End of Commitment Report – Strengthen the reuse of open data and the community

Name of Evaluator

Rolando Muzzin

Email

rmuzzin@untref.edu.ar

Member Name

Buenos Aires, Argentina

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... Title

Action plan – Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2021 – 2023

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...

Strengthen the reuse of 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 the community.

Action

Creation of an open data course for civil society organizations to strengthen the reuse of open data. Generation of dialogue tables with the private sectorGovernments are working to open private sector practices as well — including through beneficial ownership transparency, open contracting, and regulating environmental standards. Technical specificat... More. Work tables with data users and government areas for data improvement.

Problem

The Government of the City of Buenos Aires has had an open data policy for over 10 years. However, there are some points that still need to be improved. Firstly, we need to strengthen the capacities of potential data users in order to expand the community, given that only a minority with data knowledge can make use of them. Secondly, work should be done to improve communication with users to generate data that could be useful for both CSOs and the private sector. Likewise, strengthening communication allows us to have a workspace to receive data requests and provide feedback on where to get information, and what data needs to be updated more frequently, among other things. In particular, the issues considered a priority for this work are budget, purchasing and hiring, payroll and salaries, and official advertising.

1.1 What was the overall level of progress in the commitment implementation at the time of this assessment?

Substantial

Provide a brief explanation of your answer:

The way to achieve the objectives outlined by this commitment was with the collaborative proposal, design, and implementation of an open data course aimed at civil society organizations with a focus on the reuse of data themselves. At the same time, dialogue roundtables were created with the private sector and workshops with data users and other thematic areas to improve the available data.

Observing the documentation of the activities carried out, it can be seen that to a large extent, the proposed activities have been fulfilled on the proposed dates.

Even so, according to the evidence collected, the contents of the course in question have already been designed and systematized to carry out its implementation. For this reason, substantial progress in the commitment can be observed, although it has not been completed.

Provide evidence that supports and justifies your answer:

Monitoring Dashboard for the Third Action Plan on Open Government of Buenos Aires 

1.2 Describe the main external or internal factors that impacted implementation of this commitment and how they were addressed (or not).

The main positive factor in implementation has been the coordination and enforcement of the agreements reached at the working table with CSOs.

The main external factor that did not allow for completing the commitment on the planned date was technology. In this sense, a flaw in the storage of the content of the classes has required the re-planning of the launch of the course on open data aimed at civil society organizations.

Another important factor was the good coordination achieved between civil society organizations and the private sector. The result was the holding of meetings and discussions on open government issues.

Based on the interviews with the intervening actors, clear support was observed from civil society organizations and experts on the subject. This collaborated in the design and dissemination of the course that is about to be launched.

1.3 Was the commitment implemented as originally planned?

Most of the commitment milestones were implemented as planned.

Provide a brief explanation of your answer:

Answered in the attachment

• Monitoring Dashboard for the Third Action Plan on Open Government of Buenos Aires 
• Screenshots of Miró’s boards that resulted from reflection and exchange.
• Index of course contents

Provide evidence for your answer:

• Description of milestones achieved

2.1.1. – Did the government disclose more information; improve the quality of the information (new or existing); improve the value of the information; improve the channels to disclose or request information or improve accessibility to information?

Unclear

Degree of result:

– Select –

Explanation: In narrative form, what has been the impact on people or practice.

The commitment aims to strengthen the value of information. For this, it convened experts, academics, and civil society organizations to reach an agreement on what the priorities or particular requirements are in the opening of data. An expert from the civil society organization proposed the review of Datasets:

• Superior Authorities and Officials: https://data.buenosaires.gob.ar/dataset/autoridades-superiores-oficialios
• Deaths: https://data.buenosaires.gob.ar/dataset/defunciones

Based on the data collected and the evidence from primary sources obtained from interviews with the actors involved, it can be understood that the commitments have managed to improve the capacities for the use, and production of new information from data and also for the dissemination or request for public information. To achieve this, a survey answered by the main civil society organizations and experts was used as input. These actors make up what is called the data community.

As mentioned above, a course was designed in conjunction with civil society organizations. One of the contents of the course is the presentation of different tools for data processing. It can be inferred that these tools collaborate in improving information and its use to generate better citizen participationAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, citizen participation occurs when “governments seek to mobilize citizens to engage in public debate, provide input, and make contributions that lead to m... More and public accountabilityAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, public accountability occurs when ”rules, regulations, and mechanisms in place call upon government actors to justify their actions, act upon criticisms ... More.

Although the training program has been carried out and the training will begin to be developed during this year, their impact is unknown and there is no evidence on a possible evaluation of the result that these trainings could have in the dimension of strengthening the value of the information.

Collaborative diagnosis for the elaboration of the Data Course program for CSOs
Course Content Index

2.1.2. – Did the government create new opportunities to seek feedback from citizens/enable participation inform or influence decisions; improve existing channels or spaces to seek feedback from citizens/enable participation/ inform or influence decisions; create or improve capabilities in the government or the public aimed to improve how the government seeks feedback from citizens/enables participation/ or allows for the public to inform or influence decisions?

Unclear

Degree of result:

– Select –

Explanation: In narrative form, what has been the impact on people or practice.

The final product of the commitment is a course entitled “Thinking with data”. The contents are Introduction to open data, Tools for data analysis, Introduction to data manipulation and cleaning, Introduction to the calculation of basic statistics, Data visualization, Use of open data by Civil Society Organizations and finally Purchases and contracts in the Government of the City of Buenos Aires.

It is proposed that from the delivery of the course, the skills of the students are strengthened and this leads to an improvement in the quality of the feedback received by the government, that citizens have an improvement in participation and in the information they receive from the data provided by the government.

In this sense, the course reflects an intention to strengthen both the channels and the capacities in the use of data. Even so, since the course was postponed, there is no evidence of the impact or result of this commitment. An important clarification is that the course is designed for citizens, but it is mainly focused on civil society organizations that currently do not have the capacity to analyze and use data

2.1.3 Did the government create or improve channels, opportunities or capabilities to hold officials answerable to their actions?

Not Applicable

Degree of result:

– Select –

2.1.4 Other Results

Yes

Degree of result:

Marginal

Explanation: In narrative form, what has been the impact on people or practice.

According to the documentation provided by those responsible for the commitment to be implemented, a clearly verifiable result could be revealed that was not directly linked to the planned activities. The Civil Association for Equality and JusticeTo address barriers that prevent citizens from having their justice needs met, OGP participating governments are working to expand transparency, accountability, and inclusion into all systems of justi... (ACIJ) together with the Barrio 31 Council, located in the City of Buenos Aires, requested to prioritize the importance of data generation and its analysis for decision-making, including the vision of the neighbors on the functionality of the works. From the Special Projects Unit of the City government, responsible for the redevelopment project of Barrio 31, it was decided to create a Data and Evaluation Coordination that works from the Government to increase the 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 of those who live in the Villa in the planning of the projects and consolidate the available information. The new unit is monitoring the progress of all the projects carried out in the neighborhood, adding and sharing additional information with the neighborhood, beyond that required for accountability to funding agencies. ACIJ is working directly with the government works team (BAObras) to fill in the information gaps and incorporate the missing works that were identified by the work led by ACIJ and think of new ways to bring the platform closer to the people so that it allows project monitoring. ACIJ and the government works area are also exploring how to create more meeting spaces and receive feedback from neighbors

https://www.open-contracting.org/es/2022/08/02/por-una-infraestructura-mas-inclusiva-buenos-aires/

2.2 Did the commitment address the public policy problem that it intended to address as described in the action plan?

Yes

Provide a brief explanation of your answer:

The main problem to which the commitment had to respond is the constant failure in communication between data users and the lack of capabilities in the use of data. It is understood that the commitment aims to strengthen the capacities of potential users of open data in order to expand the community beyond the minority that can use them today and, secondly, to work on improving communication with users in order to generate data that is useful to all stakeholders. The direction of the commitment in attention to the detected problem is clear, the different milestones reflect a desire to collaboratively build consensus among the data community, that is, the production of data and the different users of the same. Even so, since the launch of the course has not concluded, there is no evidence of the effect that the final product of the commitment may have on the problem detected.

3. Provide at least one lesson or reflection relating to the implementation of this commitment. It can be the identification of key barriers to implementation, an unexpected help/hindrance, recommendations for future commitments, or if the commitment should be taken forward to the next action plan.

The main obstacle was that the commitment had occurred at the end of the implementation. The launch of the course had to be postponed due to issues with the digital support where the asynchronous course would be hosted. The path traveled to achieve the design of the course has been a great collaborative experience aimed at strengthening the open data community.

A difficulty in linking the monitoring of initiatives and the participation of civil society organizations was observed. In this sense, it is suggested to design a mechanism for monitoring and sustainable evaluation of all the initiatives that arise from the community. This form of management will facilitate both the planning of the initiatives and the implementation and evaluation based on evidence. A platform to co-create key indicators in terms of open data could be considered. This can be done in the context of the implementation of the Buenos Aires City Government’s 4th Open Government Action Plan.

It is also suggested to consider it important to increase the impact of the initiatives. This requires an effective governance structure and further institutionalization of the community. It is recommended to build a strategy and encourage the continuity of the construction of a vision agreed upon by the government and the different data users.

In the path of strengthening the open data community, it is also suggested to continue the institutionalization linked to the management of human resources and skills within each civil society organization.