April’s annual meeting was a great success showcasing the innovative work being done in open data by governments, civil societies and individuals around the world. As the dust settles from Brasilia, we are looking to keep the momentum going. We would like to ensure that we are kept up to date with all the great
One year and a half ago, concepts like, good governance, openness, rule of law, transparency, accountability, zero-corruption tolerance sounded hollow and hazy words that meant nothing for Tunisian people In his opening speech at the Brasilia 2012 OGP annual conference, Hedi Ben Abbes, Tunisian Secretary of State Foreign Affairs for the Americas and Asia, said that
Allison Tilley from Open Democracy Advance Center, sent out the Civil Society Transparency Report for South Africa prepared for the OGP meeting in Brasilia and updated it onto their OGP website (and on to several places on the ODAC website). You can find the report at http://opengovpartners.org/za/transparency-in-south-africa/ or http://www.opendemocracy.org.za.
I thought it would be helpful to note down some thoughts on Brasilia’s meeting fast, whilst the memory is still fresh…
The UK’s chairmanship is a tremendous opportunity for the UK to promote and encourage open government and governance, domestically and internationally. It is also an ideal opportunity for the UK Government – in full consultation with civil society groups – to revisit its National Action Plan. (David Banisar and Alan Hudson.)
One of the outcomes of Brasilia will be for the OGP plenary to endorse the steering committee-drafted governance policy for OGP, which includes a framework for how OGP governments and OGP NGOs nominate steering committee candidates from their respective caucuses. The early politicking around this should be fascinating, and I’m disappointed I won’t be there to watch it in person!
María Otero is the U.S. Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights. On behalf of the United States, she serves as the founding co-chair of the Open Government Partnership. What was once the beginning of a chapter will graduate to what is really the beginning of a new era of good
Big expectations are over the shoulders of transparency; governments expect public sector efficiency and growth, civil society expects accountability and participation in the policy process, companies and entrepreneurs expect new business opportunities, and democracy more generally expects that with transparency we will all be better off.