Building Awareness and Communication on Open Government (GBGLG0004)

Commitment ID

GBGLG0004

Commitment Title

Building Awareness and Communication on Open Government

Problem

Stakeholder participation is at the forefront of Open Government and this Action Plan has been co-created by government and non-governmental stakeholders. During our Action Plan development and co-creation processes, we have noted challenges to effective stakeholder participation and room for further improvement - this has included: a lack of awareness and knowledge on Open Government within stakeholders and communities; use of new open government language with limited awareness raising materials available; insufficient interest amongst stakeholders with reduced participation opportunities and channels during the COVID-19 pandemic; the pace of development has meant limited opportunities to build capacity within communities; and the ability to communicate the added value and benefits of stakeholder participation for our Community Planning Partners, especially within the Third Sector and communities. This experience has identified the need for and informed our approach to this Open Government commitment.

Status quo

Our Open Government Third Sector and Stakeholder workshop sessions were held with representation from community groups, the third sector, and Local Government - with participation from community groups, Community Councils, voluntary sector organisations, advice charities and Elected Members. Part of the work undertaken at this stage was to raise awareness of the Open Government Partnership and what Glasgow’s involvement means. Glasgow will undertake a final Public Consultation on the Open Government Action Plan in September 2021, providing a further opportunity for engagement and a public conversation on Open Government. This Public Consultation will be essential in developing our communications plan and tools to improve awareness and in how we share progress and results with the public.

We have used digital media channels in developing this Open Government Action Plan including the Open Government webpage hosted on the Glasgow City Council and making information available on Twitter and Facebook – and will now develop an Open Government Communications Plan to ensure we are using all appropriate channels to maximise engagement and participation. This commitment will address a key improvement action within our strategic vision - increasing participation and reach to under-represented and more diverse stakeholders for future engagement and co-creation processes.

Action

The Building Awareness and Communications on Open Government commitment will be an important feature in the continuing collaboration of government and non-government stakeholders - building a strong open government communications plan and raising awareness and capacity on open government across all stakeholders. This commitment will be forward facing and aim to improve public communication and participation for ongoing engagement, Action Plan implementation, and looking forward to our second Open Government Action Plan for Glasgow.

Communication plays a fundamental role in Open Government, promoting greater transparency and participation which in turn leads to better policy making and service delivery. This first Open Government Action Plan for Glasgow will use communication as a lever for open government to achieve: improved awareness of Open Government within stakeholders and communities; increased levels of engagement and participation in our open government co-creation process; expanding and building strong open government networks to ensure we work with more people; use all appropriate channels to maximise engagement and participation, including social media, linked to our Open Digital Engagement Platform commitment; increase participation and reach to under-represented groups and involve more diverse stakeholders for future engagement and co-creation processes; and actively share progress, outcomes and impacts with our communities and citizens.

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

Building awareness and communications on Open Government in the city will involve developing awareness, knowledge and capacity across Glasgow City Council, our Community Planning Partners, and within the Third Sector and Communities. This will allow us to expand our open government community within Glasgow to inform our Action Plan commitments. It will ensure Glasgow develops the co-creation process, increase levels of engagement and participation, and benefit from enhanced and innovative techniques and methodologies.

Our Communications Plan will include performance measures to allow us to track progress towards the expected outcome of increased awareness and participation in open government - it is anticipated this will capture performance measures and ‘softer’ assessment measures including:

• Improved awareness and knowledge on Open Government within public sector stakeholders - number of awareness and continuing professional development sessions delivered;
• Increased number of citizens participating in open government co-creation processes and engaging and interacting with open government networks and platforms;
• Increased discussion and debate between government and non-governmental stakeholders facilitated by digital platforms and increased social media presence;
• Increased representation and participation from under-represented groups and diverse stakeholders; and
• Increased transparency, stakeholder participation, and access to information.

Primary Policy Area

Inclusion

Primary Sector

Cross-sectoral

What OGP value is this commitment relevant to?