This week: Tweets for Transparency and Coding 4 Country, Smuggling in Kosovo, Immunity in Italy, Mammals in Mexico, and more…

Bloggers and tweeters this week have been focused on new media’s role in the global fight against corruption.  On Wednesday, the US and Brazil unveiled the Open Government Partnership, with eight countries publishing their tailor-made approaches to stamping out corruption and encouraging government transparency.  The launch event was sponsored by Google and held at their NYC offices.

As OCCRP reported earlier this week, 46 governments pledged to create their own detailed plans for using new technologies to promote civic engagement and transparent public services.  Governments will submit their own detailed plans and then conduct progress reports by the next meeting in March 2012.

Russia won’t be participating in the event (and neither will most former Soviet countries), but they will be hosting a crossborder code-a-thon on Saturday, the US Ambassador to Russia John Beyrle announced last week on his bilingual blog.  Held simultaneously in Moscow and Washington, DC, participants in “Code4Country” will be called on to create open source programs that will improve the daily lives of citizens.

One example Beyrle gives is creating platforms for constituents to assess their government’s ability to meet their needs:

One example of a problem and a proposed solution is a Regional Government Evaluation application -- a tool that would allow citizens to rate the efficiency and transparency of regional and state government services, agencies, even governors.

Technology companies Yandex and Google will also be supplying volunteers to advise coders.

Civil society organizations all over the world are looking to use new media to combat corruption and enhance transparency.  In Zambia, voters posted allegations of electoral fraud on Facebook and Twitter.  In Bulgaria, a new web platform has been created in advance of elections, and prospective voters have already been reporting instances of vote-buying on a new web portal and via TV broadcasts.