Action plan – Monterrey, Mexico, 2022 – 2024

At-a-Glance

Duration

Sep 2024

Date Submitted

20th December 2022

Foreword(s)

Historically, Nuevo León has distinguished itself as one of the most dynamic entities in Mexico, contributing significantly to national growth and innovation. This has also been reflected in the public sector, where a vision of an open state is being built today that recognizes the importance of dialogue and networking, to improve public efficiency and effectiveness.

As part of this vision, Nuevo León is promoting an Open Government model that seeks to bring public administrations closer to the people, to identify the most urgent state issues and build together the solutions that will prepare us for a better future. Within this vision, an unprecedented figure was created (formed by government, civil society and the local guarantor body) that promotes collaboration and multisectorial co-creation: the Nuevo León Abierto Coalition. This coalition is relevant due to the willingness it represents as the beginning of an unprecedented coordination in the state in favor of a progressive construction of a more articulated, active and creative community. This Coalition is the starting point to build participatory spaces that will allow the dissemination and implementation of the principles and values of Open Government in Nuevo León in a transversal manner. 

The Coalition’s work is reflected in the construction of the Nuevo León Open Government Local Action Plan 2022 – 2024, which aims to promote the development of the state under a collaborative governance model that makes visible the benefits of Open Government for everyone. With this goal, permanent training, collaborative and innovative participatory processes, and the continuous participation of the population, Nuevo León will move towards a transformative culture that will allow the people who live in the state to influence and evaluate their administrations to make them smarter, more open and collaborative.

Open Government Challenges, Opportunities and Strategic Vision

This subsection details the Open Government Strategic Vision in your local area that should guide the commitments for the action plan period.

What is the long-term vision for open government in your context and jurisdiction?

In Nuevo León, the long-term vision in terms of Open Government addresses the following actions:

1. Comply with the implementation and evaluation of the commitments (cross-cutting, state and municipal) contained within the Nuevo León Open Government Local Action Plan 2022 – 2024 (LAP).
2. Share with other organizations and jurisdictions the technical-methodological scheme, good practices, knowledge and experiences generated by the Nuevo León Abierto Coalition during the co-creation, implementation and monitoring of the LAP. 
3. Establish spaces for continuous training in Open Government.
4. Open new spaces for participation and advocacy for the Nuevo León’s Civil Society Organizations Group (NOSC NL).
5. Promote the inclusive participation of all people, making visible the needs of the most vulnerable groups in order to build public policies that represent the interests and needs of the community.
6. Promote innovative processes and the use of technological tools within government institutions that allow easier interactions for people and facilitate their participation in public life.
7. Promote collaborative governance and the principles of Open Government to regain people’s trust in their governments. 
8. Initiate the process for the generation of the Second Local Action Plan of Nuevo León.
9. Generate tools, policies and regulations on Open Government for Nuevo León, through co-creation processes in multi-stakeholder and multi-sectorial spaces.

What are the achievements in open government to date (for example, recent open government reforms)?

In Nuevo León, there is the Law of Transparency and Access to Public Information and the Law of Citizen Participation, both of which guarantee the right of access to information, governmental openness and the human right to participation.

At the entity level, the State Development Plan 2022-2027 was built under a collective intelligence approach through forums, work tables and a digital consultation for children and adolescents. Likewise, through co-creation tables, the first Special Program for Citizen Participation 2022 – 2027 of the state government was developed, which incorporates Open Government within its objectives and strategies; as well as the program of school participatory projects, a participatory budget mechanism focused on children and adolescents. 

At the municipal level, Monterrey built its Municipal Development Plan 2021-2024 with the participation of citizens, through interviews, round tables of specialists and a public consultation. On the other hand, it implemented the first participatory budget of the Municipality, as well as an 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... and digitalization strategy with a digital one-stop shop.

On the other hand, San Pedro Garza García developed the “Sam Petrino” chatbot, which allows citizens to make citizen service reports in real time. In addition, the municipality has launched an open data strategy for public decision-making. It also highlights its participatory budget program “Decide San Pedro”, which has been a success story nationwide.

What are the current challenges/areas for improvement in open government that the jurisdiction wishes to tackle?

