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/RSS FeedClimate Emergency UK are mySociety’s partners in the Council Climate Action Scorecards project, which score every UK council across dozens of measures. In aggregate, the scores give councils a clear way to see how they’re doing, and concerned citizens a useful tool to scrutinise their own local authorities.
But not all the information needed for the Scorecards is openly available. In this short talk from FOI Fest, Isaac Beevor explains how Freedom of Information has solved that problem.
FOI Fest was a one-day conference from mySociety in February 2026.
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Further info
Transcript
0:00 [Isaac Beevor] I’m Isaac. And I really appreciate actually, how Alex said my last name. It’s Isaac Beevor. But if you want to say it Isaac Bee-VOR, then that’s absolutely fantastic. So thank you. (more…)
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Remember the big Post Office scandal? One person played a massive part in uncovering the evidence that eventually brought the extent of the collusion and malpractice to light.
In this lightning talk from FOI Fest, citizen investigator Eleanor Shaikh explains the monumental effects she achieved, with little more than some FOI requests and a determination to bring justice to sub-Postmasters. You’ll be inspired by what you could do, too!
FOI Fest was a one-day conference from mySociety in February 2026.
*** Please fill in our short survey so that we can understand more about who listens to these podcasts, and why! Thank you. ***
Transcript
0:01 [Myf:] This is a lightning talk from FOI Fest, the one day Freedom of Information conference from mySociety. We’re going to hear citizen investigator Elena Shaikh on how she used FOI to uncover hidden facts around the Post Office Horizon scandal,and the effects they had – all in under 10 minutes.
0:25 [Eleanor Shaikh:] I’m not an academic or a journalist, I’m just a customer of the Post Office who began supporting its victims in 2017 when my local branch was hit by an alleged shortfall of £57,000, and I watched the life of the postmaster come crashing down as the burden of proof was cruelly reversed, meaning that innocence rather than guilt had to be proven. (more…)
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An expert panel discuss the current situation with FOI in the UK, and how it has shaped power and public life over the last 21 years.
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Panelists:
– Jenna Corderoy, Investigative Reporter, Democracy for Sale
– Warren Seddon, Director of FOI and Transparency, Information Commissioner’s Office
– Maurice Frankel, Chief Executive, Campaign for Freedom of Information
– Rose Whiffen, Senior Research Officer, Transparency International UK
– Gavin Freeguard, State of the Future (moderator)This was one of the sessions at FOI Fest. If you’d prefer to watch it as a video, head over to our YouTube channel.
Transcript
0:05 [Myf] This is a panel from FOI Fest on the subject of “What has 21 years of FOI changed?”.
0:14 [Gavin Freeguard] So first, we have Rose Whiffen, who is Senior Research Officer at Transparency International UK. We have Jenna Corderoy, who’s Investigative Reporter at Democracy For Sale, and we have Maurice Frankel, the chief executive of the Campaign for Freedom of Information UK. (more…)
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FOI Fest was a one-day conference that took place in London on 19th February, 2026. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be putting each session out as a separate podcast.
In this keynote, Warren Seddon, Director of FOI and Transparency at the Information Commissioner’s Office , gave a frank assessment of the current challenges of dealing with an unprecedented backlog of requests.
This session can also be watched as a video, on YouTube.
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Transcript:
0:00 [Gavin Freeguard] Welcome to FOI Fest 2026!
0:04 It’s my pleasure to welcome to the stage our morning keynote, that is Warren Seddon from the ICO.
0:09 [Warren] Thank you everyone for having me speak today. First of all, I feel like we start with an apology to Alex, who’s been involved in the organising for today, because I wrote my remarks, and then I looked at his email and I realised he sent me a brief for my remarks that talked about being energising and peppy, and you probably didn’t say peppy, and to get the day off on a footing. (more…)
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/RSS FeedFOI Fest was a one-day conference that took place in London on 19th February, 2026. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be putting each session out as a separate podcast.
