Open Youth Academy 2016 event
Istria, Croatia

Open Youth Academy is a seven day event consisting of workshops, lectures and discussions and focusing on use and reuse of public sector information. The Camp is organized by the Code for Croatia expert group within HrOpen Association and Information Commissioner. The Open Youth Academy will take place from 28th of August to 3nd of September 2016 in Istria.

The goal of the academy is to provide a space for young active citizens to explore the potential of open data, to learn and discuss open government values, sustainable development goals and to become familiarized with the theory and the practices of the right to access information. The potentials of the use and reuse of public sector information will be explored through examples of the similar activities carried out in European Union, France, Slovakia, Kosovo and the United Kingdom as well as through examining the progress Croatia made by launching the Open Data Portal.

Experts from Croatia and other countries will come together in creating a five day program of lectures and workshops in order to assist the participants in finding new solutions for commercial use of data as well as for using and reusing data for the benefit of the local community.

Open Government Partnership was launched in 2011 as a unique organization of governments and civil society organizations committed to making governments more open, transparent, accountable, and responsive to citizens. Eight countries founded OGP in 2011 and now it has a membership of 65 countries and has recently marked the publishing of the 100th OGP Action Plan. The Republic of Croatia became a member of the OGP in 2011, and has thus assumed the responsibility of developing and implementing the Action Plan which includes a number of measures and activities in the area of transparency and openness of government. The Open Data process in Croatia is a part of the Croatian National Action Plan 2014-2016. The Republic of Croatia, following the international recognition of its success and ambition in implementing OGP, became a member of the OGP Steering Committee in August 2014.

One of the main priorities in the implementation of the Croatian OGP Action Plan in the period from 2014 to 2016 is the open data and as one of the commitments an open data portal has been published. Open Data is increasingly referred to as the new oil, new gold, and an irreplaceable resource for the 21st century. The use and reuse of public sector information has not only been used for commercial gain but also for greater good, community development and has been recognized as crucial in advancing global agendas.

Candidates that are at least 15 and at most 30 years of age, with an interest and ideas about the use and reuse of public sector information, can apply for participation in the Open Youth Academy. Up to 30 candidates will be selected for participation, based on the ideas presented in the application form and while keeping in mind the need to respect regional and gender balance. In order to qualify candidates are asked to submit the filled out form no later than 10th July 2016, 00:00h CEST. The selection will be carried out by the expert representatives from the public, private and civil society sector in the field of open data. The costs of participation for the candidates will be covered by the organizers. Please direct any questions considering this event to [email protected] We are looking forward to your applications.