In Nuevo León, one of the most important challenges in terms of Open Government is the creation of networks and inclusive work groups that generate processes of openness for participation under a plurality of voices. In order to face this challenge, the Nuevo León’s Civil Society Organizations Group (NOSC NL) was created to represent and articulate the different efforts that exist in the public agenda of the entity, in terms of open government, genderOGP participating governments are bringing gender perspectives to popular policy areas, ensuring diversity in participatory processes, and specifically targeting gender gaps in policies to address gov... More, mobility, accessibility, inclusionOGP participating governments are working to create governments that truly serve all people. Commitments in this area may address persons with disabilities, women and girls, lesbian, gay, bisexual, tr... More, among others.

An area of opportunity identified from the nature of the Coalition is the inter-institutional coordination, which is necessary for the homologation of vision, work methodologies and the implementation of the transversality of the commitments established in the LAP. The challenge among the jurisdictions is to establish more efficient agreements and work dynamics that facilitate coordination for implementation.

Finally, in order for this opening exercise to transcend beyond the duration of the public administrations, it is necessary to establish institutional, economic, operational, social and environmental sustainability actions that will make it possible to achieve a visible and sustainable public impact in the long term.

What are the medium-term open government goals that the government wants to achieve?

In the medium term, the Open Gov goals are focused on:

1. To provide accompaniment to all institutions responsible and co-responsible for the implementation of the LAP commitments. This accompaniment will be led by the Nuevo León Abierto Coalition and its 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... so the short and medium-term goals, as well as the milestones related to them, can be accomplished in one year.
2. Institutionalize the Nuevo León Abierto Coalition, through the full integration of its members and the rotation in time of those members who complete their terms.
3. Facilitate inclusive spaces so that the inhabitants of Nuevo León and public officials can be trained in Open Government and its principles.
4. Strengthen collaborative relationships with civil society organizations and collectives in the state, with the purpose of expanding the interaction of non-governmental actors. 
5. Promote ongoing cross-jurisdictional collaboration to facilitate the implementation of key actions of the cross-cutting commitments.

How does this action plan contribute to achieve the Open Government Strategic Vision?

The strategic vision of Open Government for this exercise was built from the analysis of the themes, objectives, strategies, lines of action and goals established in the governmental plans of the Government of the State of Nuevo León, the Municipality of Monterrey, the Municipality of San Pedro Garza García, the Strategic Plan for the State of Nuevo León 2015 – 2030 of CONL and the vision of all the member institutions of the Nuevo León Abierto Coalition.

The themes and commitments of this Plan contribute to the strategic vision, as they emanate from the results of a public consultation built by crossing the previously mentioned strategic planning instruments and OGP’s policy areas, sub-areas and sectors. In this way, the Plan and its commitments have a remarkable feasibility and viability as they coincide with government priorities and the most relevant policy areas according to 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. This gives the Plan and its commitments a greater possibility of advocacy and expansion of the Open Government agenda, as they contribute directly to the mainstreaming and promotion of the collaborative governance model throughout the state.

The LAP has eight commitments (2 transversal, 2 state and 4 municipal) that were built in an inclusive manner and through co-creation processes that adhere to the ideals of collaborative work, sustainability and innovation established in the strategic vision.

How does the open government strategic vision contribute to the accomplishment of the current administration’s overall policy goals?

It contributes as it promotes the Open Government model and encourages the active and inclusive participation of everyone in Nuevo León in the resolution of public problems.

The State Government created the first Secretariat of Citizen Participation to establish and implement mechanisms for direct participation that promote the right of all people in NL to intervene and participate, individually or collectively, in public decisions, in the formulation and evaluation of policies, programs and, acts of government. 

The Municipality of Monterrey created the Secretariat of Innovation and Open Government to innovate and offer digital and collaborative solutions to the problems of the people of the municipality. 

And the Municipality of San Pedro Garza García, continuing with its strategies of government openness and innovation that have been carried out since 2018, has formalized more Open Government projects, especially in anti-corruption and citizen management, key elements of the administration.

Engagement and Coordination in the Open Government Strategic Vision and OGP Action Plan

Please list the lead institutions responsible for the implementation of this OGP action plan.

