CFP: Workshop on Open Gov Data Standardisation @Informatik2013 – EXTENDED Deadline

THE SUBMISSION DEADLINE HAS BEEN EXTENDED: New submission deadline 30. April 2013

Description

Mutually agreed interface descriptions laid out in standards help to reduce a system’s complexity in manifold ways. Standardised processes will simplify governance, increase service delivery quality and enable collaboration beyond system boundaries. Major standards in use today were set up by raw consensus (e.g. http) with others being established by a more conventional standardisation gremium (e.g. GSM). Standards get erected by jurisdiction, by industrial agreement or because of long-lasting, widespread and habituated usage, assigning different roles and meanings to actual standards usage and enforcement patterns.
The workshops goal is to discuss the important aspects of OGD standards, their terms of use in daily application as well as the significance of OGD standards for international collaboration.

Public Administration data usage makes no halt at national borders. Apps and applications, visualisations and forecasts, built by open source developers, companies and associations rely on open, structured data and contribute to cross-border added value. Mutual agreement on OGD standards and their terms of use will improve interoperability and foster open data usage within DACH, Europe or in a truly international context. Agreements may be made in these areas:

• requirements, costs & benefits as well as evaluation of existing standardisation efforts in DACH and Europe with a focus on Metadata and naming schemes (URI-concepts)
• publication process and hand-over from internal departments of public administration to OGD portals
• technical requirements and expectations of the developer community in relation to the status quo of OGD portals and the
• legal aspects including terms of use, license and liability

Workshop Goal

The Workshops goal is to give answers, identify missing expertise and sketch a process model to the following questions:

• Would OGD in a DACH/pan-European/global context benefit of a standardisation process on the technical layer or does the promise of Linked Data suffice to agree on the semantic layer?

• What is the current status quo of standardisation in different countries?
• Which organisational processes are in place in those countries to support OGD standardisation?
• Would the topic of OGD benefit of a cross-country standardisation approach? Would an European, overarching approach help to quicker realize the promised benefits of OGD (economic growth, strengthen democratic institutions, more informed thus qualitative decisions)
• Standards now and in the future: Which importance will the ongoing standardisation efforts of OGD have in the future?

Target Audience

• Public Administration Open Data and information management responsibles, CIOs
• Researchers with a focus on public administration, process innovation and information management
• Public Administration IT Solution and Infrastructure Architects
• Political decision makers
• (Open Source, Open Data) developers

Organizing Committee

• Peter Parycek, Johann Höchtl, Danube University Krems, Austria
• Jörn von Lucke, Zeppelin University Friedrichshafen, Germany
• Ina Schieferdecker, Fraunhofer FOKUS Germany
• Marianne Fraefel, Alessia Neuroni & Reinhard Riedl, Bern University of Applied Sciences, Switzerland

Workshop Language

• English

Workshop Methodology

• Invited speakers
• Moderated panel discussions
• Workshop paper presentations
• Aggregation and dissemination of results

Submission

• Submissions must not exceed 15 pages. Please adhere to the formatting guidelines at http://www.gi.de/service/publikationen/lni/
• Submit your papers through www.conftool.net/informatik2013. Papers submitted to the organizing committee or the PCs will not be accepted.

Submission deadlines

• Workshop paper submission due: 22. April 2013 EXTENDED DEADLINE 30. April 2013
  
• Notification of acceptance: 20. May 2013
• Registration for Informatik 2013: 30. June 2013 (At least the presenting author is required to register for Informatik 2013, registration fee is dependent on the number of days planed to attend)
• Submission of camera-ready version: 1. July 2013. Accepted papers will be published in Lecture Notes in Informatics.
  

Preceding Workshops

• Informatik 2011, Workshop „Open Government – Behutsame Öffnung von Staat und Verwaltung durch die Kraft von Communities“ http://informatik2011.von-lucke.de/Informatik2011Home.html

Transformation of Citizenship and Government in Asia – Extended Deadline: 10 May

Call for Papers (Special Issue) of jedem.org – Extended Deadline: 10.05.2013

Transformation of Citizenship and Governance in Asia: The Challenges of Social and Mobile Media

Guest Editors: Marko M. Skoric (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore), Nojin Kwak (University of Michigan, USA), Ines Mergel (Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University), and Peter Parycek (Danube University Krems, Austria)

The proliferation of social media and mobile phones over the last decade has spurred significant interest in their civic and political implications not only within the scholarly community, but also among journalists, practitioners, activists, policy-makers, and ordinary citizens. While the role of new media platforms in facilitating macro-level political changes has generally attracted most attention, these new communication tools are also actively utilized in more traditional civic and political processes, including community initiatives and electoral campaigns. Also important is people’s everyday use of new technologies, which research has uncovered as providing an opportunity to encounter public affairs news and discourse, enhance understanding of issues, and get involved in civic and political activities. Further to this, social and mobile media platforms have created new channels and means for citizens to interact with governments and other political institutions, monitor their functioning, and more actively participate in policy-making processes. There is little doubt that the emerging social and mobile media practices, including content generation, collaboration, and network organization, are changing our understanding of governance and politics.

Open Government Data – Evaluation Stadt Wien

Die Stadt Wien ist im deutschsprachigen Raum Vorreiter im Bereich Open Government Data. So veröffentlichte Wien 2012 als erste Verwaltungseinheit Österreichs ein Open Government Data-Portal. Herausragend im internationalen Vergleich ist ein auf die Bedürfnisse der Stadt Wien abgestimmtes Vorgehensmodell, das die notwendigen Prozesse bei der Veröffentlichung von Daten und Abteilungen der Stadt Wien beschreibt. Mitarbeiter der Stadt Wien arbeiten außerdem in einem für Open Government geschaffenen Kompetenzzentrum gemeinsam mit einer Community an der Detailgestaltung der Veröffentlichung offener Verwaltungsdaten. Mittlerweile verwenden 82 Applikationen Daten aus den Tätigkeitsbereichen öffentlichen Handelns der Stadt Wien.

Möchte man Open Government als Verwaltungsparadigma der Zukunft etablieren, benötigt dies Mut zu gemeinsamen Wegen. Die Verwaltung sucht daher die aktive Zusammenarbeit mit der Community um an den Servicelösungen der Zukunft zu arbeiten. Dabei ist es sinnvoll in regelmäßigen Abständen die gesteckten Ziele mit den Anforderungen der Community abzugleichen. Im Sommer beauftragte die Stadt Wien daher das Zentrum für E-Governance der Donau-Universität Krems mit der Umsetzung einer Studie, um die Wünsche der Öffentlichkeit mit den Anforderungen der Verwaltung abzugleichen. Die dabei erzielten Resultate sollen der Verwaltung helfen, ihr Open Government Data-Angebot zu optimieren bzw. für verschiedene Zielgruppen der Öffentlichkeit sinnvoll zu gestalten. Auch für vergleichbare Bereiche und Bestrebungen lassen sich Ergebnisse ableiten.

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Call for Papers: Innovation through Open Data

Special issue of the Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research

Guest Editors: Marijn Janssen, J. Ramon Gil-Garcia, Natalie Helbig, Anneke Zuiderwijk

The Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research is planning a special issue on Innovation through Open Data.

The opening of data has been hailed for its innovative capacity and transformative power. Over the last years, many politicians, companies, scientists, and citizen communities have paid considerable attention to the demand of opening data of both public and private organizations. An important event in this context was the release of the EU Public Sector Information (PSI) directive in 2003, in which a common legislative framework was presented, which regulates making data of public sector bodies available for re-use[1]. In 2009, the Obama Administration stated that its primary goal was the establishment of an unprecedented level of openness of the Government[2] and published an Open Government Directive some months afterwards[3]. Building on former policies, the European Commission has recently presented an Open Data Strategy for Europe, in which more evident rules on making the best use of government-held information are presented[4]. In 2012, the Obama Administration published the Digital Government Strategy, which aims to 1) enable the American people to access high-quality digital government information and services anywhere, anytime, on any device; 2) seize the opportunity to procure and manage devices, applications, and data in smart, secure and affordable ways; and 3) unlock the power of government data to spur innovation and improve the quality of services for the American people[5].

Welcome to OurSpace Austria!

Right before the general election in Austria in September 2013, the Austrian pilot of OurSpace launches to discuss topics relevant for Austrian youth and to vote on proposals to get your ideas across to politicians and decision makers.

What other people say

A topic relevant for net politics is data security. In Austria as in many other European countries, people have been protesting against data prevention and other regulations. It is said that youth nowadays has a different view on data protection and privacy, as they use the internet on a daily basis and in a more transparent way, some even claiming the area of privacy is somewhat outdated. Do you agree?

Listen to Andreas from Austria and what he says about data prevention, privacy and about doing politics online:

Big Data as a Major Threat to Privacy?

Along with fueling privacy concerns, of course, the mainframes helped prompt the growth and innovation that we have come to associate with the computer age. Today, many experts predict that the next wave will be driven by technologies that fly under the banner of Big Data — data including Web pages, browsing habits, sensor signals, smartphone location trails and genomic information, combined with clever software to make sense of it all.

