Into the darkness: how illegal surveillance is undermining open government reforms in Latin America

The increasing scale of illegal surveillance in Latin America - enabled by state procurement of surveillance and hacking software - is raising urgent questions about its impact on civil rights. Fabrizio Scrollini, LSE graduate and chair of DATYSOC (Data and Society), considers how democracies can keep their citizens safe in an age of aggressive surveillance technology

Latin America: surveillance and human rights in the digital age

Fabrizio Scrollini, a PhD candidate at the LSE and Chairman of DATA, an Uruguayan based NGO working on transparency, open data and human development, argues for the need for a human rights framework to tackle issues related to the use of surveillance technologies in Latin America

Open your data and will 'they' build it? A case of open data co-production in health service delivery

Chapter 7 in the book The Social Dynamics of Open Data

Open cities : the case of Montevideo

This case study aims to capture the complexity of emerging open data policies. It provides discussion regarding theoretical implications of its findings as well as proposing a typology of open data policies. Information was gathered through a set of semi-structured interviews and a workshop in Montevideo where public servants, civil society and developers took part in discussions about Open Data in the region. Focusing on Montevideo city, this case study explores the emergent environment of open data users and key structural elements that might allow it to flourish

The bumpy road to transparency in Spain

The current Euro Crisis has unveiled many political and institutional deficiencies in Spain. Among them, the lack of transparency and free access to public information is one of the most serious. In modern democracies public scrutiny is a fundamental element for good governance. Transparency empowers the citizenship and civil-society to keep the government in check. Many of the problems that have contributed to the built-up of the crisis in Spain (and other European countries), such as opacity in public procurement, absence of reliable policy evaluations, mismanagement of public expenditure and corruption, have been enabled and aggravated by the lack of transparency. Numerous voices within the Spanish polity, media and civil society are now criticising the passivity of the Spanish governments to redress this situation. They are claiming the pressing need for a new much more ambitious legal framework of access to public information. The Euro Crisis is certainly creating a window of opportunity for reforms such as this one and Rajoy’s government seems to be increasingly willing to implement it. Despite the many obstacles and mixed signals from the government there is still hope. The new law for transparency could become the first step into a real process of institutional regeneration in Spain

Open cities : the case of Montevideo

Focusing on Montevideo city, this study explores the emergence of a nascent environment for open data users and providers, and some key structural elements that allow for it. Cities around the world are releasing datasets about transport, health, public services, geographical information and even rats sightings, yet there is no clear measurement for how the release of datasets will improve lives of city dwellers. As cities go open, a key area for understanding is how this development fits into previous accounts of urban governance and growth. Another significant question is to what extent a city can be ‘smart’ and open at the same time

Right to information arenas: exploring the right to information in Chile, New Zealand and Uruguay

The Right to Information (RTI) – a right every individual has to access public information held by governments – is now established in more than 100 countries. RTI laws set up a new logic in government: availability of public information is the principle and secrecy the exception. RTI laws create new public information arenas where several actors request, release and use public information for several purposes. In this work, I seek to explore why RTI arenas based on similar principles, work differently leading to different outputs.My explanation is based on a historical- institutionalist perspective arguing that origins of these laws and previous institutional structures matter. I argue that three factors help to shape these arenas: the level of participation in the policy-making process, the professionalisation of state bureaucracy and RTI enforcement institutions. The combination of these factors gives us three different kinds of arenas: functional, mixed and contested. I develop a conceptual framework, operating at a middle-range theory level, to analyse the role RTI laws, requesters, the state, and the existence of RTI enforcement institutions play in each configuration. I show how these arenas evolve and work, running a structured and focused comparison of three case studies: Uruguay, Chile and New Zealand. This work shows how these arenas ended up differing in outputs such as availability of public information and efficiency in processing RTI requests, as well as the existence of effective accountability mechanisms to resolve disputes about public information

Perspectives on open government in Latin America

Open Government, the idea of transparent, accountable and participatory governments, is blossoming in Latin America. This Strategic Update summarises a workshop at LSE ahead of the Open Government Partnership Summit in London

Co-production for Artificial Intelligence project implementation: lessons from Latin America

In this paper, we ask what is the role of stakeholders such as citizens and the private sector in designing and implementing artificial intelligence projects in the public sector? Empirically, we use a comparative case study methodology focused on the experience of EmpatIA, a program led by the Latin American Open Data Initiative (ILDA). This analysis was done with privileged access to documents such as using financial and narrative progress reports, community calls, proposal slide decks as well as semi-structured interviews with each team. All the case studies in this paper have a common structure: objectives of the project, type of AI tool used, main beneficiaries, and evaluation of co-production dimensions. We use Nabatchi et al (2017) co-production typology to empirically analyse each case study. Our research finds that co-production in the field of artificial intelligence can occur at any level of co-production and phase of the service cycle, with the majority in the co-delivery of services. Practical lessons learned include the importance of data standardisation and the potential of co-production projects to contribute knowledge transfer from the private to the public secto

Co-production for Artificial Intelligence projects among private and public stakeholders in Latin America

This paper examines AI projects in the public sector in Latin America to understand the role of citizens and private sector in designing and implementing artificial intelligence projects. Using a comparative case study methodology, the authors focus on the experience of EmpatIA, a program led by the Latin American Open Data Initiative. The paper uses a co-production typology to analyze each case study and provides key insights, including the importance of data quality and standardization, potential for internal process innovation, and knowledge transfer between public, non-profit, and private organizations. These insights provide valuable lessons for developing countries, particularly in Latin America