About

Open Gov West (OGW) is a network of open government supporters and practitioners, working together to foster progress on open government issues and technology throughout the US and Canada. OGW produces regional conferences, topic-based work summits, and local meet ups.  Through OpenGovWest.org, OGW is working to grow a range of resources for those doing the hard work of opening up their governments and improving the technology their governments and citizens utilize.

OGW is a part of Knowledge As Power, a 501c3 whose mission is to help individuals to become informed and effective citizens.  Knowledge As Power sees OGW as an extension of its mission; for citizens to be informed and effective within their governments, there must be greater transparency and modernization within governments.

Knowledge As Power and Open Gov West were both founded by Sarah Schacht, executive director of Knowledge As Power.  Schacht began her work in open government technology in 2000, when she began researching and planning services for transforming transparency and activism in the legislative process.  By 2009, she realized that many open government advocates and practitioners were working in parallel, to their own detriment.  The Open Gov West conference in Seattle was convened in March, 2010 to provide regional leaders the opportunity to collaborate, learn strategies, and plan for regional open government work.

OGW has grown to 10 Open Gov West meetups across the Western US and Canada, an upcoming Open Gov BC conference, and an upcoming series of mini conferences focused on information standards and collaborative open government projects.

If you’re interested in hosting an Open Gov West meetup in your city, or becoming involved with upcoming events, get in contact. We’d love to help you build a supportive community of open government partners in your area.  opengovwest @ knowledgeaspower . org