Originally posted by Vivek Kundra on the White House blog.  To view the original article containing all links, click here.

Taking a page from our efforts here in the Obama Administration, the United Kingdom today launched data.gov.uk – a site to aggregate datasets from the UK government.  It is exciting to see the seeds of openness, accountability, and transparency taking root around the world.

When we launched Data.gov here at the White House website in May 2009, we had just 47 datasets online.  It was a modest start, but the growth we’ve seen has been phenomenal.  Today, there are more than 168,000 datasets online, and federal agencies are poised to publish new high-value information this week as the next step in Administration’s Open Government Initiative.

But the U.S. and UK governments aren’t alone in data sites.  There is a nationwide movement to unlock public data.  Governments of all sizes are unlocking the value of data for their constituents.  Washington, D.C., San Francisco, the City of New York, the State of California, the State of Utah, the State of Michigan, and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts have launched data.gov-type sites, as have cities in Canada and the UK.  All of these sites are dedicated to breaking down longstanding barriers between governments and the people they serve -- facilitating collaboration and transforming dry data into tools that can improve people’s lives.

As we grow Data.gov across the Administration, we are focused on releasing high-value datasets to increase agency accountability and responsiveness; improve public knowledge of the agency and its operations; create economic opportunity; or respond to need and demand as identified through public consultation.

For instance, when the Department of Agriculture makes nutrition information available, families can make smarter eating choices; when the Department of Education makes key information available about colleges and universities, students can make better-informed choices about the quality and cost of education; and when the Department of Labor makes safety information available, employers can better protect workers.

The Federal Government does not have a monopoly on the best ideas.  We are all part of an increasingly complex network of communities, ideas, and information.  We applaud today’s launch of data.gov.uk  and look forward to working with the  international community to ensure that people across the world are actively engaged in helping find the most innovative paths to solve some of the toughest problems we face. Moreover, we are pleased to see that other governments share the Administration's philosophy that data availability will help change how government operates and empower citizens to participate in making government services more effective, accessible, and transparent.

Vivek Kundra is U.S. Chief Information Officer

Originally published by ACC Docket.

The Nuts & Bolts of the EU Safe Harbor

By Brett Tarr

The European Commission's Directive on Data Protection went into effect in October 1998, and prohibits the transfer of personal data to non-European Union nations that do not meet the European "adequacy" standard for privacy protection. While the United States and the European Union share the goal of enhancing privacy protection for their citizens, the United States takes a different approach to privacy from that taken by the European Union.

One of the most significant effects of increased online trading between Europe and the United States is the growing concern about privacy and data protection. There is no general agreement between Europe and the United States in the area of ecommerce and likewise, there is no specific agreement between the European Union and the United States on jurisdiction and applicable law in civil matters. Although the current consumer data privacy protection principles of the European Union and the United States are both founded upon the Guidelines on the Protection of Privacy and Transborder Flows of Personal Data issued in 1980 by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, they are based on different approaches. The United States uses a mix of legislation, regulation and self-regulation.

To read the full article, click here.

"Controlling Discovery Costs ... 'What's in your toolbox?'"

"This week Corporate Counsel from around the world will gather in Boston at the ACC Annual Meeting (10/18 – 21) to discuss trends related to “bringing control back in-house to the GC” by managing cost associated with outside counsel and the cost of discovery (specifically ediscovery). There are expected to be 3000 plus attendees over the course of the week and industry technology providers will be lining the convention halls and hotel lobby’s ready to throw the kitchen sink at passer-by’s....It is a fact that using Early Case Assessment (ECA) technology will reduce the overall cost of discovery and the litigation lifecycle. The reduced cost is directly related to lowering the amount of data for review by outside counsel. The expense of discovery is typically front loaded in the sense that identification of data for review continues to be based on the total uncompressed size of ESI collected at the onset of discovery. This is typically charged by the Gigabyte. Ironically most if not all ECA software providers and vendors know beforehand that over 60% of the ESI collected will be non-relevant to the Request for Discovery or just junk."

From blog Managing The Litigation Lifecycle. For full post, click here.

eMag Solutions now offers eMag PreVu 3.0, the latest version of eMag's web-based data management portal to sort, search and filter electronically stored information (ESI) as well as manage early stage workflow. This product provides the ability to efficiently cull large data sets prior to loading into an active archive, review tool or other repository. Enhancements include advanced searching options, the ability to group and tag files, increased options for filtering, as well as extensive reporting capabilities.  Another key aspect of PreVu 3.0 is its ability to facilitate cross-border, multi-national collections. Clients are able to utilize the hosted application in conjunction with eMag's UK processing facilities and international on-site services to accommodate international data protection and privacy laws.

Visit us at booth #335 at ACC Boston to talk with one of our representatives or click here for more information.

When embarking upon the e-disclosure process, many corporations, organisations and law firms are overwhelmed by the volume of data that needs to be examined - not to mention the costs associated with restoring and processing relevant files.

The plentiful supply of inexpensive electronic storage options available today, coupled with increasing regulatory compliance demands, has prompted companies to archive any file, document or correspondence they feel may be valuable at some point in the future. As a result, companies retain tremendous amounts of information, saved on hard drives or back-up media tape. This presents a significant challenge when these firms are subsequently required to produce responsive documents during litigation or regulatory compliance activities. The larger the data pool, the longer it takes to uncover and prepare relevant documents - and the higher the price tag associated with the process.

Advanced technologies are available, however, to reduce the time and costs inherent to e-disclosure activities:

• Pre-culling strategies allow corporate officers and counsel to view data structures and files in their raw native format, allowing exclusion of non-relevant information prior to expensive restoration and processing.


• Non-native data restoration allows firms to restore data without having to re-create the originating or "native" environment - that is, the combination of hardware and software used at the time the materials were preserved.

For full article, click here.

*This article was authored by Ian Bartlett, a Solutions Analyst with eMag Solutions Europe and appears in the February isse of Computers & Law (http://www.scl.org).