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What can Open Data do for Parliament?

By Ben Worthy

Last week the Speaker’s Commission on Digital Democracy reported. Among its recommendations were that Hansard, the Register of Members’ interests and all bills should be released as Open Data by the end of 2015 (see Recommendation 31 here). But what is open data and, more importantly, what does it mean for Parliament?

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Citizens working with lawmakers to make parliaments more open: a few examples from Brazil

By Cristiano Ferri Faria

In June 2013 the streets of Brazilian cities were taken over with protests by millions of citizens. It started as an outcry against the rise of public transportation fares. Then, many other issues came out including demands for better education and health systems. In short, citizens cried out for higher quality in public services as a whole.