Berlin, 31 August 2011

(by Daniel Dietrich)

The internet has become one of the most important drivers of societal change. Social media and the web 2.0 have brought new forms of communication, collaboration and participation - including in goverment and administration day to day business. A few “pioneers” have gathered experience with activities in social networks, online participatory budgeting, service apps or open data projects. Others are hesitating, because they lack ideas or face too many open questions: What can I do? What are others doing already? Which resources and processes are necessary? How do we convince our superiors? Will citizens really make use of this? To face these and other questions, the Government 2.0 Network Germany, supported by public administrations on Federal and Länder level, NGOs and academic institutions as well as companies, cordially invites to the “Open Government Camp 2011” in Berlin, on the 29th and 30th of September.

BarCamp The event will again be organized as an unconference, i.e. a participatory bar camp where participants suggest and offer workshops themselves, a format which we followed successfully already in 2009 and 2010. With about 400 participants in each of those years we have successfully bridged the gaps between administrations in government and civil society actors. This year we again want to offer a platform for connecting a variety of actors at this bar camp, to present domestic and international success stories, discuss possibilities and implementations, or plan potential new projects.The Open Government Camp is a platform for experts and newcomers, for geeks and non-techies, for everyone interested in working together on making politics and government more modern, more interactive and more transparent. At the conference, practitioners and theorists, enthusiasts and sceptics, experts and laymen, in public administrations, politics, the private sector and civil society are brought together for an exchange of ideas and experiences on open data, participation and collaboration.

ProgramWe start the evening of September 29, 2011 with a networking event. Participants can get to know each other in comfortable atmosphere and warm up with a discussion. To that end we invite you into the Permanent Representation of Bavaria in Berlin, starting at 6.30pm. Fitting our host venue, we start off with a “Stammtisch Discussion” on the topic “From Government 2.0 to Open Government” (in German). There will be a panel consisting of German Parliamentarians Dorthee Baer and Konstantin von Notz, the chairman of the IT planning council and chief of staff at the Interior Ministry of Baden-Würtemmberg Herbert Zinell, the new media department coordinator for the Land Bremen Martin Hagen, and the entrepreneur Oliver Kühn of skobbler.

The next morning on September 30, our classic bar camp kicks off with session planning and introductions. The day commences with a keynote speech by Birgitta Jonsdottir, member of the Icelandic parliament and activist with the Icelandic Modern Media Initiative (IMMI), on the creation of a free haven for information. Participants can then suggest their own sessions and workshops during session planning, on topics they want to see discussed on open government. Workshops can for example center around the use of the web for process modernization, services and communications, new forms of collaboration in society, politics and administration, and so on.

From Government 2.0 to Open GovernmentAfter the successful unconferences in 2009 and 2010, the ‘Camp’ will take place for the third time. While during the last years, the use of web 2.0 tools were a primary focus, our point of view has slightly changed. Aside from the technological and methodical questions, political and societal aspects of open government should take a prominant position on our agenda: more transparency and co-effort can increase citizen trust in government institutions and improve service quality. Diverse possibilities for interaction accelerate dialogue and allow for the inclusion of a variety of actors within and between administrations, but also in their external communication and interaction. Social media can extend the established mechanisms of societal and political discourse. All this potential however can only be tapped, if public institutions and politics experiences a cultural change - towards more openness and transparency.

Locations 29 September 2011: 6:30pm in, Permanent Representation of the Free State of Bavaria in Berlin, Behrenstraße 21/22, 10117 Berlin 30 September 2011: 9am to 5pm, Bertelsmann Foundation representation, Unter den Linden 1, 10117 Berlin

Team The Open Government Camp is organized by enthusiast volunteers from different sectors of society - companies, NGOs, public administrations, associations and academic institutions. We have in common a conviction that new technologies in public administrations can make a difference, and should be a logical instrument for creating sustainable policy.The Government 2.0 Network Germany e.V. is organizer of the camp. Getting involved in the organization and the preparations of the event is open to everyone interested in open government. Involvement is not tied to membership in the Network.

Flyer: Open Government Camp 2011 (German) Download Flyer

Contakt Twitter: @gov20de Facebook: government 2.0 netzwerk deutschlandE-Mail: mail(at)gov20(dot)de

Website: http://www.gov20.de/open-government-camp/