The OGP Local Circle on Digital Governance is a vibrant working group uniting passionate reformers from local governments, civil society, academia, and organizations. Together, we strive to advance digital transformation by embracing open government principles. With digital technologies reshaping how policies are designed, services are delivered, and citizens engaged, local governments have an essential opportunity to connect with communities and make a real difference in daily lives.
As we embrace technologies such as artificial intelligence, automated decision-making, and data-driven systems, we unlock opportunities to boost administrative efficiency, improve decision-making, and enhance public service delivery. Yet these innovations also pose significant technical and ethical challenges, including infrastructure, cybersecurity, privacy, bias, transparency, and accountability.
Join this Circle to engage in dialogue and peer exchange on how emerging technologies enhance transparency, accountability, and citizen participation. Together, we champion digital transformation guided by democratic values and human rights principles.
SESSIONS
Open Government in the Age of AI: What’s Next?
AI and Participatory Democracy:Challenges and Opportunities
Coordination
Government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires (Argentina)
Contact: Contact: Tamara Laznik, [email protected]
Government of Bogotá (Colombia)
Contact: Alejandra Rodas Gaiter, [email protected]
July 2026
About
This session explored how artificial intelligence is changing the ways governments engage with citizens. Representatives from local governments and academia discussed how AI can support citizen participation by helping governments process public input, improve access to information, and create more opportunities for engagement, as long as its use is transparent, accountable, and guided by human oversight. Speakers shared research, policy approaches, and practical examples, highlighting that inclusive participation depends on investing in digital literacy, building institutional capacity, and developing governance frameworks that protect rights and keep citizens at the center of decision-making.
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- Artificial intelligence can enhance public participation by supporting analysis and engagement, but human judgment and accountability must remain central to decision-making.
- AI can help governments process and analyze large volumes of citizen input, making participatory processes more efficient and actionable.
- Digital participation should complement in-person engagement to ensure that participation remains inclusive and accessible for all.
- Building digital and AI literacy is essential for citizens and public officials to engage confidently, critically, and responsibly with these technologies.
- Transparency, explainability, and human oversight are critical for maintaining public trust when AI is used in public decision-making.
- Governments require institutional capacity, governance frameworks, and clear principles to adopt AI responsibly and ethically.
- Citizens should play an active role in both AI-enabled participation processes and in shaping how AI is governed and used in the public sector.
- Rocío Annunziata (Specialist AI Regulation – CONICET / UBA / UNSAM)
- Juan David Gutiérrez (Specialist in Algorithmic Transparency, Andes University, Bogotà)
- Ruby Rubio Loaiza (Laboratorio de Ciudad, Colombia)
- Juan Esteban Uribe (Bogotá D.C.)
- Daniel Culotta (City of Austin, Texas)
May 2026
About
Hosted by Buenos Aires and Bogotá during Open Government Week, this dynamic session delved into how AI is transforming public administration, inviting participants to consider how open government principles can inspire responsible innovation. Practitioners from Greece, Bogotá, and OGP brought compelling stories of digital transformation and ethical governance, sparking a lively debate on AI’s opportunities and challenges in the public sector. Core principles—transparency, accountability, participation, and collaboration—stood out as keys to strengthening democracy and delivering better public services.
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Local governments highlighted AI’s potential to strengthen public administration through more transparent, accountable, and citizen-centered governance.
Speakers underscored the critical role of local governments in addressing AI’s social and democratic impacts, while emphasizing the importance of ethical governance, regulation, and cross-sector collaboration to ensure an inclusive, rights-based digital transformation.
Bogotá: AI tools to improve communication with citizens
- These tools are used to manage petitions, complaints, and requests via digital platforms. This increased responsiveness and administrative efficiency.
- AI and open data platforms should be used now to strengthen social oversight, improve data quality over time, and accelerate the pace of more transparent and responsive public administration.
Athens: AI and interoperable digital systems to deliver municipal services
- These services, including automated transcription tools, tailored information services, and more efficient public administration processes, are designed to increase accessibility and citizen participation.
- Described a future vision in which municipalities increasingly rely on interoperable digital systems, AI assistants, and open data repositories, designed to improve accessibility, citizen participation, and more personalized public services, while maintaining safeguards around privacy and human oversight.
OGP: AI should not only be viewed as a technical innovation agenda
- But also as a democratic governance challenge that requires transparency, participation, accountability, and public oversight from the beginning of policy design.
- The future of open government will increasingly depend on how governments govern emerging technologies.
- Alejandra Roda and Juan Esteban Uribe, City of Bogotá (Colombia)
- Panagiotis Paris Charlaftis, Central Union of Municipalities of Greece (Greece)
- Sarah Kennedy, open government and digital governance specialist (OGP)
- Moderation by Jose Grippo, City of Buenos Aires