The article highlights the persistent gap between Pakistan’s Right to Information law and its practical application, despite the law’s potential to empower journalists and citizens. A recent workshop aimed to bridge this divide by training Press Information Department officials on leveraging the law for investigative journalism and public accountability. The initiative underscores that access to government information is a constitutional right that can drive societal change. By educating official representatives, the event seeks to normalize transparency and demonstrate that journalists can successfully obtain necessary data without bypassing formal channels. This is relevant to open data because it illustrates the critical human and institutional factors required to make data accessible and usable. Successful open data ecosystems depend not just on legal frameworks, but on active training and awareness among those who both provide and consume public information to ensure true transparency and accountability.

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Published on 2023-02-02