Proponents of this new technology say it is allowing us to see and measure things as never before — much as the microscope allowed scientists to examine the mysteries of life at the cellular level. Big Data, they say, will open the door to making smarter decisions in every field from business and biology to public health and energy conservation.

http://funkensprungnuts.wordpress.com/2013/03/24/big-data-is-opening-doors-but-maybe-too-many/

Letzter Aufruf: Finalisierung – Menschenrechte und Internet, Netzpolitik in Österreich.

(CC BY-NC 2.0) C. Landler

Im Rahmen der Finalisierung der österreichischen http://www.collaboratory.at Initiative “Menschenrechte und Internet – Netzpolitik in Österreich” laden wir abschließend themenaffine österreichische Initiativen und AkteurInnen (Politik/Wirtschaft/Wissenschaft/Zivilgesellschaft) ein, bis 25. März 2013 einen personalisierten Kommentar zu verfassen, der in die Publikation (Druck +/od Online) aufgenommen wird.

Wir bitten herzlich um Weiterleitung des finalen Aufrufs http://www.collaboratory.at/2013/03/letzter-aufruf-finalisierung.html!

Cloud Computing in der öffentlichen Verwaltung: Mehr als nur Kosteneinsparung

Manche Themen schaffen es für lange Zeit, im Zentrum der Diskussion zu bleiben. Service-orientierte Architektur (SOA) war ursprünglich ein Begriff, der rund um das Themengebiet Web Services entstanden war, letztlich aber über Jahre die treibende Kraft hinter den IT-Architekturkonzepten ab 2001 war und ist. Weitere Themen, denen ein gewisser “Buzz”-Faktor nicht abgesprochen werden kann, sind Business Intelligence (BI), Big Data oder Bring Your Own Device (BYOD).

Cloud Computing war lange Zeit ein Begriff, der sich einer klaren Definition entzogen hat. Während einige der Meinung sind, Cloud Computing wäre nur neuer Wein in alten Schläuchen, den Virtualisierung und Last-Verteilung würden schon seit Jahrzehnten in Rechenzentren eingesetzt, führen andere das Argument der lastbezogenen Verrechnungsmodelle ins Rennen, die eine neue und intensive Diskussion  rechtfertigen.

Cloud Computing in der öffentlichen Verwaltung ist aus zweierlei Hinsicht interessant. Erstens monetär aufgrund versprochener Kosteneinsparungspotentiale und zweitens organisatorisch auf Grund einfacherer, virtuellen Zusammenarbeit durch physische Konsolidierung von Rechenzentren auf einer höheren föderalen Ebene, als dies gegenwärtig der Fall ist. Warum Kosten aber nicht der Hauptbeweggrund sein sollten und welche generischen Auswahlmodelle einer Cloud-Infrastruktur anwendbar sind, wurde in einer Studie des Zentrums für E-Governance erhoben und entstand durch Unterstützung des Bundesrechenzentrums.

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Weiterführende Links:

• Cloud-Studie von Fraunhofer FOKUS
• Cloud-Computing Positionspapier Digitales Österreich
• Cloud-Computing im Sicherheitshandbuch

CFP: Policies & Governance for the Networked Society @HICSS47

“The Foundations of Innovation in Government Must Rest on Sound Policies, Governance Principles, Ethics,and Laws”

This minitrack explores the creation and implementation of public policies and laws to support, facilitate, and promote e-Democracy and e-Government and, as well as how these technologies impact and influence governance systems and public institutions towards open government. It will also explore challenges and solutions in emerging models of governance in relation to ICTs, and ethical issues arising in e-governance in the public sector. Topics and research areas include, but are not limited to:

• The role of ICTs in public administration at the local, state, and national and international level 
• Public policy issues in relation to e-Democracy,  e-Government, open government 
• Legal and ethical implications of the expanding use of ICTs in the public sector 
• Legal and policy implications of inter-organizational and public/private sector systems for electronic government service delivery
• Legal, policy, and ethical implications of government ICT regulation and management
• The impact of ICTs on broader ethical issues in public administration and government
• Policy and governance challenges arising from public sector ICT deployment in developing countries.
• The impact on government set up, roles and responsibilities
• Increase of efficiency with e-government and increase of effectiveness with open government
• Impact of big and open data on privacy, data protection and transparency of people and in governments
• Cases focusing on law, technology and organizational adaptations
• Impact of open “x” developments on laws, e.g., data protection law, or copyright law.

