What happens when the government hides its data?

We need to talk. About what happens when the government hides, obscures, or outright deletes data — the information that could inform policy and allow citizens and journalists to better understand the world around them.

This is exactly what has happened in recent months, a significant reversal in the movement toward open data and government transparency. (Haven't checked data.whitehouse.gov recently? That used to have data. The 2020 Census will no longer ask questions about the respondents' sexual orientation or gender identity (http://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/326329-census-to-leave-lgbt-questions-off-2020-survey).)

Hosted by Code 4 Nashville (http://meetup.com/code-for-nashville), the Online News Association (http://journalists.org), and the local chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists (https://www.spj.org/), this night of conversation will bring you up to speed, show you the power of putting data to use for civic good, and hand over the tools to defend open data.

We'll try and cover three main topics:

• What does the fed hiding its data imply for lower levels of government and the way they make decisions about transparency?
• What kind of effects can we expect to see cascade down across government and non profits?
• What do we do now?

Panelists:

• Robyn Mace, Chief Data Officer of the City

• Cynthia Villacis, Director of Polling at iCitizen

5:30: Arrive / Mingle
6pm: Program
7pm: Mixer

Thanks to our venue hosts at the Nashville Tech Council (https://technologycouncil.com/) !