To start with, here is the introductory session with a welcome from Gavin Freeguard of the State of the Future thinktank, followed by words from John Edwards, the Information Commissioner.
This session can also be watched as a video, on YouTube.
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Transcript:
0:00 Gavin Freeguard Welcome to FOI Fest 2026, a one-day conference celebrating Freedom of Information’s 21st birthday, where we’ll discuss the achievements, challenges and future of FOI. (more…)
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Over the past decade, mySociety has convened a global community with a shared interest in how digital tools can defend and advance democracy, via our TICTeC events and activities.
This new report draws on dozens of TICTeC presentations, and interviews with global civic technologists. The result? A practical framework for navigating different approaches to using technology in the service of democracy, bringing out examples of innovation, and guidance on how to use the best tools available. It’s designed to be a practical jumping-off point for practitioners and funders seeking to understand more about using digital technology to defend and advance democracy.
At this launch event, mySociety researchers shared key insights from the report, reflected on impacts of TICTeC initiatives, and discussed ideas of what’s needed next to protect and innovate democracy in a changing global context.
- Read the report: Shifting landscapes: what we’ve learned from TICTeC
- TICTeC Knowledge hub
- See the value in our work? Please donate.
- Sign up for our mailouts
Transcript
00:00 Louise Crow: Well, hello everyone. Welcome.
0:03 For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Louise Crow. I’m the Chief Executive of mySociety, and really appreciate you joining us for this session where we’re going to be launching our TICTeC landscape report.
0:15 We’ve called it ‘Shifting landscapes, a practical guide to pro-democracy tech’. We’re going to be pulling out some key parts of the report and basically discussing what we’ve learned from running TICTeC over the last couple of years. (more…)
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A behind-the-scenes look at how Fiquem Sabendo uses Brazil’s FOI law to unlock data and support investigative journalism.
Maria Vitória Ramos, Co-founder and Director of Fiquem Sabendo, shares how the organisation prepares requests, processes government data, and supports journalists in turning information into impactful reporting.
Fiquem Sabendo is a non-profit newsroom and data agency that uses Brazil’s access to information law to uncover and share government data with journalists and the public. Since its founding, the team has released over a thousand new public datasets and trained thousands of journalists and citizens to make effective FOI requests. They also publish the popular newsletter Don’t LAI to Me, bringing transparency stories to a wide audience.
If you find this podcast valuable, please consider donating to help us keep making them.
Music: Serge Pavkin Music (Pixabay licence)
Transcript
0:00 Julia: We are joined by the wonderful Maria Vitória Ramos from Fiquem Sabendo in Brazil. Some of you may already know her from her fantastic presentation at TICTeC in London in 2024: I think it was a highlight for lots of people, including myself.
0:12 If you haven’t come across their work before, Fiquem Sabendo is a nonprofit newsroom and data agency that uses Brazil’s Freedom of Information laws to unlock public data and make it useful for journalists, civil society organisations and the public.
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Discover how three organisations are using crowdsourcing and Access to Information laws to uncover data, monitor public projects, and drive accountability.
Access to Information (ATI) is the more internationally-recognised term for FOI or FOIA. Its laws make it possible to piece together insights from many different public authorities, creating a fuller picture of how decisions are made and resources are used.
This session explores how ATI empowers communities, volunteers, and civil society groups to use information requests to assemble datasets, track public projects, and enhance accountability through collective inquiry.
Hear from three projects that have turned transparency into a community effort with fantastic results! We’ve got fantastic speakers from across the globe:
- Nnenna Eze from PPDC Nigeria
- Marzena Błaszczyk from Citizens Network Watchdog Poland
- Stefan Wehrmeyer from FragDenStaat in Germany
Definitions:
- MDA – Ministries, Departments, and Agencies
- DEX – Digital Employee Experience
Credits:
Music by HigherUniversalMan, Pixabay free usage licence.
