Register for the upcoming webinar on ‘How to Apply for the Open Government Awards’
When: Wednesday 30th April 2014; 9AM-10AM EST
The Open Government PartnershipThe Open Government Partnership (OGP) is a multi-stakeholder initiative focused on improving government transparency, ensuring opportunities for citizen participation in public matters, and strengthen... More (OGP) is launching an annual awards program to recognize excellence among participating countries and civil society organizations. The Open Government Awards will celebrate a different theme each year. For this inaugural year in 2014, our theme is “citizen engagement.” This webinar will explain the application process.
Our guiding principle for the 2014 Open Government Awards is that every initiative must demonstrate a real and sustainable shift in the government’s approach to engaging citizens. In other words, while we certainly hope to encourage and reward innovation, this year’s prize is not solely about innovation – it is about results. While one approach to engaging citizens might start with an innovative program run by a non-governmental organization, that program will only have a lasting impact on government-citizen relations, if there are champions within government who work to institutionalize and sustain it. Our aim this year is to recognize those government reformers who are taking risks and finding creative ways to open up the doors of government to citizen input and oversight. We have therefore decided that for this year’s theme, a government agency should be responsible for submitting each application and making a compelling case that their initiative is effectively engaging citizens AND is being institutionalized within government.
The application process includes the following elements to help judges verify that an initiative is viewed as credible and effective:
- Governments are strongly encouraged to consult with civil society when selecting initiatives for consideration. The application specifically asks governments to explain how they sought broader input before identifying an initiative, and this will be considered when scoring each application.
- Governments are strongly encouraged to submit a joint application with one or more civil society partners. The application also requires at least one letter of validation by a civil society organization.
- The panel of judges for the Open Government Awards will include an equal number of government and civil society reviewers, to ensure that both perspectives influence final selections.
Register your details here