kept up to date, ease of navigation etc).

The main coordinator organization of the initiative was Freedom of Information Foundation, based in Russia. It should be noted that since 2004 the Foundation has been conducting an audit of the websites of Russian governmental organisations. Additionally, in 2010 they launched an automated information system, Infometer, which optimizes the work of experts on evaluating websites by minimizing the possibility for error. The basis of the system is software written by experts at the Foundation with an open code, which you can adapt to any other survey method of web-content analysis, and so localize it for other countries. The survey method and the Infometer system make together an effective instrument for the assessment of the governmental openness, which has proved itself in Russia, and they wished to try it in the framework of a comparative international survey.

Project Title: Public Information Database - www.opendata.ge
Project Funded: Open Society Foundations (OSF) (75 542,5 USD) and Open Society Georgia Foundation (OSGF) (75 543 USD)
Total Project Budget: $151 085
Project Duration: 1 October, 2013 - 1 October, 2015

Project Description: The implementation of the idea started in 2010 with the pilot project “Public information on-line database – Public information registry”, which was continued two times – in March 2011 and June 2012. 

Project Goal: The goal of the project is supporting of the development of freedom of information by increasing level of accountability of state authorities and civic engagement in decision-making process and public monitoring and control over the government.

Project Objectives: With the project “Public Information Database – www.opendata.ge” IDFI addresses three main objectives:

1.        Awareness raising (stakeholders & civil society)
2.        Advocacy campaign (FOI changes)
3.        Watchdog activities.

Project Activities:

1.1.   Research Activities: publishing analysis of public information

As the last three years of implementation has seen gradual development of analytical capabilities (e.g. “Freedom of Information Guidebook”, about 90 articles on Opendata Blog, researches on special transfers to regions before 2012 Parliamentary Elections; comparison of FOI legislation in Serbia and Georgia; Construction costs of the new Parliament building in Kutaisi; comparison of FOI legislation in Croatia and Georgia; Commissioner and Openness of Public Information - Overview of the Worldwide Practice etc.), and since it has proved to attract much more public interest, citizen engagement and media coverage, IDFI intends to further extend the research component of the project. This will be achieved with the following steps:

-         Further updates on the analytical blog

-         Publication of researches and reports on more comprehensive issues

-         Preparing policy papers on ongoing issues

-         Preparing policy analysis and evaluation

-         Editing guidebook to include all updates and legislation changes

1.2.   Public Awareness Campaign:

For increasing public awareness IDFI continues proactive strategies, in particular:

1.        Using social networks (sharing news, Facebook, Twitter and opendatablog)
2.        Constant informing and engagement of coalition for media advocacy and other nongovernmental coalitions;
3.        Co-operated activities of the NGO sector;
4.        Public surveys;
5.        Civic and regional NGO engagement;
6.        Cooperation/engagement with international NGOs.
7.        Focus group discussions
8.        Meetings
9.        Suggestions for FOI requests (web-site, Opendata Blog, e-mail, telephone, personal meeting etc.)  

 Distribution-popularization of information will be made through the following sources:

-         Sharing the information through social networks and public surveys;

-         E-informing of database users about added information;   

-         Organizing introductory meeting with society, events in regions of Georgia;

-         Sharing information added on database by using the informational resources of NGOs, involved in the project;

-         Informing media and press about uploaded information on database through mailing list;

-         Organization of press conferences, meetings, round tables, discussions for sharing existing problems, experience and trends revealed in the process of implementation of the project;

-         Preparation and distribution of informational flyers  and videos regarding the issues of freedom of information;

-         Distribution of social advertisement regarding the database in the internet space.

-         Provide information to representatives of NGOs, funds, networks.  

1.3.   Educational activities:

In the framework of the project, IDFI plans to hold meetings in regions with local society and representatives of media. Population of the regions will be informed about activities of IDFI, the project team will carry out discussions about the importance of accountability and transparency of state authorities, importance of civic engagement and other interesting issues. Also, IDFI will assist to local media and civil society organizations in the case of rejection or ignore of public information requests, will assist to fill the complaint against governmental organizations and participation in trials. These activities will support to civic engagement and establishment of civil society.    

2.1.   Legal Practice & Reform:

IDFI will submit administrative complaints against governmental agencies, in the case of ignoring or rejecting request of information. Resonant cases will be done about particularly important cases (abuse in court instances and sharing). The cases will be actively shared through media and press.

