We are delighted to announce two new members of the Open Government Partnership Support Unit team. Joseph Foti joined as Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM) Program Manager earlier in October and Linda Frey joins as Executive Director early in the New Year. See the OGP website for details of the experience they are bringing to the
When governments’ efforts of promoting transparency and accountability in the governmental sector are accompanied by engaging civil society in the decision-making and monitoring processes, the achievable results extend beyond the material benefits. Ultimately, people’s trust in the public administration and public institutions increases, likewise the legitimacy of governments. Transparency International Ukraine has recently published its
The open government movement has a very real challenge: ensuring that open government efforts continue to positively transform the lives of citizens around the world. In the pursuit of true, sustainable impact from openness, contracting is a key component. Open Contracting – the collaborative effort focused on enhanced disclosure and participation around contracting processes –
At the Brasilia conference, the OGP community discussed the best mechanism on rotation of the civil society members of the OGP Steering Committee. A group of volunteers and the CSO members of the Steering Committee then captured their thinking in this draft consultation note [below] that we are sharing with you for comments and feedback. The volunteers
Is access to open public data a service, like education, or a right, like free speech? Services are optional Governments collect taxes and use the money to provide services to their citizens. Because tax revenue is finite, no government can provide all possible services to all people all of the time, so a government has
The Open Government Partnership initiative is truly popular and completely necessary worldwide, but when it comes to the post-Soviet space, its importance is hard to overestimate. The reason is probably obvious – though the Soviet Union fell more than 20 years ago, its principals, patterns and drawbacks of the political system are deeply rooted in
The government of the Philippines has made a big step forward in terms of openness and transparency. The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has fulfilled its promise of “full transparency in operations” by providing regular updates to society on government infrastructure projects, as well as public disclosures of project irregularities involving agency personnel.