AlaveteliCon 2019: Apply to join us in Oslo

We’re delighted to be hosting the third AlaveteliCon, our Freedom of Information (FOI) technologies conference, on 23 and 24 September 2019 in Oslo, Norway.

A few days ahead of International Right to Know Day (28 September), AlaveteliCon will bring together activists, journalists, technologists and campaigners from across the world who use Freedom of Information laws, data and technologies to create public-interest investigations and campaigns.

This time we’ll be including a focus on catalysing collaborations on cross-border European public interest investigations and campaigns, in order to strengthen the use of FOI across the region. This focus is in part due to our latest Transparency project, funded by Adessium Foundation. This Transparency project seeks to enable journalists, campaigners and citizens in Europe to make greater and more effective use of their right to access information, in particular to generate public interest stories and campaigns that hold power to account.

Here are some of the other things AlaveteliCon attendees will get up to this time:

  • Exchanging insights and ideas on how to run and improve open-source Freedom of Information platforms such as WhatDoTheyKnow, MuckRock and FragDenStaat
  • Hearing how journalists and campaigners around the world have used FOI to power high-profile investigations and campaigns
  • Making connections with journalists and campaigners who would like to collaborate on cross-border investigations that hold governments to account
  • Learning about data sources available on FOI platforms around the world, waiting to be analysed and turned into public-interest stories
  • Hearing tips from FOI activists on getting governments to release information in their countries including going to court
  • Contributing to the further development of mySociety’s open-source FOI toolkit for journalists, Alaveteli Pro, which helps journalists and campaigners to manage their FOI investigations
  • Connecting to a global network of FOI experts and advocates
  • Working together to plan potential joint activities to celebrate International Right to Know Day on 28th September 2019

Apply to attend

As spaces at AlaveteliCon are limited, we’re asking those wishing to come to fill out this application form to tell us what unique perspective they can bring that’s relevant to the above conference themes/topics.

Are you a journalist or campaigner who uses FOI for investigations/campaigns? Do you want to collaborate on FOI-generated investigations? Or interested in setting up an FOI platform in your country? Or want to learn how to use FOI to its fullest potential? Or interested in any of the above topics? If so, then please submit your application by 2nd September at the very latest.

We’ll let you know if you’ve been allocated a place by Friday 6th September at the latest. However, we will endeavour to reply to you sooner than this.

AlaveteliCon is free to attend, but delegates will be required to arrange their own travel, accommodation and costs in Oslo.

Many thanks to Adessium Foundation and NUUG Foundation for supporting AlaveteliCon.