The Institute actively continues developing and advocating those legislative initiatives, which will be related to the availability of public information. 2013 should be one of the most critical periods to this end, as the government plans, in the frameworks of the “Open Government Partnership”, to both refine Article 3 of the General Administrative Code of Georgia (freedom of information) and to look over existing related legislation. The ideas of creating a separate FoI legislation and establishing the institution of a FoI commissioner suggested by the IDFI is being actively discussed at this time. The monitoring of the process of requesting and receiving public information electronically in 2013 will also be important. In this direction, the project team continues actively working on relevant studies and organizing meetings.

The research findings and the recommendations will be provided through individual meetings with the governmental institutions. Thus, individual face-to-face contacts will be the main form of interaction for communicating the recommendations. The research findings, will be presented in more detail during the presentations. As for the public discussions and meetings with NGOs, media and target group representatives, they will be arranged both to gain more insight about the specific topics of the project, and more importantly, to provide them with the tentative results and/or expectations of the project. These meetings and discussions may be either divided according to target groups, e.g. representatives of NGOs, media representatives, or be mixed. As for the main governmental stakeholders, the persons responsible for releasing public information will be the main stakeholders.

2.2.    Advocacy Strategy: participating in policy changes, using existing expertise for better informed policy decisions

IDFI has good experience of promoting of its recommendations in the Public Sector and this is mainly arranged by active conversations and meetings. Our previous experience lets us think that the recommendations elaborated through the proposed project will be interesting for all public institutions and they will actively cooperate with us. Also, for our project it is very necessary to involve civil society expertise in all stages of the project implementation.

So, organized meetings will be aimed at informing the civil society and getting their feedback on researched and audited materials. The meetings will mostly take place in the regions. Focus group discussion method will be used, as they enable to grasp a variety of topics in little time. Participants of focus group discussions will be major players in Georgian civil society – CSOs, the media, students, activists etc. As a result of these discussions IDFI will receive updated information on the actual problems and topics needed more attention, which can be used in public information requests.

Also, flyers, publication, advertisements, social videos will be created with the aim to further promote the outcomes of the project. The videos will be prepared with a focus on introduction of those tools that could be used by citizens in requesting the public information; the flyers will include short information about the rights and tools of FoI e-requesting, the publications will include more detailed results of the research process. As for the advertisements, these will be used to promote the outcomes of the project, such as the blog, social videos or the www.opendata.ge. Such banners will be used in order to better advertise the project and ensure wide outreach to the civil society. As for the means of distribution, the commercials will be placed on a popular web-sites, social videos will be uploaded to the YouTube channel, the blog, IDFI web-sites, will be shared on social media. The publications and flyers will be made available on the presentations of the project. Besides, the flyers will be distributed either with focus general outreach, e.g. public places, or specific target groups, e.g. universities. 

3.1.    Coalition Activities: technological improvement of Web-Page

Within the framework of the project supported by Open Society Institute and Open Society Georgia Foundation, carried out by the Human Rights Information and Documentation Systems, International (HURIDOCS) is planed technical improvement, which is the opportunity for NGOs (Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association, Transparency International Georgia, Green Alternative) interested in access to public information to upload public data on www.opendata.ge themselves, which in turn, makes public database as an universal e-resource. In the event of successful implementation of the mentioned concept, the Public Information Database will become a consolidating source for the data of the NGOs working in this direction in Georgia. Reformation as a unified database, improvement of the search system and the unification of statistical data will give even more importance to www.opendata.ge and will strengthen the advocating and strategic mechanisms of the organizations participating in the project. 

3.2.    Awards: nominations for the most accountable and closed public authorities;

One of the best ways to attract interest of public, media and state agencies to the project and to activities under the project is the award of nominations for the most accountable and closed governmental organizations.

Awards ceremony established by IDFI in 2012 for the most accountable and closed governmental organizations gained huge public and media interest after the presentation of the project results on April 12^th, 2012. Representatives of public authorities, media and civil society attended the award of nominations. On September 12, 2013 IDFI has awarded public authorities according to the results of 2012-2013. IDFI plans on continuing tradition of awards, since it has become very prestigious and can be seen as additional incentive for ensuring access to public information among public authorities of Georgia. Besides, the Institute considers it very important to cooperate with those state authorities who got the negative award. It will be additional motivation for them to improve its place and level of transparency among the state institutions. This practice of awards ceremony is actively used also by the partner organization (The National Security Archive - “Rosemary Award” and Access to Information Program – “Golden Key and Golden Padlock”).  

