Create Municipal Open Government Officers Network (CLRMS0001)

Commitment ID

CLRMS0001

Commitment Title

Create Municipal Open Government Officers Network

Problem

In the municipal sphere, significant gaps exist among local governments: inequalities in institutional capacities, low knowledge and scarce awareness of open government, an absence of common standards, and the lack of a defined municipal profile regarding transparency, accountability, and citizen participation.

Additionally, citizen demands for transparency and participation have increased, with the population calling for greater transparency and access to information about government activities and decisions. This includes the need for open data standards that allow the information provided to be used and reused, thereby upholding the public's right to know and the obligation of authorities to report on their work. Residents demand more information, clarity, and regularity regarding municipal budgets and their execution, as well as competitive grant funding. Likewise, there is a perception of limited participation in municipal decision-making and management, alongside scarce opportunities for dialogue, accountability, and tracking local leaders' commitments, leaving social organizations with few avenues for participation.

Status quo

Isolation prevails across municipalities, characterized by weak territorial coordination and the absence of a network to share practices, data, and tools that foster transparency and citizen participation in a standardized manner across local governments. Furthermore, institutional heterogeneity poses significant challenges to interoperability, the sustainability of initiatives, and the establishment of a culture of transparency and accountability at the local level. This is compounded by growing civic demand for greater transparency, where citizens request to know how their taxes are being spent and whether authorities have met their goals or promises—thereby fulfilling the public’s right to know and the duty of officials to inform.

Similarly, there are few opportunities for social organizations to participate in municipal management. The limited spaces for participation and information available fall short of meeting the higher level of impact and engagement that organizations seek regarding municipal governance and community development.

Action

Establish a Network of Municipal Open Government Officers coordinated by the Regional Government of Santiago and local OGP member municipalities. This entails building capacity, sharing best practices, raising awareness, and encouraging other municipalities to embrace the open government paradigm, achieving regional-scale governance that sets standardized benchmarks for transparency and citizen participation.

It contributes to embedding an institutional culture of openness, offering sustained technical guidance, strengthening accountability, and scaling the open government paradigm alongside shared standards, ultimately aiming to increase public value and facilitate access to information. This initiative will be carried out with the support of the School of Government at the Universidad de Chile—through a group of students participating in a consultancy simulation course—and with academic support through the provision of tools that ensure public policy creation incorporates citizen participation and highlights civil society as its central pillar.

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

The network will build capacity, foster the sharing of best practices, raise awareness among municipalities, and narrow operational gaps. It will facilitate access to tools and knowledge, streamline multi-level coordination (Regional Government – municipalities), and enable progress toward interoperability, including exploring a shared transparency platform.

Establishing a municipal-level open government seal for members of this governance framework will yield better results in terms of public value, fostering active civic participation in municipal management while reducing friction and gaps in public policy creation. Furthermore, holding the seal of this governance network will reflect legitimacy and serve as a certification mechanism for the municipality's commitments to transparency, accountability, and citizen participation standards—an appealing benchmark for the public, as it is the first network of its kind to be implemented.

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

Establish regional-level open governance.

Primary Policy Area

Civic Space

Primary Sector

Land & Spatial Planning

What OGP value is this commitment relevant to?