• Administration Secretariat of the Government of the State of Nuevo León
• Comptroller and Governmental Transparency of the State of Nuevo León
• Citizen Participation Secretariat of the State of Nuevo León
• Culture Secretariat of the Government of the State of Nuevo León
• Executive Secretariat of the State System for the Right’s Protection of Children and Adolescents (SE
• Mobility and Urban Planning Secretariat of the State of Nuevo León
• Innovation and Open Government Secretariat of Monterrey
• Security and Citizen Protection Secretariat of Monterrey
• Sustainable Urban Development Secretariat of Monterrey
• Innovation and Citizen Participation Secretariat of San Pedro Garza García
• Public Services and Environmental Secretariat of San Pedro Garza García
• State Institute of Transparency, Information Access and Personal Data Protection (INFO NL for its Sp

What kind of institutional arrangements are in place to coordinate between government agencies and departments to implement the OGP action plan?

The jurisdictions have created internal agreements based on relationships of collaboration and trust between implementing areas and points of contact. In addition, periodic follow-up meetings will be held with all the members of the working groups (one per 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...) to facilitate compliance with key activities.

It should be noted that some agencies have drafted letters of commitment that express their interest and willingness with this openness exercise, with the Plan’s commitments and with the vision of collaborative governance; these letters are available at: https://nlabierto.org/pages/cartascompromiso 

In order to implement the LAP, take high-level decisions of the process and facilitate the coordination of transversal commitments; the Coalition and its Multi-Stakeholder Forum work through a simple majority process. Additionally, digital communication channels are in place to facilitate the exchange of information and facilitate accountability processes.

What kind of spaces have you used or created to enable the collaboration between government and civil society in the co-creation and implementation of this action plan? Mention both offline and online spaces.

In order for the Nuevo León Open Government Local Action Plan 2022 – 2024 to be inclusive, plural, open and innovative; a co-creation methodology was created that considers the following spaces and moments:

1. Public Consultation
2. Systematization of the results of the consultation (verification of feasibility).
3. Open Dialogues
4. Co-creation tables
5. Public review of the LAP draft.
6. Reception of institutional statements.
7. Open meetings

Detailed information on this methodology and the prioritization of issues is available at the following link: https://nlabierto.org/pages/documentos-rectores

What measures did you take to ensure diversity of representation (including vulnerable or marginalized populations) in these spaces?

The public consultation was designed to be a space where everyone could contribute their ideas and identify the issues that most affect them in a simple and quick way. This consultation was digital, but physical spaces were also enabled to inform people and guide them in the filling out process.

For the co-creation tables, multiple civil society organizations representing priority groups of the Nuevo León society were invited to broaden the spectrum of participation of certain groups of the population that have historically been discriminated against, vulnerable or marginalized.

In addition, the co-creation roundtables were held in accessible and open spaces for the citizens, in 3 different venues and different municipalities.

We share the gallery with some evidence of the process: https://nlabierto.org/pages/galeria-y-evidencia

Who participated in these spaces?

Civil society organizations, state and municipal public servants, academia, neighbors, collectives and society in general participated. A total of 864 people from 23 municipalities participated in the public consultation, while 16 children and adolescents and 401 people (255 women and 146 men) participated in the co-creation roundtables, including representatives from 4 universities, 1 international organization and 60 civil society organizations.

In order to participate in the LAP 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..., the convening strategy was carried out through two modalities:

Direct call: according to the experience and field of work of individuals and institutions, specialists were invited to participate, both from academia, public service and organized civil society. 

Open call: through the social networks of the governments and institutions of the Multi-stakeholder Forum, all persons were invited to participate in the co-creation tables in order to achieve a plurality of community voices.

How many groups participated in these spaces?

65

How many public-facing meetings were held in the co-creation process?

22

How will government and non-governmental stakeholders continue to collaborate through the implementation of the action plan?

Work will continue through the following spaces:

1. Meetings of the Multi-stakeholder Forum of the Nuevo León Abierto Coalition: working sessions between leaders and their teams from public administrations, civil society organizations, the guarantor body, academia, private initiative and observers.
2. Nuevo León’s Civil Society Organizations Group (NOSC NL): constant feedback and monitoring of the implementation process. Additionally, some civil society organizations have entered this Plan as monitors or support in the implementation of the commitments so there will be a constant accompaniment of these in all stages of development of the LAP.
3. Forums, events: spaces focused on raising awareness, informing and promoting Open Government and the Local Action Plan.

