What Does Open Government Look Like on the Ground?

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OGP was founded on the premise that ‘good ideas come from everywhere.’ Eight months into my role at the OGP Support UnitThe OGP Support Unit is a small, permanent group of staff that work closely with the Steering Committee and the Independent Reporting Mechanism to advance the goals of the Open Government Partnership...., I’m completely convinced of the truth of this statement.  However, I also recognize that it’s not easy to identify, capture and disseminate these ideas to a diverse global audience.  

To help generate useful content for the website AND identify great examples to feature at the upcoming OGP Summit, we have been working behind the scenes to document stories of early resultsEarly results refer to concrete changes in government practice related to transparency, citizen participation, and/or public accountability as a result of a commitment’s implementation. OGP’s Inde... More.

We used a few approaches to collect these stories. First, through the Bright Spots competition, we identified examples of individual reformers who are getting traction on open government reforms in their countries. Second, we commissioned a researcher to document ten case studies of how government and civil society are working together to implement particular OGP commitments.  We are excited to be releasing these 10 country case studies this week. Third, we asked all participating governmentsOGP participating countries and locals – often referred to as OGP members – are committed to working with civil society to strengthen their adherence to open government values. To join OGP as a pa... to report back to us on one particular commitmentOGP commitments are promises for reform co-created by governments and civil society and submitted as part of an action plan. Commitments typically include a description of the problem, concrete action... from their first OGP action planAction plans are at the core of a government’s participation in OGP. They are the product of a co-creation process in which government and civil society jointly develop commitments to open governmen... that they believe is worthy of showcasing to their peers. These self-reported ‘inspiring stories’ address questions such as: what problem does the commitment address, and why this is important? how have citizens benefited from the reform? what is working, and what did not go as planned? 

What emerged from these three parallel efforts is a kaleidoscope of lessons to take home. We learned of champions within government whose persistent efforts led to breakthroughs in transparent governance.  NASA publicly released datasets and hosted the world’s largest hackathon, which unleashed innovation around the world to address global space challenges.  Brazil passed progressive legislationCreating and passing legislation is one of the most effective ways of ensuring open government reforms have long-lasting effects on government practices. Technical specifications: Act of creating or r... on access to information and corporate accountability. The Philippines found ways to incentivize and reward local governments for improving their own 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. Governments in Indonesia, Chile, Greece, Albania, Montenegro and Israel set up small teams of tech-savvy, creative individuals to set up e-Government and service delivery portals that bring government closer to citizens. 

Civil society advocates are also winning incremental, but important, victories. In Croatia, civil society organizations are pushing to set up a database of election campaign finances, while in Tanzania, civil society worked with government to deliver the first-ever Citizens’ Budget Handbook. In Mexico, advocacy groups are tackling thorny political issues like acquiring data on public educationAccountability within the public education system is key to improving outcomes and attainment, and accountability is nearly impossible without transparent policies and opportunities for participation ... and presenting it to citizens in a way they can use and understand. The stories remind us that the open government agenda is a test of patience and persistence for civil society reformers, but there is real potential for progress.

The road to open government is certainly not without hitches, however. Although we have seen high-level political commitment to OGP in Moldova, Israel and Tanzania for example, the question being asked now is whether the rest of government shares that commitment. In other countries, civil society questions whether their governments at the highest level are genuinely committed to OGP principles; as always, actions speak louder than words.
 
We do hope the OGP bright spots, country case studies, and self-reported inspiring stories will begin to answer the question everyone seems to be asking:  What does open government look like on the ground, and how is it benefitting citizens?  Of course, we need to find more interesting and accessible ways to present this content.  With that in mind, stay tuned for a new series of video interviews with open government reformers that we hope to launch after the Summit.  

That said, we fully recognize that these initial efforts are only the tip of the iceberg, and we hope to work with many of you to do a much better job documenting results — both successes and failures! — in the years to come.  Please send us your ideas and suggestions for how to do this better, and please do consider submitting your own case studies or other resources via the “Submit a Resource” function on the new OGP website.