Fostering Open Government in States and Municipalities (BR0095)
Overview
At-a-Glance
Action Plan: Brazil National Action Plan 2016-2018
Action Plan Cycle: 2016
Status:
Institutions
Lead Institution: Ministry of Transparency, Oversight and Comptroller General of Brazil
Support Institution(s): Ministry of Transparency, Oversight and Comptroller General of Brazil Ministry of Planning, Development and Management Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovation and Communication Government Secretariat Interlegis Program Public Prosecutor's Office State Government of Mato Grosso Government of Federal District City hall of São Paulo, Control and Inspection Institute Social Observatoryof Brasília Transparency International Network for Transparency and Social Participation Brazilian Social Network for Fair and Sustainable Cities
Policy Areas
Capacity Building, Local Commitments, Public ParticipationIRM Review
IRM Report: Brazil End-of-Term Report 2016-2018, Brazil Mid-Term Report 2016-2018
Early Results: Marginal
Design i
Verifiable: Yes
Relevant to OGP Values: Yes
Ambition (see definition): Low
Implementation i
Description
Lead government institution Ministry of Transparency, Oversight and Comptroller General of Brazil Civil servant in charge for implementing at lead government institution Adenísio Álvaro Oliveira de Souza Position - Department General Coordinator/Federative Cooperation and Social Control Coordination E-mail adenisio.souza@cgu.gov.br Telephone 55 61 2020 6516 Other involved actors Government Ministry of Transparency, Oversight and Comptroller General of Brazil Ministry of Planning, Development and Management Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovation and Communication Government Secretariat Interlegis Program Public Prosecutor's Office State Government of Mato Grosso Government of Federal District City hall of São Paulo Civil society, private sector, group of workers and multilateral actors Control and Inspection Institute Social Observatoryof Brasília Transparency International Network for Transparency and Social Participation Brazilian Social Network for Fair and Sustainable Cities Status quo or problem/issue to be addressed The need of expanding open government tools usage, with emphasis on strategic actors in the states and municipalities by NGOs Main objective To expand the knowledge of strategic actors from subnational governmental bodies and civil society organizations on open government tools. Commitment short description Disseminate good practices related to open government already implemented in states and municipalities, and stimulate a collaborative development of tools for strengthening social participation OGP Challenge addressed by the Commitment Increase of Public Integrity Establishment of more secure communities Increase of corporative accountability Commitment relevance Relevant for fostering open government policies on subnational levels Goal Existing open government policies in sub-national governments Tangible open government policies on sub-national levels
IRM Midterm Status Summary
12. Fostering Open Government in States and Municipalities
Commitment Text:
Implement open government fostering actions, with the engagement of civil society, considering the ongoing experiences in states and municipalities
The main objective of this commitment is to expand the knowledge of strategic actors from sub-national governmental bodies and civil society organizations on open government tools. Based on this perspective, the action set intends to disseminate good practices related to open government already implemented in states and municipalities, and stimulate a collaborative development of tools for strengthening social participation.
12.1 – Open government policies and experiences inventory taking, governmental and non-governmental, with more participation from the civil society
12.2 – Establishment of a set of actions and tools, which contemplates every open government directive, with participation of the civil society
12.3 – Project experiment implementation with the participation of the civil society
12.4 – Formal adjustments of actions and tools, with civil society participation
12.5 – Event to be organized by the government and the civil society, for presenting best practices and tools to managers, and for complying actions, via commitment term
12.6 – Program implementation partial results
12.7 – Open government tools use analysis
Responsible institution: Ministry of Transparency, Oversight and Comptroller General of Brazil
Supporting institutions: Ministry of Planning, Development and Management, Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovation and Communication, Government Secretariat, Interlegis Program, Public Prosecutor's Office, State Government of Mato Grosso, Government of Federal District, City hall of São Paulo, Control and Inspection Institute, Social Observatory of Brasília, Transparency International, Network for Transparency and Social Participation, Brazilian Social Network for Fair and Sustainable Cities
Start date: December 2016.. End date: November 2018
Context and Objectives
Open government has advanced further at the federal level than it has at the state and municipal levels. Thus, the goal of this commitment is to expand the knowledge of open government tools among strategic actors from subnational governmental bodies and civil society organizations. To achieve this, the government expects to disseminate to states and municipalities the good practices related to federal-level open government initiatives. In addition, the government proposes piloting a project with the participation of civil society, organizing a thematic event, and implementing a program to support subnational initiatives.