3.3.   Development of bilingual FOI database

Permanent update of information on the web-page is one of the important components for successful implementation of the project and makes basis for other analytical, advocacy and awareness-raising activities. On the basis of inculcated practice, requesting of public information from all public authorities of Georgia will be continued (approximately 230 administrative bodies). 

Informational provision of database will be provided from the following sources:

1. According to the FoI requests, public information research and upload on web-resource;
2. From the open sources (e-version of Civil Service Bureau and State Procurement Agency);
3. Upload official information received from the NGOs and citizens (indicating of the source).  

Project Title:  “Improving Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Process and Increasing Public Awareness of FOIA”

Project Funded: USAID, Good Governance in Georgia (G-3)

Project Budget: 182 038,01GEL

Project Duration: June 2013- January 2014

Partner Organizations: Transparency International Georgia, Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC)

Project Description: Institute of Development of the Freedom of Information (IDFI) in partnership with the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Good Governance   in Georgia (G-3) program, is implementing a joint project “Improving Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Process and Increasing Public Awareness of FOIA”.

The project is aimed at improving effective mechanisms and processes accessing public information in Georgia. The project promotes cooperation between civil society and government officers, in addition to increasing citizens’ awareness on regulations and procedures on request and access of public information.

In the project framework of promoting the best practices accessing public information, legislation guarantees the design of a pilot web-based page on proactive publication of public information for GoG institutions. Plans are also developed for publishing the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Procedural Manual for Government use. In addition, to increase accountability and transparency for state agencies in Georgia, public discussions / informational campaigns are being arranged for diverse society groups on freedom of information.      

Project Objectives:  IDFI, in cooperation with partner organizations-Transparency International Georgia and Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC)and local/international experts, will assist the Government of Georgia (GoG) in establishing improved mechanisms for disclosing public information and citizen access to public information. Furthermore, the project includes public awareness activities to increase and promote citizen understanding on their right to request public information, allowing citizens and other stakeholders to be actively involved in public decision making.

The project’s civic society organizations will be encouraged to closely collaborate with the Prime Minister’ Office, Ministry of Justice and other government institutions to ensure broad policy discussion related to the freedom of information.

Active participation of the GoG, SCOs and citizens related to the access of public information stands as a key process in the Open Government Partnership Action Plan of the Government of Georgia. As a result, it will promote accountability and transparency of Government obligations assumed towards citizens, improving cooperation between both.

Project Activities 

·         Create a working group ofpartner organizations-TI, EMC,local/international experts and stakeholders, aimed at developing effective recommendations and strategic planning for activities under the framework of the project.

·         Work closely with the contracted IT company to develop a recommendation package on proactive publication of public information for 3 partner GoG institutions, who will be provided with designs of web-pages that better disclose requested public information for transparency and access of interested individuals.  

·         Conduct policy discussions on proactive disclosure of public information with representatives from the Prime minister’s Office (PMO), Ministry of Justice and other government institution officers on FOIA.

·         Conduct board workshops / discussions on FOIA and OGP for FOIA officers on the mechanisms of freedom of information, disclosure of proactive public information, and the processes to respond to citizen requests for public information.

·         Arrange broad workshops and discussions for target groups based on diverse geographic location, gender, age and ethnic origin. The public discussions are aimed at promoting GoG commitments on freedom of information and open government partnership.

Project Title: Development of Civil Service Concept and Action Plan

Project Funded: USAID, Good Governance in Georgia (G-3)

Project Budget: 11 400 GEL 

Project Duration: May 2013 - December 2013

Project’s development Consortium: Grigol Robakidze University, Smart Consulting and Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI)

Project Description: The project aimed at developing Civil Service Reform Concept and Action Plan, which will support to establish the modern model of civil service in Georgia. The basis of analytical work will be existing Georgian Law on Civil Service and the draft-law “Law on Public Service” submitted during the previous period. The analysis will consider the results of different researches concerning the civil service done by other organizations. The project will provide meetings with the civil servants for sharing their practical experience.

The project will analyze different models of civil service and mainly will pay attention to the professional civil servants institute. Besides traditional bureaucratic model, the project will take into consideration key aspects of the “New model of Management, the control mechanisms of independent management free of political influence, the main directions of the legal status and legal protection mechanisms of civil servants.

