Syndicate |
FOI Awards and Recognition
To broaden our understanding of freedom of information awards and recognition ceremonies, let's study some:
British Columbia, Canada BC's Freedom of Information and Privacy Association celebates 5th birthday of FOI request for BC Government's $300 contract with IBM "Fresh from a victory in BC Supreme Court that ordered most of the $300 million IBM Workplace Support Services contract with the province released over the objections of IBM and the BC government, the Freedom of Information and Privacy Association (FIPA) is having a birthday party to mark the five years since the FOI request was filed for the contract. "We’re going to have some champagne, and maybe we’ll sing Happy Birthday," said FIPA Policy Director Vincent Gogolek. "After all, it’s not every day that an FOI request gets to be five years old."
India Best Information Commissioner of the Year This award is for the most outstanding Information Commissioner who has enabled access to correct and complete information to maximum appellants and enforced RTI Act in its true letter and spirit. The winner will receive a citation, a plaque and a prize money of Rs. 2 Lakhs.
Best Public Information Officer of the Year The jury will decide upon two Public Information Officers who have provided complete and correct information in maximum number of RTI applications within the prescribed time limit and/or has made special efforts in providing information to the applicants. Each winner will receive a citation, a plaque and prize money of Rs. 2 Lakhs.
Best Citizen of the Year Award Two Awards will be given in this category for citizens who created maximum public impact by using RTI Act. Each winner will receive a citation, a plaque and prize money of Rs. 2 Lakhs.
Citations Apart from the awards, we also propose to give away at least a dozen citations to the Information Commissioners, Public Information Officers and Citizens.
United States FOI Hero Award Recently, Robert J. Freeman, executive director of the New York State Committee on Open Government, was selected by the National Freedom of Information Coalition and the Society of Professional Journalists for their joint Heroes of the 50 States: The Open Government Hall of Fame award for 2010.
To broaden our understanding of freedom of information awards once again, let's study Bulgaria's 2009 Right to Know awards ceremony Bulgaria Golden Key Award: Citizen A Golden Key award was given to <!-- @page { size: 21cm 29.7cm; margin: 2cm } P { margin-bottom: 0.21cm } --> Mr. Dimo Karabashev – a student from the New Bulgarian University. He has sought public information which is of particular importance to disabled people. He has submitted requests for information to the Automobile Administration, Minister of Transport, Minister of Interior, the Chairperson of the Disabled People Agency. Mr. Karabashev found out violation of safety technical requirements in Sofia public transport.
Golden Key Award: Non-Governmental Organization The Association for Optimization of Justice and Administration SOPA (the abbreviation means “a club”) was recognized with the Golden Key award for a nongovernmental organization which has most actively exercised its right to information. The NGO actively uses the Access to Public Information Act (APIA), publishes all requests on its web site, the answers they receive from administrative bodies, as well as the documents received.
Award: Institution which has most efficiently organized the provision of public information The Golden Key award for an institution was given to the Ministry of Finance. The nomination was made by a citizen who received a lot of copies of loan and procurement contracts requested by him within three years. Ministry of Finance established a good system of information management and developed its web site in line of the access law requirements. Award: Best web-site of an institution with regard to the Access to Public Information Act The East-Aegean Sea River Basin Directorate, Plovdiv was recognized again this time as having the most FOI friendly web-site. Besides the proactive publication of all information related to the activities of the institution, a register of requests, and a report on the implementation of the APIA, they have created a Facebook group The Right to Know.
Anti-Awards ("We See You" Awards) The Padlock Award The Padlock this year was given to the Municipality of Razgrad for its systematical obstruction of citizens to obtain information, for overcharging for the release of documents, and for not maintaining the public registers in the municipality
Dishonorary Diploma A Dishonorary Diploma was given to the Municipality of Varna for obstruction of citizens’ right to know Tied Key Award For the first time ever, a representative of the institution recognized for giving the funniest answer in response to an information request was present at the ceremony and received the Tied Key award. The PR officer from the Ministry of Transport, Information Technology and Communications received the award and promised that all information requested from the ministry would be provided. She expressed a desire the Ministry to be nominated for a positive award for the 2010 Right to Know Day Awards.
|