In Brazil, open government standards are generally worse in cities and states, compared to the federal level. This is evidenced by indexes of government transparency portals[1] and by civil society municipal indexes of transparency and civic participation.[2] The lowest levels of open government, according to the civil society indicator Transparent City, occur in the northern region of Brazil. Capital cities have a medium average score. Further, there are some standards, such as the announcement of public consultation and public hearing meetings, that no city delivered.[3]
The commitment has a medium level of specificity. While the commitment lists several key deliverables, there are few details about the expected characteristics of these products. For example, the nature of the pilot project and event organized in partnership with civil society remain unclear.
The commitment is relevant to access to information and civic participation, through the use of technology and innovation. The commitment could potentially address all OGP values if subnational actors used the new tools to adopt specific open government reforms. However, the explicit activities listed above focus only on publishing best practices (access to information) and engaging citizens (civic participation).
The commitment has a minor potential impact. Open government reforms at the subnational level could be particularly impactful given the status quo described above. The activities proposed in this commitment constitute a preliminary step forward. Collecting and promoting best practices are not major improvements on their own. However, these activities could indirectly lead to a greater future impact if the new tools are used by government and civil society to undertake transformative reforms.
Completion
The commitment has seen limited completion.
Milestones 12.1 and 12.2 have been completed. The government inventoried open government policies (milestone 12.1) using an online survey that was live for 30 days. The government then grouped the responses. A working group with members from civil society and government deliberated the responses. Stakeholders included the Ministry of Transparency, Oversight, and Comptroller-General; the São Paulo mayor’s office; and Observatório Social do Brasiland Agenda Pública. That deliberation resulted in a list of 21 mapped initiatives. The list had not been published at the time of writing, but it was sent to the IRM researcher for verification, along with details on civil society’s participation in the process. A prioritization list provided by milestone 12.1 informed the establishment of a set of actions and tools for use (milestone 12.2). The IRM was sent emails that confirm the creation of a list. The government drafted the list in collaboration with civil society representatives through a process in which decisions were reached by the consensus of those participating in the working group. The documentation was sent to the IRM researcher.
The implementation of a pilot project with the participation of the civil society (milestone 12.3) had begun at the time of writing. The project will most likely occur in November 2017 in two cities of the State of Pernambuco. The state prosecutor’s office, civil society, and academics will participate. Information emailed to the IRM researcher confirmed this.
Milestones 12.4-12.7 had not been initiated. The action plan set a date of October 2017 for the completion of milestones 12.1 and 12.2. Thus, the commitment is on schedule.
Early Results (if any)
The commitment aims to expand open government at the subnational level, strengthen social participation, and expand public knowledge through open government tools. All of these objectives align with the expected new tool kit. Nonetheless, due to the limited completion at the time of writing, there are no early results to report.
Next Steps
The commitment needs to be fully implemented. Subsequently, it will be important to focus more on program implementation and to be more specific about public problems addressed at the end of implementation. The government should also evaluate and leverage the process and early results of São Paulo’s participation in OGP’s Local Program. The IRM researcher further recommends improving the public documentation of the tools mapped. The government should also use more structured methods to collect open government tools and experiences from subnational governments, including using academics in the field.
[1] Home page, Ministry of Transparency and Comptroller General of the Union, http://www.cgu.gov.br/assuntos/transparencia-publica/escala-brasil-transparente.
[2] Home page, Transparent City, http://www.cidadetransparente.org.br/Default.aspx.
[3] 'Most Capitals Go Poorly on Transparency Assessment,' Article 19, 25 September 2015, http://artigo19.org/blog/2015/09/25/maioria-das-capitais-vai-mal-em-avaliacao-de-transparencia/.
IRM End of Term Status Summary
12. Fostering Open Government in States and Municipalities
Commitment Text:
Implement open government fostering actions, with the engagement of civil society, considering the ongoing experiences in states and municipalities.
The main objective of this commitment is to expand the knowledge of strategic actors from sub-national governmental bodies and civil society organizations on open government tools. Based on this perspective, the action set intends to disseminate good practices related to open government already implemented in states and municipalities, and stimulate a collaborative development of tools for strengthening social participation.
