Bojonegoro Final IRM Report 2017

Researcher: Anton Novenanto, Center for Culture and Frontiers Studies, Universitas Brawijaya

Action Plan under Review: 2017
Dates of Actions under Review: 01/2017 – 12/2017

Summary of IRM Findings

Bojonegoro saw remarkable high-level engagement during the co creation and implementation process. However, involvement from the public and CSOs during implementation was mostly limited to two organizations. Moving forward, the IRM recommends finalizing commitments and expanding participation in the OGP process to include local council members and specialized CSOs.

Action Plan Priorities

Commitment Overview

For the Government of Bojonegoro, open government is a means to target sustainable development, especially after the discovery of natural resources. In general, there were three major themes of open government in Bojonegoro, Indonesia (2016-2017).

The first theme aimed to provide open data infrastructure to enhance the quality of development process in the regency. Commitment 1 (Data Revolution) was promoted to fill lack of real-time, accurate data as a basis for decision making. Commitment 4 (Open Data Contract) was proposed as a strategy to reduce corruption through a transparent procurement of goods and services. A second theme on transparent and civic participation in the budgetary cycle in regency and village levels was developed with 2 commitments. Commitment 2 (Village Accountability) targeted for more accountable administration of select villages in the regency, while Commitment 3 (Local Budget Transparency) created several strategies to call for more civic engagement by opening data for budget planning and report. A third theme consisted of Commitment 5 (Improving Quality of Public Services). The commitment focused on how to create a pilot mechanism for civic engagement with a joint, contextual standard for public service delivery, targeted at the local health sector. The model would be applied for other public service sectors, in different administrative levels.

In general, the Government of Bojonegoro has no substantial problem in implementing these commitments. However, some commitment’ milestones were too high in expectation so many were not fully accomplished.

Table 2.1 Overview: Assessment of Progress by Commitment

Table 2.1 displays for each commitment the level of specificity, relevance to OGP values, potential impact level of completion.

General Recommendations

Lack of overall support for the OGP process has been an issue in Bojonegoro. Although political support is evident, financial support has not been secured for the achievement of OGP commitments and its milestones. Therefore, the inclusion of local council members is highly important to guarantee the proper funding of open government commitments.

Since the Regent in Bojonegoro will be replaced in 2018, a follow-up mechanism with periodic meetings with the regency’s development planning body for the inclusion of open government commitments/agendas in the regency’ mid- and long-term development plan should be put in place. This would legitimize political, financial and human resource support for the implementation of open government in Bojonegoro.

The local government should also address the big issue of development sustainability in Bojonegoro and allow for an open exchange of ideas and solutions with the general public on this matter.

Capacity building for citizens is still pending in the regency, especially in rural areas. Some citizens who already have good capacity in conveying ideas and performing public speaking will find the greatest helpfulness in getting involved in dialogues with the government.