If you're coming to this Workshop you may also be interested in the 2009 Open Knowledge Conference (OKCon) which takes place the following day (28th). See http://www.okfn.org/okcon/ for details.

NOTE: By registering to attend the 5th COMMUNIA Workshop you thereby agree to have your name and affiliation published in the workshop participant list on the Communia website, as well as your image in the documentation of the event.

Across the world there is a growing recognition of the social and commercial value of public sector content and data: be that the text of laws, the holdings of public museums, or the geospatial and environmental information collected by government agencies. Moreover, it is likely that better access to and use of such information is central to improving governance and increasing democratic participation.

The 5th COMMUNIA workshop, co-organised by the Open Knowledge Foundation and London School of Economics, will focus on how we can unlock the huge potential of public sector material. It will also examine the current obstacles to doing this -- legal, technological and social -- as well as how they can be overcome. In particular, much of the value of public sector material can only be realized if it is reused and interlinked -- both activities that are currently difficult for a variety of legal and technological reasons.

The workshop will bring together researchers, policy-makers, stakeholders and representatives from across Europe for presentations and discussions about projects, policies and practices aimed at disseminating, connecting and building upon public sector material.

There will be four main sessions focusing on:

• Social and economic value of public sector material
• Getting the rights right: law and policy
• Getting the right tools for the job: technology and communities
• Exemplars and Obstacles: case studies

Organisers