Today’s look at #OpenGov news, events, & analysis, including a heap of news from around the world…

think global

• After nearly a decade of effort the Lebanese parliament passed a right to access to information bill earlier this year. They joined at least 115 other countries around the world. (FreedomInfo.org) For a broad look and analysis of the world’s access to information laws check out RTI-Rating.org.
• CorruptionWatch, a Transparency International chapter based in South Africa, is out with their 2016 annual report. The report shows that “the South African public are increasingly intolerant of corruption.”
• Meanwhile, a growing corruption scandal in South Korea has engulfed several top Samsung executives, including the firm’s vice chairman and heir apparant. “Lee Jae-yong, the 48-year-old vice chairman of Samsung, was indicted in South Korea on bribery and other allegations Tuesday in a broadening corruption scandal that also saw charges leveled against four other top Samsung executives.” (Ars Technica)
• “On February 27, the Colombian Senate released a new smartphone application to allow citizens greater access to legislative information and improve transparency during Senate deliberations.” The app arrives just as the Colombian legislature begins to debate legislation to implement recently approved peace accords that have attracted significant public interest. (National Democratic Institute)

City streets

• North Hempstead, New York has joined the ranks of cities embracing open financial data. “North Hempstead residents can now precisely track how their tax dollars are spent, with the town’s recent launch of a comprehensive website showing years of its expenditures.” (Newsday via NFOIC)
• How can smaller communities navigate changes wrought by digitalisation? The small city of LaGrange, Georgia may provide a case study, showing that “…addressing the challenges of digital disruption and a globalizing economy may be difficult, but it’s not impossible. The key to success is getting the right people together to address the right issues.” (Governing)

more on federal data

• The U.S. Census Bureau is entering a critical period in advance of the 2020 census and it is unclear how recent actions –or the lack of action — by President Trump may effect the agency. The President has been slow to fill important posts across the Federal government, including several at the Census. Additionally, proposed across the board cuts in the President’s budget could hinder the Bureau’s preparations for 2020. (Federal Computer Week)
• Local governments rely on federal data for decision making across a range of policy areas. Recently proposed legislation — The Local Zoning Decisions Protection Act of 2017 — would set a bad precedent and “could end up limiting access to valuable federal data… [and represent] a significant step backward for evidence-based policymaking…” on the local level. (Urban Institute)

if you were teaching high school students to follow fed datasets, which would be in your top 10? – census / acs – gdp – jobs – ucr – ?

— Rebecca Williams (@internetrebecca) March 1, 2017