Please describe the independent Monitoring Body you have identified for this plan.

Mexico’s National Institute for Transparency, Access to Information and Protection of Personal Data (INAI) is the independent monitoring body for this exercise in openness and innovation in Nuevo León. 

INAI will evaluate the co-creation process, monitor progress and follow up on the implementation of the commitments contained in the Local Action Plan, under the parameters of the Independent Review Mechanism of the Open Government Partnership.

Provide the contact details for the independent monitoring body.

• Adrián Alcalá Méndez, Commissioner and Coordinator of the Permanent Commission on Access, Open Government and Transparency, adrian.alcala@inai.org.mx

What types of activities will you have in place to discuss progress on commitments with stakeholders?

Online and face-to-face meetings, roundtables, and constant updates of the accountability tools will be conducted in bimonthly official meetings with the monitoring entity to see the progress of each of the commitments of the 3 jurisdictions. Also, each time one of the milestones is completed, the jurisdiction responsible for this milestone will notify the monitoring body and also upload to nlabierto.org the progress of the milestone.

In order to promote greater openness in monitoring, we will also seek to generate events and mechanisms for openness with society. For example, open dialogues and open meetings will be promoted to not only expand the knowledge of the open government paradigm among citizens, but also to show the progress of the commitments in a more open manner.

How will you regularly check in on progress with implementing agencies?

Internally, each jurisdiction will have regular meetings with the working group for each commitment on a monthly or bi-monthly basis as agreed with the implementing parties to review the evolution of key milestones and actions. 

In addition, the Open Nuevo León Coalition Multi-Stakeholder Forum will meet regularly every two months during the implementation period of the commitments (18 months) to monitor progress of each jurisdiction and report on the fulfillment of the objectives of each of the commitments.  

Progress information will be made available on the Coalition’s website, which will facilitate access to information regarding commitment progress, means of verification, and other documentation developed. This update will drive the triggering of next steps within each commitment.

How will you share the results of your monitoring efforts with the public?

Through 4 dissemination mechanisms the progress and advances of the Local Action Plan will be shared:

• Quarterly update of the dashboard available on the nlabierto.org website. 
• Social networks and official websites of the jurisdictions and all member institutions of the Nuevo León Abierto Coalition.
• Open dialogues and opening meetings (spaces for dialogue, socialization and review of the PAL commitments).
• Closing document and delivery of the Nuevo León Open Government Local Action Plan 2022 – 2024 at the end of the implementation containing good practices and concrete results.

Endorsement from Non-Governmental Stakeholders

• Ana Fernanda Hierro Barba, Secretaria Técnica, Nuevo León Council for Strategic Planning
• Sabel Sierra Mendoza, Coordinator of the Efficient Government and Transparency Commission, Nuevo León Council for Strategic Planning
• Eva Sander González, Country Director, Accountability Lab México
• Ximena Rodríguez Castañeda, Civic Engagement Manager, Accountability Lab México
• Luis Ávila, Director, Cómo Vamos Nuevo León
• Nissi Valdovinos González, Advocacy coordinator, Cómo Vamos Nuevo León
• María De Los Ángeles Estrada González, Executive director, Transparency, Anti-Corruption and Digitization Initiative, Tec de Monterrey
• Juan José Tena García, Programme Director, Transparency, Anti-Corruption and Digitization Initiative, Tec de Monterrey
• Moisés Rodríguez, Project Coordinator Accountability, Citizen Participation and Prevention of Corruption, United Nations Development Program (UNDP)
• Jaime Iván Rodríguez Lozano, Institutional Opening and Sustainable Development Specialist, United Nations Development Program (UNDP)
• Roberto Alviso, Director of Institutional Strengthening, Raíces Nuevo León
• Mariana Perales Soto, Director, Hagámoslo Bien
• Maria Fernanda Márquez, Coordinator, Hola vecino
• César Ruiz, Member, Pueblo Bicicletero
• Cecilia Carrillo López, General director, Employers Confederation of the Mexican Republic (COPARMEX) Nuevo León

Monterrey Letter of Support
Coalición Nuevo Leon Abierto