Transcript:
0:00 Julia: Welcome everybody. Thank you so much for joining us for today’s webinar, which is Networked auditors: crowdsourcing and community-led ATI.
0:06 My name is Julia Cushion. I’m the Policy and Advocacy Manager here at mySociety, and I’m really delighted to welcome you to this session, which is part of our Access to Information Community of Practice. (more…)
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This recording is from a TICTeC gathering on the latest techniques to help civic and pro-democracy tech projects protect their services, data and users.
Across the world, websites and apps that promote democratic transparency and citizen participation are experiencing more sophisticated cyber attacks.
We hear some of the latest techniques to help civic and pro-democracy tech projects protect their services, data and users, covering specific internet freedom tools, how they’re being tested and integrated amongst pro-democracy actors globally, as well as the challenges of sustaining protection.
Speakers
- Patricia Musomba, The Engine Room. Patricia is passionate about empowering at-risk communities to enhance their digital resilience through capacity building and tailored support. Patricia talks about The Engine Room’s Cybersecurity Assessment Tool (CAT), which is designed to measure the maturity, resiliency, and strength of an organisation’s cybersecurity efforts.
- Hui Hui Ooi, Advisor, Technology & Democracy at the International Republican Institute (IRI). Hui Hui shares lessons from IRI’s internet freedom user testing programme and how they could be integrated into the civic tech community. She also emphasises the importance of internet freedom tool developers working hand in hand with users at risk to conduct tool testing to ensure tool adoption and improve trust.
- Jocelyn Woolbright, Program Manager at Cloudflare Impact, and part of Cloudflare’s Project Galileo team. Since 2014, Project Galileo has been providing free cybersecurity to more than 3,000 at-risk websites from around the world, protecting them against attacks such as DDoS, web exploits, phishing, and automated bot traffic. Jocelyn discusses the full range of support provided and explain exactly how civic tech organisations can get involved and apply for this critical protection.
Links
- The Engine Room’s Cyber CAT project
- CloudFlare’s Project Galileo
- TICTeC’s Democratic Transparency community of practice
- Find our podcasts useful? Please donate!
Transcript
0:04 Gemma Moulder Hello everybody. I’m Gemma. I’m mySociety’s Events and Engagement Manager. And thank you for joining us today for this TICTeC community gathering. And thank you to NED for supporting TICTeC this year.
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Imagine a world where every citizen automatically receives the government grants they’re entitled to, stays informed about public consultations, and can easily contribute feedback—feedback that they trust will genuinely shape policy decisions. Services like these could strengthen and transform democracies worldwide.
But, should this be the reality we ought to seek? What are the opportunities and challenges? And how close are we to achieving this?
At this TICTeC gathering, we heard from two insightful speakers:
- Richard Gevers, Head of Service Design and Delivery at the Digital Services Unit of The Presidency South Africa.
- Sanna-Kaisa Saloranta, Specialist in the Democratic Innovations programme at Sitra, the Finnish Innovation Fund.
Sign up for our newsletter to be informed about future events, and find out more about TICTeC at tictec.mysociety.org. Appreciate mySociety’s work? Please do donate!
Transcript:
[00:04] Louise Crow: Welcome everyone. I’m Louise Crow. I’m Chief Executive of mySociety. Thank you so much for joining us today for this TICTeC community gathering: ‘From digital public infrastructure to democratic public infrastructure’.
[00:20] Just as a brief reminder, TICTeC stands for The Impacts of Civic Technology. TICTeC started life as a conference, but since 2020 we’ve been running year round activities to try and connect people building using and researching technology to strengthen democracy and civic power, with the aim of helping us learn from each other and boost our collective impact.
[00:44] So ahead of the global DPI summit next week, we thought this was a good time to talk about civic tech’s relationship to digital public infrastructure. What are we talking about when we say digital public infrastructure? (more…)
