DEMOS

Bernard Woolley: "Well, yes, Sir...I mean, it [open government] is the Minister's policy after all."

Sir Arnold: "My dear boy, it is a contradiction in terms: you can be open or you can have government." [Yes Minister]

Open Government remains an aspiration to many, a headline to criticize the culture of secrecy within Whitehall and a constant feature of inquiries, legislation and select committee reports.

The current debate about open government is not solely concerned with the disclosure of information outside Whitehall and local authorities but the way government shares information, manages knowledge, and collaborates across departments and agencies.

New technologies and media have transformed the way information is disseminated while attitudes to networking, sharing, and self organisation are having a profound effect on governments and business.

The seminar will focus on three aspects of the current debate: attitudes and behaviours to openness and transparency in government, information sharing and knowledge management within Whitehall, and barriers to collaborating with strategic partners.

Speakers

Baroness O’Neill is President of the British Academy, chairs the Nuffield Foundation and is Professor of Philosophy at Cambridge University. She was created a life peer in 1999, sits as a crossbencher, and has served on House of Lords select committees looking at stem cell research and the BBC Charter Review.

Steve Gibson is a Senior Research Fellow within the Resilience Centre, Cranfield University, the defence Academy of the United Kingdom, where he lectures on risk management and security. He leads the bi-annual Risk and Security Management course for risk and security managers and consultants.

Dr Jamie MacIntosh was until recently the Home Secretary’s expert advisor on transformation and national security. He is now the head of the Defence Academy’s Advanced Research and Assessment Group (ARAG).

Charlie Edwards, Head of the Security Programme will chair the seminar.