A forthcoming tribunal will examine the blocking of FOI requests that have been placed by people living outside the UK.

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** Videos, values and a vacancy
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November news from mySociety


** Call-out
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** Have you asked your representatives for a change, and seen it happen?
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If you've brought about a real change that began when you contacted an MP, councillor or other representative through WriteToThem, we would LOVE to hear more.

We're collecting stories to share with young people who are just learning about the power of democracy. It might be something as simple as getting some help with a personal problem, or as big as getting the law changed — whatever you asked for, please dotell us all about it (mailto:[email protected]?subject=I%20contacted%20my%20MP%20and%20made%20a%20change) .


** Vacancy
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** Marketing and PR Manager
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[link removed] vacancy for a brilliant B2B Marketing and PR Manager ([link removed]) closes this Monday 9 November — so if you were planning to apply, you'd better get to it!

You'll be promoting FixMyStreet Pro ([link removed]) and SocietyWorks ([link removed]) to (mainly) local government clients, along with wider tasks across mySociety's many activities.

There's lots of potential for new ideas, self-direction and strategy-building. And, if that doesn't sound like you, please pass this on to someone more fitting!


** Transparency
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** No boundaries to FOI
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The UK's Freedom of Information Act is "applicant blind" — that means that an authority mustn't discriminate based on what they may know about the person making a request.

That's why we were shocked to see this principle thrown open to question, with a forthcoming tribunal asking whether non-UK citizens have the right to use the Act. Our position is clear: of course they do ([link removed]) .


** Events
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** Digitising parliaments: it took a pandemic
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The second in our series of hour-long TICTeC Seminars ([link removed]) saw some deep discussion around the pros and cons of digitising parliaments, and what happens when such innovation is, of necessity, a scramble to respond to lockdown conditions rather than a slow decision taken with ample time for preparation.

If that sounds interesting, you're in luck: we recorded the whole thing and you can watch it again here ([link removed]) .

Next month's Seminar will be on the climate and the pandemic: more details can be found on the TICTeC website ([link removed]) .


** Help shape future TICTeCs
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If you work on, use, fund or research civic technology, we would be really grateful if you could spare some time to help us shape the future of TICTeC by filling in this survey ([link removed]) .


** Re-experience LocalGovCamp
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And if TICTeC videos haven't satisfied you, you can also enjoy recordings of all the LocalGovCamp sessions ([link removed]) , including ours.

In the first of these, SocietyWorks Designer Martin took participants through a thoroughly enjoyable Consequence Scanning exercise ([link removed]) .

And in the second, Mark and Zarino led a discussion on legislating for shared data standards ([link removed]) . Both are well worth a watch!
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** SocietyWorks
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** Keep up with all our new developments
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The SocietyWorks ([link removed]) team have been busy as ever, working on our new Waste ([link removed]) and Noise ([link removed]) services, and adding features galore to FixMyStreet and FixMyStreet Pro ([link removed]) .

If you'd like to keep up with every development, the SocietyWorks blog ([link removed]) is the place to be. You'll find sprint notes, announcements and all the news in one place. Oh, and our brand new video:
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Did you know that you can subscribe to our special interest newsletters too? Get an extra monthly bulletin on Democracy & Campaigning, Freedom of Information, Better Cities & Councils, or Research. Pick and choose your mySociety newsletters here ([link removed][UNIQID]) .
** What we're reading
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* Here's a new take on Open Government: the beauty of the back ([link removed]) .
* Involve says: Democracy has always had a problem with time ([link removed]) .
* Essential reading from the Institute for Government, on what needs to be done to reach Net Zero ([link removed])
* We dislike fly tipping but we're also pro-peace, so... where does this leave us ([link removed]) ?
* Sadly, the faith in government declines when mobile internet arrives ([link removed]) , finds the Economist.
* RSI?Hands-free coding could be the answer ([link removed]) , says Josh W. Comeau.
* This is pretty: a map of all geotagged Wikipedia articles ([link removed]) .


** And finally...
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There's still a couple of days of UK Parliament Week ([link removed]) remaining.
You can find loads of all-ages activities (including free online workshops) to help you understand more about how Parliament works, and how to be active within our democracy, on their Resources page ([link removed]) .
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** Follow mySociety
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============================================================
Image credits: Speech balloon - ** Volodymyr Hryshchenko ([link removed])
; Empty parliament - ** Joakim Honkasalo ([link removed])
; FOI barrier- ** Max Böhme ([link removed])
;

mySociety is a registered charity in England and Wales (1076346) and a limited company (03277032).
Through our trading subsidiary SocietyWorks (05798215) we also provide commercial services.
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