Making government data open and freely available to the public is helping to improve public services and instill greater trust in citizens. This project will provide funds to the Institute on Governance, a Canadian non-profit, to hold a conference for Caribbean and Canadian government officials. Its goal will be to increase awareness of digital solutions and the potential they offer to foster greater openness and responsiveness.Open data, open accessData analysts and IT developers in the Caribbean and Canada are improving the delivery of public services by transforming government data on education, health, and crime into Web and mobile applications. This puts democracy in the hands of every citizen and has the potential to improve service wait times, pinpoint areas needing improved services or specific policy action, and connect citizens in more meaningful ways with local officials and public servants.For parliaments, releasing legislative decisions can improve the public's understanding of legislative processes, enhance transparency, and increase trust and accountability. These examples showcase how digital applications using open data can help governments, businesses, and organizations share huge amounts of information with the public. The data can be used and re-used for a variety of social and economic purposes by a number of different people and public interests. Open data creates economic value and helps to foster greater civic engagement.Responsive, accountable governmentCapitalizing on innovations to make governments more open and responsive requires new skills, technological know-how, and a shift in service delivery and policy-making approaches. These changes require political leadership and guidance. Many parliamentarians are excited by the possibilities of open data and government, but do not know how to develop and implement open agendas. About the conferenceThe conference will take place in Ottawa April 27-28, 2015. Participants will include parliamentary representatives from Canada and three Caribbean countries, as well as experts on open government and open data. The conference will focus on three key issues:-Recent developments in open parliament and its progress in engaging citizens more fully in the democratic process-The use of open data by entrepreneurs to stimulate growth and by civil society to advance democracy-Parliamentarians' scope to actively promote more open parliamentary practices and encourage greater use of open dataMany of the discussions about the value of parliamentary openness will focus on research findings from IDRC case studies conducted in three Caribbean countries.The project team will produce two conference reports that document the potential of digital solutions to foster greater openness and responsiveness in the Caribbean and Canada.The conference's summary report will be forwarded to the organizers of the 3rd International Open Data Conference on the topic of 'Enabling the Data Revolution,' which will