Accountability and transparency (ESARG0002)

Commitment ID

ESARG0002

Commitment Title

Accountability and transparency

Problem

While great efforts are being made to progress in terms of transparency, we cannot settle for merely publishing blocks of information and data sets without communicating with the public in the same registers as they use. The contents of the Transparency Portal and the right of access resolutions are not readily comprehensible and sometimes excessive information leads to disinformation. The contents of the Portal must be brought even closer to the public, using clear communication and graphic resources, tutorials, etc. One good example is the VisualGOB real-time accountability tool, where the goals of the Government’s Plan can be reviewed and assessed based on the three-fold progress agenda (Social, Green and Digital), the seventeen SDGs in the United Nations 2030 Agenda and the ten departments in the executive branch, with a highly intuitive design. VisualGOB must be mainstreamed among the public.

Status quo

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Transparency Portal received a monthly average of 30,000 visits and 134,000 page views. Starting in July 2020, when the COVID-19 health and epidemiological data began to be published daily in Aragon, we moved up to around 300,000 monthly visits and nearly a million page views. The challenge is to ensure that the users who now know about the Portal for its COVID data discover that there is a lot more interesting information to consult and to increase the pre-pandemic statistics by 20% after the pandemic has ended. The number of right of access requests has increased steadily since 2015, currently reaching some 500 requests/year. In 2020, 68.28% of the visits where made using a mobile phone, 27.64% on a computer and the remaining 4.08% via a tablet or other devices, reversing the previous proportion. During its first three months in operation, VisualGOB received 14,000 visits.

Action

The aim is to progress in terms of clear communication and easy reading to make the institutional information in general, and the transparency and participation information in particular, more universal and simpler. To this end, all the information published on the Transparency Portal and the responses to access requests must be written in uncomplicated, clear, direct language, while also meeting all legal requirements. A change in communication culture is needed in order to assist the public in understanding, having a sense of security and being engaged in public activity. To implement this, a clear, rigorous methodology must be in place and most of the organisation must be involved.

In this endeavour, the Transparency Portal in general and the accountability tools in particular (VisualGOB and EARSE) are expected to be brought closer to those individuals still unfamiliar with them, and a 20% increase over the pre-pandemic statistics is expected after the pandemic has ended.

How will the commitment contribute to solving the public problem described above?

The Government of Aragon will offer a Transparency Portal that has been renewed through a process of profound revision of its contents. Information usability will be enhanced for those devices currently most widely used, and infographics, videos, pictograms, etc. will be added in order to display the information in a more visual, summarised manner. Browsability will be simplified to make the search paths more accessible, paying special attention to people with functional diversity. Public employees will undergo cross-disciplinary training in clear communication and in preparing resources, forms and materials that meet the criteria of clear, accessible language. The VisualGOB and EARSE tools will be updated regularly in real time, thus allowing citizens to stay up to date at all times as regards how well the Government of Aragon is meeting its goals and commitments.

What long-term goal as identified in your Open Government Strategy does this commitment relate to?

Transparency and the Right to Know: The right to ask the Government, to access and use data, to receive a response, to understand the Government Plan and to check it.

Primary Policy Area

Open Data, Right to Information

Primary Sector

Cross-sectoral, Public Services (general)

What OGP value is this commitment relevant to?