Project Objectives: The Civil Service Concept should create sufficient grounds for adopting a new law on Civil Service. The new law on Civil Service must define the civil service system, civil service classification and rule of civil service in accordance with the principle of civil service careers, social guarantees for civil servants, civil servants’ education, training and retaining system.In order to ensure the functioning of the civil service system should be established the effective body, which will be equipped with real powers to promote equal standards governing the civil service.

The attitudes, suggestions and recommendations presented in the concept, after discussion and agreement, will be realized in the legislative as well as in sub-legislative acts.

Project title: “Supporting and Monitoring of the Transition to Digital Terrestrial Broadcasting in Georgia”

Project Financing:Open Society - Georgia Foundation

Project Budget:$38 574, 24

Project Duration: 2013 March-December

Project Description:

June 17^th, 2015 is the final deadline of transferring to digital terrestrial broadcasting, a commitment taken by Georgia on an international level (ITU). Georgia took the abovementioned commitment in 2006; however, for a number of reasons, no activities to this end had been done, except for the last year. In case if Georgia does not develop a strategy and action plan of digital broadcasting, and does not make a fast and right decision regarding digital terrestrial broadcasting in general and implement it as soon as possible, then, unlike neighboring countries, its analogue broadcasting stations will no longer be legally protected from interference by the stations of neighboring countries. This will create significant problems for end users and companies working in the telecommunication and media sectors of the country.

The process of the transition to digital terrestrial broadcasting of Georgia is guided by the relevant department of the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia, which does not pay due attention to those issues that are vital for the successful implementation of the transition. Problematic directions include raising the awareness and subsidizing of the end users, taking into account the problems of small, regional and local broadcasters that are very important for the pluralism of the media of the country, between broadcasting technology Platform and inter-platform competition regulation, determining and taking into account the conditions for supporting investments and other important issues.

The main purpose of the project for supporting the strategy of transitioning of Georgia to digital terrestrial broadcasting is that the strategy should include all the problems that are directly related to the digitalization process in Georgia according to the recommendations and experience of other countries and while taking account the current situation in Georgia. Te policy document and the changes to be implemented should create conditions and opportunities for diversifying the programs of the digital terrestrial television and TV content. In order to facilitate the abovementioned, particular emphasis should be placed on the side of the end users of the service, since, without relevant and universal informational provision and regulation, the population might be left without free public and commercial content, in other words, television, after the transition to digital terrestrial broadcasting or, in other words, the shutdown of analog broadcasting.

The goal of the project is to support the formation of guiding principles acceptable to all groups of society. These principles, apart from other issues, should encompass the following directions:

• Creating conditions and guaranteeing free, universal and Public Broadcaster’s programs, as well as spreading and availability of the service of commercial broadcasters on a national, regional and local level;
• Guaranteeing concrete conditions of access to digital terrestrial broadcasting networks of independent content providers, also guaranteeing openness of the market and the diversity of TV content.

Before the end of 2013, the development of a document outlining the policy of the transition of Georgia to digital terrestrial broadcasting and the formation of an action plan while taking into account the activities to be implemented by the involved parties are planned.

Our organization will be working in five main directions of the process in the frameworks of this project:

• Active participation in the formation of the strategy for transition of Georgia to digital broadcasting.
• Preparation of legislative amendments;
• Evaluation of the legislative act adopted by the state in regards to existing challenges. Monitoring of the activities to be implemented in 2013, with the purpose of revelaing the weak points of the policy of the strategy and the plan of transition to digital broadcasting.
• Supporting the informational campaign for the general population;
• Analysis of the factual data in the document of the policy of digitalization, as well as in the action plan, and presentation of the recommendations.

The activities of the organization will be carried out from March 2013 to December 2013.

Implementation Strategy of the Project:

• Participation in the task groups of the Council for Transitioning to Digital Terrestrial Broadcasting;
• Defining the problematic points of the strategy for transitioning to digital terrestrial broadcasting;
• Publishing the document of the policy for the transition of the organization to digital terrestrial broadcasting;
• Participation in the task groups of the “Media Advocacy Coalition” and discussion of the issues of the transition to digital terrestrial broadcasting;
• Monitoring of the plan of transition to digital terrestrial broadcasting and publishing interim reports on the process on the website of the organization;
• Preparing preventive measures against the problematic points of the strategy and supporting the users and the business sector.

