Join us at IGF5 (the fifth Internet Governance Forum) in Vilnius, Lithuania where Chris Corbin for the European Public Sector Information Platform and Antonio Saravia for Proyecto Aporta have co-organised Workshop 120: ‘Public sector information online: democratic, social and economic potentials’.

Remote participants can follow our workshop using videocasts or audiocasts, and can send text questions which I, as the volunteer remote moderator, will forward to the Panel when the floor is opened for questions from the audience.

You can participate remotely from a hub or as an individual. It is not too late to join as no registration is necessary. We will also provide messages by Twitter. In Vilnius time the workshop is scheduled for Friday September 17th from 11.30am – 1.30pm (to convert this into your time visit this site: http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock

As moderator, I have been thinking about why the issue of access to and re-use of PSI is a global one. In 2008, the OECD played a significant role in proposing policy principles. Since then the World Bank has made available datasets for re-use - making apparent the potential benefits of international institutions being aware of the value of their datasets.

I have also been reflecting on how the open data movement has been building momentum encouraging the development of data.gov catalogues and the use of creative commons licensing. This movement has been innovative and collaborative. It emphasises not just the economic potential of unlocking PSI but the democratic and social potentials of PSI.

It shows us the power of collaboration. It enables us to share common experiences, build momentum, overcome barriers and develop good practice. We can see the potential to share data locally, nationally and across borders in empowering the citizen, increasing accountability and releasing creativity (whether for commercial or non-commercial purposes).

The opportunity to share experiences in a world forum stimulates debate particularly when participants can engage remotely. For this reason, I am looking forward to acting as the moderator for Workshop 120 and invite you to join us remotely, follow twitter or put questions to me or comments here on the blog that I can take with me to the forum..

• Twitter Hash Tag: #PSI_120
• Workshop 120 is linked in

Also on the panel are Professor Anne Fitzgerald from Queensland University of Technology, Paminder Singh from IT for Change, Rolf Nordqvist from PSI Alliance and Waltraut Ritter from Asia Pacific Intellectual Capital Centre, Hong Kong.

For more information on the IGF: IGF 2010: developing the future together

How to join our remote session

Thanks to Marilia from IGF5 for explaining how to attend. The links will not be up on the website until Monday (not sure what time). Marilia says: ‘Thanks so much for spreading the word. That´s awesome!’ So help us out here – email, tweet, and spread the word1 Here is what to do: a) Test your computer is webex ready: http://www.webex.com/lp/jointest/ b) Check the time difference: http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock c) On Friday 17th in plenty of time go to IGF website http://www.intgovforum.org/cms/ e) Find the links to remote participation (available on or after Monday!) f) Each link matches a different room (main and rooms 1 to 9) g) Click on the link that corresponds to our sesion h) Follow the instructions to join W120 Friday 11.30am (local time)i) No registration nothing - see you there

My hint: If in doubt, try another workshop earlier in the week! To check the schedule go to IGF website. Fingers crossed and sorry if I let you down! If you can’t make it then send a comment now

Report on workshop120