Important Deadlines:

•  June 15: Authors submit full papers by this date, following the Author Instructions. All papers will be submitted in double column publication format and limited to 10 pages including diagrams and references. HICSS papers undergo a double-blind review (June15 – August15).
• August 15: Acceptance notices are sent to Authors. At this time, at least one author of an accepted paper should begin visa, fiscal & travel arrangements to attend the conference to present the paper.
• September 15: Authors submit Final Version of papers following submission instructions posted on the HICSS web site. At least one author of each paper must register by this date with specific plans to attend the conference.
• October 2: Papers without at least one registered author will be pulled from the publication process; authors will be notified.

Co-chair information:

Peter Parycek, Dr., MSc, is Head of the Center for E-Governance at the Danube University Krems and Chairman of the ministerial expert group “E-Democracy & E-participation” at the Austrian Federal Chancellery. As a lawyer and graduate of the Master’s program Telematics, his work is at the intersection of legal policy, social and technological developments. His research and project priorities include eGovernance, eDemocracy and eGovernment. He is responsible for the conference series CeDEM (International Conference for e-Democracy and Open Government,www.donau-uni.ac.at/cedem) and the open access journal JeDEM (eJournal of eDemocracy and Open Government, http://www.jedem.org).

Frank Bannister, PhD, is Head of the Information System Discipline in Trinity College, Dublin/Ireland.  His research interests are e-government, e-democracy and on-line privacy and trust, particularly as they relate to ICT in the public sector.  He is co-convener of the permanent study on e-government in the European Group for Public Administration and editor of the Electronic Journal of e-Government.  Frank is a fellow of the university, a fellow of the Irish Computer Society, and a Chartered Engineer.

Antonio Cordella, PhD, is a lecturer in the Information Systems and Innovation Group at the Department of Management at the at the London School of Economics. His current research focuses on ICT in the Public Sector, with specific attention to e-government and the associated institutional changes. He holds an undergraduate degree in Political Science from the University of Bologna/Italy and a PhD in Information Systems from the University of Gothenburg/Sweden.

Further information:

• Further E-Government Minitracks @HICSS: http://faculty.washington.edu/jscholl/hicss47/Welcome.html   
• Conference Site: http://www.hicss.hawaii.edu
• E-Gov Track History: http://faculty.washington.edu/jscholl/hicss_history.html#

Open Science Gründungstreffen, 25.2.2013

Die Open Knowledge Foundation Österreich lud zusammen mit dem Open Science Projekt zu einem ersten Treffen rund um offene Wissenschaft in Österreich ein (Raum D Museumsquartier, Wien). Die neu gegründete Open Science Local Group der OKFN ist erst die vierte Gruppe die sich explizit mit der Befreiung von Wissenschaft und Forschung auseinandersetzt, neben so klingenden Namen wie der Oxford University oder das MIT.

Ein Open Knowledge Pad ist mit Agenda und Zusammenfassung unter hier einsehbar.Twitter-Account: @OKFN @OKFNat
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/OKFNat/info

Zentral geht es bei Open Science um die Wiederverwendbarkeit und Reproduzierbarkeit von Wissenschaft und Forschung durch die Befreiung von Wissen und das Schaffen eines transparenten Prozesses. Das Treffen war  als Vernetzungstreffen gedacht, bei dem Erwartungen und zukünftige Aktivitäten geklärt wurden. Die TeilnehmerInnen kamen aus verschiedensten Bereichen und Disziplinen, von Open Data über Open Access bis zu Netzpolitik.

Momentan gibt es verschiedene Bestrebungen aus den unterschiedlichsten Open-Bewegungen, die aber oft nicht vernetzt sind. Diese Unhomogenität ist zu Beginn nicht schlecht

Open vs. ranking?

Spannend ist aber, wie man WissenschaftlerInnen davon überzeugt, abseits der gängigen Publikationswege open zu publizieren und wie man Open Access in der Wissenschaft salonfähiger machen kann (Annäherung an closed science). Problematisch ist momentan, dass Open Access-Journals momentan noch wenig Impact-Faktor bzw. niedrigeres Ranking aufweisen bzw. oft sogar als ehrenamtliche Arbeit wahrgenommen werden – Open Access ist also für viele Wissenschaftler*innen in der Praxis nicht leistbar. Andererseits haben WissenschaftlerInnen Interesse an offenen Informationen für ihre eigene Arbeit, da Open Science mehr als nur Open Access ist (umfasst auch Transparenz der wissenschaftlichen Institutionen und Forschungsergebnisse allgemein).