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# Openness & transparency in Government - Microsoft Politics & Technology Forum #poltech
- URL: https://katecarruthers.com/openness-transparency-in-government-microsoft-politics-technology-forum-poltech/
- Published: 2011-05-31T12:22:36.000Z
- Updated: 2026-04-25T09:44:02.000Z
- Author: Kate Carruthers
- Tags: civil society, privacy, politics, Poltech, #Migrated-1775015344493, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-04-01 14:49

Just finished a dinner in Canberra with [@IainDale](http://twitter.com/IainDale?ref=katecarruthers.com) [@msgovtech](http://twitter.com/msgovtech?ref=katecarruthers.com) [@craigthomler](http://twitter.com/craigthomler?ref=katecarruthers.com) [@purserj](http://twitter.com/purserj?ref=katecarruthers.com) [@piawaugh](http://twitter.com/piawaugh?ref=katecarruthers.com) [@stilgherrian](http://twitter.com/stilgherrian?ref=katecarruthers.com) [@peterjblack](http://twitter.com/peterjblack?ref=katecarruthers.com) [@nickhodgemsft](http://twitter.com/nickhodgemsft?ref=katecarruthers.com) [@markpesce](http://twitter.com/markpesce?ref=katecarruthers.com) [@gcarraro](http://twitter.com/gcarraro?ref=katecarruthers.com) before the forum tomorrow.

We had some really lively discussions about politics, society, transparency and government. With this group one must really fight to get a word in edgewise! But Iain Dale, who is presenting the keynote tomorrow, managed to hold his own with aplomb.

Iain is an interesting character whose involvement in Conservative UK politics made for some remarkable stories (a few of which shall remain untold here) and insights. I enjoyed finding out about some of the a differences between the British ways of politics and our local customs.

You can follow tweets for the forum tomorrow on Twitter on the hashtag #poltech and there's some more information on the [Microsoft GovTech blog](http://blogs.msdn.com/b/govtech/archive/2011/05/01/politics-amp-technology.aspx?ref=katecarruthers.com).