Description
The project addresses the need for better regulation and monitoring of the access to public data, greater transparency, more detailed obligations and limits and an authority controlling compliance with the public data access legislation. The project aims at reviewing the existing expertise and developing the public concept of the needed amendments to the Access to Public Data Act (APDA). First, the state of the access to public data will be studied, analyzed and presented in an annual report. Second, a large-scale media campaign will be carried out with the help of 27 regional coordinators. Third, 5 public discussions with about 125 representatives of the stakeholders will be held in Sofia (NGOs, reporters, lawyers, businesses). Finally, the concept of the amendments to APDA will be discussed, drafted and presented at a conference. The project will benefit decision-makers, NGOs, businesses, the media, the public administration and the public in general.
Summary of project results
The project addressed the need for better regulation and monitoring of the access to public data, greater transparency, more detailed obligations and limits and an authority controlling compliance with the public data access legislation. As a result of the large-scale public campaign held under the project, a proposal for amendments to the Access to Public Information Act (APIA) was prepared. Some of the recommendations were included in the legislative amendments to APIA drafted by the working group with the Ministry of Transport, Information Technology and Communication. Our approach in the campaign included the following: active participation in the debates about the legislation and practices; explanation and dissemination of the findings of the audit of online information published by the institutions and the Active Transparency Rating 2014; an analysis and dissemination of the recommendations for improvements via the annual report on the status of access to information in Bulgaria, the organizations’ monthly bulletin, blog, Facebook webpage and the networks we’re a member of; public discussions with some groups seeking and granting access to information ad online consultations on whether amendments to the APIA are needed; presentation of the list of proposals at a national conference, cooperation with the coordination network of reporters in the country carrying out an ongoing media and information campaign to achieve the project goals. The target groups were NGOs and informal civil society groups, reporters, the administration, the business, lawyers and judges. All project deliverables are available at
http://www.aip-bg.org/.
Summary of bilateral results