Activities planned in the frameworks of the project:

• Preparing and presenting the project of the strategy of transitioning to digital terrestrial broadcasting;
• Researching economically and non-economically vulnerable categories;
• Study of the internal competition of the platform and recommendations for its support
• Study and evaluation with regards to challenges of the working plan of transitioning to digital terrestrial broadcasting;
• Publishing articles;
• Presentation of the strategy for state aid;
• Preparing and presenting a video for providing end users with information;
• Evaluating the information campaign for the end users;
• Study of the concentration of digital receivers in the population and the retail market;
• Studying and presenting the legal basis (changes) of the transition to digital broadcasting;
• Evaluating the strategy for transitioning to digital broadcasting in the light of the interests of regional and local broadcasters;
• Evaluation of the business model for transitioning to digital broadcasting suggested by the Government;
• Implementation of the transition to digital terrestrial broadcasting in the frameworks of the advertising campaign.

Title of the project: “Past Legacy of a New State”(Publication: Analysis of events of 1989-1991 in Georgia)

Project budget:  44, 000 GEL

Project duration: March 2013 - December 2013

Financial support of the project : The project is being implemented with the financial support of dvv international .

Even 20 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union the last years of the existence of USSR and the first years of the independence of Georgia practically have not been researched. The topic does not find adequate coverage in school textbooks and scientific discussion.

The following questions remain unanswered for the general public:

1) What was the public opinion on the collapse of the Soviet Union and the newfound independence of Georgia;
2) Were the dissidents that came into power ready to govern an independent Georgia;
3) Did the replacement of the Soviet elite with a new different one really happen in the 90s and did the so called Communist elite fight for the return of their privileges;
4) Did the everyday life change after the declaration of independence in Georgia, or did it still remain “soviet”?

In the frameworks of the project, IDFI researchers will look for and analyze archival materials and documents about the relevant period, stored in the Archive of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which contains the archives of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Georgia and the former Security Committee Archive; the research group will also search for materials in the newspaper archive of the National Library of Georgia; will study the newspapers and magazines published in that period and analyze the development of social-political changes and transformation in the country based on the results; also, in the process of the study, we plan to record oral histories from the active participants of the events of that period. The researchers will also use materials that cover the mentioned period provided by the George Washington National Security Archive
At the end of the project a book will be published covering the research and photo-documental materials.

Contract

Project Name: Open Society Human Rights Internship 2013

Donor Organization: Foundation Open Society Institute (FOSI)

Project Number: OR2012-00558

Grant Amount: 8,625.00 USD

Period of Performance: February 1, 2013 – July 31, 2013

Project Description

The research planned in the framework of this project relates to the comparative analysis of the legislative and practical problems of Georgia in the area of freedom of information and issues of the transparent and accountable government to international standards, especially the case law of the ECHR and the best practice of different states with the best practice of access to public documents.

The research contains problematic issues raised from the Georgian reality: access to public information, transparency of the state budget and government financing, accountability of public officials, issues of personal information, problems relating to the data protection and etc. These issues would be analyzed independently and in detail, taking into account the actual nature of the topic in Georgia.

The research would use different types of research methodologies. Mainly, it would be oriented on comparative method of the research to show the similarities, advantages and disadvantages of some regulations or practice of Georgia to other states, but it will use the descriptive and analytical methods as well.

The purpose of the research is to create a blog concerning the comparative analysis of the problematic issues in the above-mentioned areas and to prepare reports about actual matters in a current time. The blog will provide to answer the challenges of the Georgian legislation and practice concerning the freedom of information and discuss all the actual problems in this area in comparative perspective. Reports would be oriented to prepare some recommendations for Georgia in the light of international, especially European standards and experience of foreign states.

The researchers will be uploaded on the IDFI web-site (www.idfi.ge) and will be also published on the social networks. It will initiate active discussions on the issues such as freedom of information, accountability, transparency of administrative expenses, etc. The reports would be useful for all citizens to receive more information about the situation in Georgia comparing to international standards and for those who work in this area of the protection of the right to information in national or international level.

Also the Intern will assist the IDFI team in preparing administrative complaints against the state authorities who refuse, do not respond or ignore letters of requests of information, also intern will participate in litigations and defend the interest of the Institute during court cases.

Budget