• Germany | An open government program
  The German government has published a program on open governement, in order to modernize government processes and increase transparency, "with structural reforms, new forms of collaboration and cooperation, as well as more horizontal and vertical collaboration throughout government departments as the way to do it" as reported by EPSI platform, that has more comments on the topic: 

• Italy | Spaghetti open data
  [note: a previous version of this post contained a quote in Italian - we have replaced it with the English translation]

  PdF speaker Alberto Cottica explains that there are good news on the Italian open data scenario, both on local and national level: after the Piedmont Region,  the Ministry of Economy is building interesting databases and creating new possibilities of using data information on budgeting:

... and we're back to work with The Europe roundup, some interesting links and many news to come on PdF Europe conference (have you registered?)

• UK | Tracking coalition pledges
  The Guardian has released the Coalition pledge tracker, a tool that allow people to dive into the pledges the government has made since it came to office (organized in lists and categories) and check if they have been fulfilled and what stage they're at. The tracker, inspired by the Obameter, lists the following categories:

The Europe roundup takes a couple of weeks off while we are still working on .
Meanwhile here's a talk and some readings we hope you'll enjoy:

• Sir Tim Berners-Lee's talk at TED from last February:
  

• EU | Building applications to foster citizen engagement
  Mobile platforms and applications are becoming very important in empowering citizens and even giving them new opportunities of engagement.
  Bengt Feil describes how Google is introducing App Inventor, a tool that would make easier to build Android apps, and explores possible developments for citizen engagement: 

• EU | "You can offer a policy expert a bridge, but you can’t make him cross it."
  More on the debate on the role of eurobloggers in (possibly) shaping policy: Ralf Grahn comments on Mathew Lowry's post on building bridges outwards:

• EU | The Brussels Blogger Study
  Brussels based PR company Waggener Edstrom has recently published a study on the EU blogosphere, called the Brussels Blogger Study (here available - but not downloadable). Many eurobloggers attended the launch event of the report (you can see all the Twitter reaction with the hash tag: #bbs10) [edit: as it was pointed out, almost all of them attended the event via Twitter, after Jon Worth - who was actually there - started tweeting. And he precised: "Odd then that I heard about the event via other bloggers, and had to invite myself to attend"]. But many of them weren’t convinced with the criteria that were used to determine influence and ranking.

• UK | iPhone apps or no iPhone apps? That is the question...
  A couple of weeks ago the British government started reviewing its 820 websites as part of a bigger plan of efficiency in the Public Administration. As it turned out from a BBC Freedom of Information request, a big expense (£10,000 - £40,000) is related to the development of iPhone applications.

• EU | Social media going local... on a European level?
  It may sound strange but it is how they may be used, according to Antonia Mochan, Head of Media of The European Commission Representation in the UK.
  In a long interview, Mochan tells the folks at Waltzing Matilda about about how she uses social media in her job and how they fit in the Commission’s news cycle:

• EU | EU Commission launches public consultation on net neutrality
  

  The debate on net neutrality has grown in intensity over recent months – we will respond with a Commission communication after hearing your perspectives and hosting a summit with the European Parliament.
  
  The process will be as open as the internet! As already made clear, I will not support any public policy that may threaten freedom of expression. I am committed to an open and efficient internet where freedom can flourish. And I have also underlined that I am keen to promote transparency, innovation, fair competition and investment in new efficient and open networks.