Denmark Design Report 2017–2019
Cordelia Chesnutt
Denmark’s third action planAction plans are at the core of a government’s participation in OGP. They are the product of a co-creation process in which government and civil society jointly develop commitments to open governmen... had similar thematic foci as previous plans: increasing open dataBy opening up data and making it sharable and reusable, governments can enable informed debate, better decision making, and the development of innovative new services. Technical specifications: Polici..., improving transparencyAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, transparency occurs when “government-held information (including on activities and decisions) is open, comprehensive, timely, freely available to the pub... More in the public sector, and promoting open government globally. Civil society provided input during the co-creation processCollaboration between government, civil society and other stakeholders (e.g., citizens, academics, private sector) is at the heart of the OGP process. Participating governments must ensure that a dive.... However, the final commitments were proposed by government agencies, and most reflected existing initiatives. Future action plans could address higher-priority policy areas, such as the implementation of the European Union’s General Data Protection RegulationGovernment reformers are developing regulations that enshrine values of transparency, participation, and accountability in government practices. Technical specifications: Act of creating or reforming ..., beneficial ownershipDisclosing beneficial owners — those who ultimately control or profit from a business — is essential for combating corruption, stemming illicit financial flows, and fighting tax evasion. Technical... More transparency, and whistleblower protection.
| Table 1. At a glance Participating since: 2011 Action plan under review: 3 Report type: Design Number of commitments: 14Action plan development Is there a multi-stakeholder forumRegular dialogue between government and civil society is a core element of OGP participation. It builds trust, promotes joint problem-solving, and empowers civil society to influence the design, imple...: Yes Action plan design Commitments relevant to OGP values: 12 (86%) Action plan implementation Starred commitments: N/A |
The Open Government PartnershipThe Open Government Partnership (OGP) is a multi-stakeholder initiative focused on improving government transparency, ensuring opportunities for citizen participation in public matters, and strengthen... More (OGP) is a global partnership that brings together government reformers and civil society leaders to create action plans that make governments more inclusive, responsive, and accountable. The Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM)The Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM) is OGP’s accountability arm and the main means of tracking progress in participating countries. The IRM provides independent, evidence-based, and objective ... monitors all action plans to ensure governments follow through on commitments. Denmark joined OGP in 2011. Since, Denmark has implemented two action plans. This report evaluates the design of Denmark’s third action plan.
General overview of action plan
Denmark’s third action plan focused on improving open data and public services domestically, as well as supporting anti-corruption and transparency efforts globally. Denmark continues to perform highly in open government and anti-corruption. However, Denmark could consider including other open government policy areas in future action plans, such as whistleblower protection and beneficial ownership.
The Agency for Digitisation (AFD) began the third action plan’s co-creation process with an online hearing, during which civil society, government institutions, and citizens were able to give input. Unlike the previous action plan’s co-creation process, this process featured the AFD’s follow-up of the online hearing with many in-person meetings with civil society organisations (CSOs) on potential action plan topics. In August 2018, after the co-creation process concluded, the AFD held Denmark’s first formal multi-stakeholder forum meeting (the OGP Network Meeting). The meeting included representatives from civil society and government agencies responsible for the action plan’s commitments.
Civil society representatives and the AFD discussed general ideas for action plan themes (such as public information and party financing), but CSOs did not formally submit commitmentOGP commitments are promises for reform co-created by governments and civil society and submitted as part of an action plan. Commitments typically include a description of the problem, concrete action... proposals. Ultimately, the commitments chosen for the action plan were proposed by government agencies and reflected existing government initiatives. According to civil society, the AFD’s mandate does not extend beyond a coordinating role, which limits the overall ambitionAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, OGP commitments should “stretch government practice beyond its current baseline with respect to key areas of open government.” Ambition captures the po... of Denmark’s action plan. The government believed that the OGP process is not the proper forum for high-level policy discussion and that it could duplicate the existing efforts of individual ministries.
Some notable commitments involved developing data-driven solutions to issues of political and social relevanceAccording to the OGP Articles of Governance, OGP commitments should include a clear open government lens. Specifically, they should advance at least one of the OGP values: transparency, citizen partic... in Denmark, such as those providing historical data from the National Archives (Commitment 1) and those developing portals with information on day-care facilities (Commitment 3).
Table 2. Noteworthy commitments
| Commitment description | Moving forward | Status at the end of implementation cycle |
| 1. More open data
Publish datasets of historical significance in dialogue with stakeholders and provide video instructions on the use of this data. |
Future action plans could improve access to historical data by addressing the timeliness of data publication, the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation, and current Danish accessibility laws. The number of datasets could be expanded based on their usefulness to stakeholders. | Note: this will be assessed at the end of the action plan cycle. |
| 3. Information portals for day-care facilities
Develop a common platform to collect data from municipal and day-care institutions across the country. Present the data in publicly available and easily accessible portals. |
This commitment’s model—focusing on a single issue of social relevance to the wider population—could be used for future action plans. For example, the government could consider developing a single platform to provide comparable information for various welfare issues. | Note: this will be assessed at the end of the action plan cycle. |
| 9. National strategy for a stronger civil society
Implement the national civil society strategy to improve collaboration between the public sector and civil society, particularly in local communities. |
The government could build off the existing national civil society strategy to strengthen civic engagement at the decentralised level, particularly by promoting local voluntary social work. | Note: this will be assessed at the end of the action plan cycle. |
Recommendations
The IRM recommendations aim to inform the development of the next action plan and guide implementation of the current action plan.
Five KEY IRM Recommendations
- Expand participation in the multi-stakeholder forum
- Introduce whistleblower protection measures in the next action plan
- Address the implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation
- Take measures to improve beneficial ownership transparency
- Focus on further strengthening foreign aidMore and better information about aid helps partner countries and donor institutions plan and manage aid resources more effectively, parliaments and civil society to hold governments accountable for t... transparency
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