OGP Event at UN

[Steven Adler <adler1@us.ibm.com>]

Last night I attended the Open Government Partnership High Level Event at the UN.  We were about 300 people in the room with heads of state and cabinet ministers from many of the 64 member nations in the OGP.  Presidents of Indonesia, Mexico, South Africa, and Montenegro made speeches regarding their Open Government pledges.  

10 Awards were given out for the best examples of Open Government and Open Data.  Nick Sinai, Deputy CTO for the USA, was recognized for work on Data.Gov.

But the evening's top award was given to Denmark recognizing their work creating senior citizen councils in their 98 Counties.  The councils sit alongside local government and must be consulted on all legislation that impacts seniors.  Anyone in Denmark aged 60 and older may be elected to the Senior Councils.  They have many members in their 90's and are actively expanding the diversity of participation.  As a "half-Dane" who began his IBM career in Denmark it was a fantastic moment to see the Danish Prime Minister, Helle Torning Schmidt, accept the award and do a selfie with President Obama.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AH05eRQg1kY

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The other highlight of the evening was President Obama's passionate speech about Open Government and Open Data.  As a Data Geek, it is incredibly inspiring to hear your President talk about the importance of Open Data.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LT8Q2A24yNQ&list=UUaFvRSR2OoZO4jHLv8yOWzA



Best Regards,

Steve

Motto: "Do First, Think, Do it Again"

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