The Sunlight Foundation is helping to expand access to vital governmental information around the world by sharing knowledge, technical expertise and capacity with other organizations pursuing similar efforts around the world.
Our goals are to engage open government activists, provide them resources and help their professional development to work within their systems to increase government transparency and accountability in their countries.
We do so by expanding consensus on international norms for transparency; strengthening national-level non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as advocates for local change; and serving as a hub in the network of international transparency practitioners. Examples of our past work include Argentina and Ukraine.
In 2018, Sunlight is focused on increasing public access to public knowledge in ways that strengthen democratic governance. Governments all around the world hold vast amounts of information. Such data is fast becoming one of the most valuable public goods; but, too often it remains inaccessible or unaffordable for the vast majority of citizens. We approach open data as a means to create accountability, deepen civic life, and empower new forms of activism, analysis, and reporting. Sunlight works to explore and influence how open data and open access to information is addressed by governments. Our positions on this issue can be found in our Open Data Policy Guidelines.
In 2018, we are collaborating with Global Integrity, the OpenGovHub and Transparency International on a series of Democracy Dialogues in DC. The first event in the series took place in 2017. You can watch the archived video below and join us on January 11 in for the next event.
More information and resources on our international work is listed below.
Money talks — all over the world. The influence of well-financed special interests on a country's decision making process can be enormous. However, the importance of political financing and lobbying in the broader global transparency and accountability framework has been overlooked for far too long. Our Money, Politics and Transparency project provides a forum to share best practices, reform efforts, in-depth research, analysis and case studies to a network of global actors, ultimately co-creating a set of transparency norms. Learn more.
Parliamentary information belongs to the public and civil society parliamentary monitoring organizations (PMOs) are increasingly recognized for the important role they play in making parliamentary information more accessible to citizens, strengthening the capacity of citizens to participate in parliamentary processes, and improving parliamentary accountability. Sunlight works to strengthen PMOs in their roles as advocates for local change and increase opportunities for them to share experiences and good practices. The OpeningParliament network is a forum and community of organizations working to create strong, open, and accountable parliaments. Learn more.
Policy Guidelines
Declaration on Political Finance Openness
Lobbying Disclosure Guidelines
International Standards for Lobbying Regulation
Declaration on Parliamentary Openness
Procurement Open Data Guidelines
International Policy Resources
Transparency Case Studies
The Social Impact of Open Data
Procurement Deep Dive
Transparency NGO Repository
TCamp How-To
Open Up Your Legislature! Campaign
Webinar Series: Enhancing Transparency with Technology
Open Data Impact Repository
Sunlight International Group
Lobbying Transparency Group
Opening Parliament Group
Money, Politics and Transparency Group
If you'd like to talk about our work send us an email!