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Wednesday, July 29, 2015

ANZSOG Conference 'Opening Government' a real steal

Registration closes Friday for The Australian New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG) Conference 2015 in Melbourne next month:
Opening Government Transparency and Engagement in the Information Age-40 speakers 2 days The 1 Event You Can't Afford to Miss" 
Sounds great. 

If you (or your employer) can afford it.

$2395 for the full package, whew! 

The program is jam packed with public servants, former public servants now consultants and academics but few if any sign of citizens, journalists and others who sit on the other side of the open government, transparency and engagement tables. Whether the eventual audience made up of those who can afford it will be more diverse, who knows.

I'd love to be a fly on the wall for
Too much information?’: FOI’s defenders meet its critics chaired by Senator The Hon Scott Ryan, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Education & Training, featuring Andrew Metcalfe a long time one time Secretary of the Department of Immigration and Dr Suelette Dreyfus: How important is the right to know what is happening inside our governments? Has freedom of information gone too far or should new information technologies be seized on as an opportunity to do more? Speakers in this session will offer different views about the flow of information between governments and citizens;

The open data sessions.

And the final wrap featuring Jane Halton Secretary of the Commonwealth Department of Finance and Blair Comley Secretary of NSW Premier's: Transparency and Engagement in the Information Age - Implications for public servants Senior public sector leaders discuss how administrations across Australia and New Zealand are adapting to the information age. How well are we preparing for and leading our public servants into the new world of open government?

Terrific if people are talking about such things. But alas, I'm living in a new age of limited entitlements. 



2 comments:

  1. Anonymous11:17 am

    The fact that ANZSOG are still desperately plugging the conference the week before it occurs tells you it's overpriced.

    Original speaker line up included Al Roberts, which would have been a real draw. But now there's the opportunity to hear from New Zealand's OGP Minister, Paula Bennett.

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  2. Hope the NZ minister puts it to Australians in the audience that years of dithering about OGP membership conveys a message about Canberra's interest in the conference theme and distances us from the movers and shakers making headway on open, transparent government and public engagement.

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