The two-day 2009 Freedom of Information Summit kicks off today at the Marriott City Center. The conference is being staged by two groups that advocate for transparency in government, the National Freedom of Information Coalition and the Minnesota Coalition on Government Information. Yours truly will be speaking on Saturday about the Star Tribune’s use of public records in our coverage of the 35W bridge collapse in 2007, as part of a panel titled “FOI and Infrastructure.” For a soundbite-sized chunk, listen to the podcast previewing my remarks.

You can also listen to podcasts from the conference, including my panel’s moderator Patrice McDermott of openthegovernment.org, Legislative Auditor James Nobles, Minnesota public records expert Don Gemberling and other participants.

It’s heartening to see we’re not the only ones talking about transparency right now. Federal agencies now appear to be falling all over each other to express a new commitment to openness. Those that have announced changes in recent days include the Food and Drug Administration, which says it wants the public to have more insight into the way it makes decisions, and the agency that investigated the 35W bridge collapse, the National Transportation Safety Board, which says it will expand access to accident investigations.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 5th, 2009 at 11:07 am and is filed under Public records. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.