“SOLUSIMU” nominated for Open Government Awards 2014

SOLUSIMU.jpg

Image caption: The consultation meeting for nomination process

Innovation is a paramount aspect to improve the quality of policy and public services. Government is not the only one who is responsible to spark the innovation, yet citizens are welcomed to contribute by giving their feedback and new ideas to the government institution.

With regards to this issue, in October 2013, the Open Government Partnership (OGP) Summit in London announced a competition called Open Government Awards. The competition highlights “Citizen Engagement” as the main theme to compile sustainable initiatives and encourages transparencyAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, transparency occurs when “government-held information (including on activities and decisions) is open, comprehensive, timely, freely available to the pub... More by increasing public involvement. Every member of OGP is allowed to submit one initiative.

This competition requires Civil Society Organization (CSO) involvement in the process of selecting and validating the initiative. The selection of Open Government Awards will be decided by the jury consisting of 23 experts coming from government element and CSOs. Two members of the jury from Indonesia are Alexander Irwan (Ford Foundation) and Tri Mumpuni (IBEKA). The first, second, and third winners will receive gold, silver, and bronze award consecutively. In addition, all of the finalists will be invited to attend the awards ceremony in New York, United States on September 2014.

In order to get the best result, Indonesia under Open Government Indonesia, held a consultation with CSOs to determine the nomination process and independent selection team. At the early of the consultation, there are 3 initiatives finalists: Matamassa.org, “Solusimu, Ayo Berinovasi!” (SOLUSIMU), and a movie “Kita versus Korupsi”. However, the selection team that consists of five people coming from government, CSO, youthRecognizing that investing in youth means investing in a better future, OGP participating governments are creating meaningful opportunities for youth to participate in government processes. Technical ... More, donor, and academician finally nominated SOLUSIMU based on the majority of the votes.

SOLUSIMU (meaning “Your Solution”) is a program from President’s Delivery Unit for Development Monitoring and Oversight, dedicated to challenge society in solving their problems and contribute solution for development. There are two categories in the competition: initiative solutions and infographic design.

For the next step, Open Government Indonesia team will cooperate with CSOs to compile detailed application, including video of the winner SOLUSIMU that will be uploaded on the website opengovawards.org before June 27th, 2014.