More specifically, the commitment was set out to achieve the following milestones:
12.1 – Open government policies and experiences inventory taking, governmental and non-governmental, with more participation from the civil society
12.2 – Establishment of a set of actions and tools, which contemplates every open government directive, with participation of the civil society
12.3 – Project experiment implementation with the participation of the civil society
12.4 – Formal adjustments of actions and tools, with civil society participation
12.5 – Event to be organized by the government and the civil society, for presenting best practices and tools to managers, and for complying actions, via commitment term
12.6 – Program implementation partial results
12.7 – Open government tools use analysis
Responsible institution: Ministry of Transparency, Oversight and Comptroller General of Brazil
Supporting institutions: Ministry of Planning, Development and Management, Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovation and Communication, Government Secretariat, Interlegis Program, Public Prosecutor's Office, State Government of Mato Grosso, Government of Federal District, City hall of São Paulo, Control and Inspection Institute, Social Observatory of Brasília, Transparency International, Network for Transparency and Social Participation, Brazilian Social Network for Fair and Sustainable Cities
Start Date: December 2016... End Date: November 2018
Commitment Aim:
Open government at the federal level has advanced independently from the state and municipal levels. Thus, this commitment aimed to share open government best practices from the federal government with state and local governments, as well as civil society organizations. To achieve that, a toolkit was to be developed and tested in a few subnational administrations. Once the toolkit was improved from previous experience, it would be promoted for broader adoption.
Status
Midterm: Limited
The commitment saw limited completion and was on schedule. Milestones 12.1 and 12.2 had been completed. They involved an inventory of open government policies (12.1) and the establishment of a set of actions and tools (12.2). The government initiated Milestone 12.3 (implementation of a pilot project) but did not implement it. Milestones 12.4–12.7 had not been initiated.
End of term: Substantial
Milestones 12.1–12.4 were completed, while the government considered Milestones 12.5–12.7 not necessary. Therefore, the commitment is considered to be substantially completed.
The implementation of a pilot project with the participation of civil society (Milestone 12.3) was completed. The chosen city was Afogados da Ingazeira (37,000 inhabitants), in the state of Pernambuco, [82] and the work started in November 2017. The program focused on a seminar and promotion of open government tools.
Milestone 12.4 has also been completed. It involved formal adjustments of actions and tools for legislative open government initiatives, with civil society participation. Based on the review of the pilot, the government created the program Pact for Transparency, Integrity, and Civic Participation. The effort includes a four-year program to review transparency tools (e.g., the city transparency portal) and establish corporate responsibility (e.g., increase of contract requirements to allocate public resources to private sector suppliers). To join, municipalities sign a term with the Ministry of Transparency, Oversight, and Comptroller-General. The IRM researcher found evidence that cities had started to do so in mid-2018. [83] As Larissa do Espírito Santo Andrade (from the Ministry of Transparency, Oversight, and Comptroller-General) commented, the government started to prepare the program in October 2017, before the start of the action plan. Santo noted that during implementation, the main improvement concerned learning how to overcome shortcomings related to this and other pilots previously implemented.
The government did not complete Milestones 12.5–12.7 and removed them from the action plan. However, considering that this update was not submitted to OGP, the IRM researcher had to evaluate them as part of the commitment. The government also decided to include the Pact program as part of the commitment. Considering that this change was also not submitted to OGP, the IRM researcher could not evaluate it. However, the IRM researcher did consider the Pact as evidence of the completion of Milestone 12.4.
Did It Open Government?
Access to Information: Did Not Change
Civic Participation: Marginal
The status quo previous to the commitment involved a lack of knowledge of open government tools among strategic actors from subnational governmental bodies and civil society organizations. The implementation of this commitment constitutes a first step, although limited, toward disseminating knowledge and good practices at a subnational level. The pilot results, for example, are limited—as stated by Larissa do Espírito Santo Andrade (from the Ministry of Transparency, Oversight, and Comptroller-General)—despite improvements in the policy service planning and delivery at the city level during the pilot.
The event in Afogados da Ingazeira led to positive results, including the creation of the Pact for Transparency, Integrity, and Civic Participation program. Local governments had started to sign the pact by mid-2018. However, the event was circumscribed to only one specific local government with a small population size and has yet to be widely carried out. It should be noted that the Pact program included civil society feedback for content development as part of Milestones 12.1 and 12.2, and learnings from Milestones 12.3 and 12.4. Given that the Pact improved access to information tools (i.e., the Electronic System of information Services to the Citizen) and civic participation guidelines, the commitment could eventually improve the open government culture.
Carried Forward?
The government did not include this commitment in the fourth national action plan. However, a commitment in the next action plan that seeks to strengthen access to information practices at the state and municipal levels is indirectly linked to the main theme of this commitment.
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