Finland Implementation Report 2017-2019

Finland improved implementation of commitments in the 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.... Notable achievements include improving the accessibility of state procurement data and the development of open government principles for public sector reform, which could be replicated in other sectors. The 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... on expanding the access to information principle to cover public services produced by corporate entities was not completed, as its implementation required legislative changes.

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. Finland joined OGP in 2013. Since, Finland has implemented three action plans. This report evaluates the implementation of Finland’s third action plan.

General overview of action plan

Finland completed five out of seven commitments in its third action plan. While this marks a major improvement compared to previous action plans, many activities in the third plan lacked specific and measurable indicators to accurately assess their impact on opening government. The Finnish government engaged civil society organizations (CSOs) in the implementation process to a limited degree but could increase the role of government-civil society partnerships in the implementation of subsequent action plans.

During the third action plan, Finland significantly improved the accessibility of public procurementTransparency in the procurement process can help combat corruption and waste that plagues a significant portion of public procurement budgets globally. Technical specifications: Commitments that aim t... More data by creating a low-threshold online service that facilitates easier access to it. Finland also developed and applied open government principles in the context of a major public sector reform.

Table 2. Noteworthy commitments

Five Key IRM Recommendations

The IRM key recommendations are prepared in the IRM Design Report. They aim to inform the development of the next action plan and guide implementation of the current action plan. In Finland’s 2017-2019 Design Report, the IRM recommended the following: