End of Commitment Report – Building Awareness and Communication on Open Government

Name of Evaluator

Alan Speirs

Email

Alan.Speirs@glasgow.gov.uk

Member Name

Glasgow, United Kingdom

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... Title

Action plan – Glasgow, United Kingdom, 2021 – 2023

Commitment

Building Awareness and Communication on Open Government

Action

The Building Awareness and Communications on Open Government commitment will be an important feature in the continuing collaboration of government and non-government stakeholders – building a strong open government communications plan and raising awareness and capacity on open government across all stakeholders. This commitment will be forward facing and aim to improve public communication and participation for ongoing engagement, Action Plan implementation, and looking forward to our second Open Government Action Plan for Glasgow. Communication plays a fundamental role in Open Government, promoting greater 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 and participation which in turn leads to better policy making and service delivery. This first Open Government Action Plan for Glasgow will use communication as a lever for open government to achieve: improved awareness of Open Government within stakeholders and communities; increased levels of engagement and participation in our open government co-creation processCollaboration between government, civil society and other stakeholders (e.g., citizens, academics, private sector) is at the heart of the OGP process. Participating governments must ensure that a dive...; expanding and building strong open government networks to ensure we work with more people; use all appropriate channels to maximise engagement and participation, including social media, linked to our Open Digital Engagement Platform commitment; increase participation and reach to under-represented groups and involve more diverse stakeholders for future engagement and co-creation processes; and actively share progress, outcomes and impacts with our communities and citizens.

Problem

Stakeholder participation is at the forefront of Open Government and this Action Plan has been co-created by government and non-governmental stakeholders. During our Action Plan development and co-creation processes, we have noted challenges to effective stakeholder participation and room for further improvement – this has included: a lack of awareness and knowledge on Open Government within stakeholders and communities; use of new open government language with limited awareness raising materials available; insufficient interest amongst stakeholders with reduced participation opportunities and channels during the COVID-19 pandemic; the pace of development has meant limited opportunities to build capacity within communities; and the ability to communicate the added value and benefits of stakeholder participation for our Community Planning Partners, especially within the Third Sector and communities. This experience has identified the need for and informed our approach to this Open Government commitment.

1.1 What was the overall level of progress in the commitment implementation at the time of this assessment?

Limited

Provide a brief explanation of your answer:

Progress on this commitment has seen a number of communication routes established – in particular a website presence – however, the challenge has been to populate and increase the reach of the progress being made by Glasgow on all other commitment areas.

Work has also been undertaken to coordinate individual commitment progress and tie it into the general communications which are taking place. This will continue as we develop this work.

1.2 Describe the main external or internal factors that impacted implementation of this commitment and how they were addressed (or not).

Commitment 4, despite being a separate action, relies on the progress and visibility of the other commitments that Glasgow is taking forward.

The relationship between Commitment 4 and the others requires to be better developed and more integrated within the programme. To this end, we have sought specific assistance from our Corporate Communications which seeks to address this issue and better join up and highlight the work being progressed.

1.3 Was the commitment implemented as originally planned?

Few of the commitment milestones were implemented as planned.

Provide a brief explanation of your answer:

Elements of the commitment have been realised; development of a web presence, sharing development milestones, increase in knowledge with respect to what 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 aims are.

On other aspects, we have been unable to fully realise our aspirations. Commitment 4 has not been fully integrated into the process with which Glasgow takes forward its OGP Plan and, as a consequence, has not completely realised the original implementation goals. Given this, we would intend to continue working towards better implementing this goal of increasing Open Government awareness.

2.1.1. – Did the government disclose more information; improve the quality of the information (new or existing); improve the value of the information; improve the channels to disclose or request information or improve accessibility to information?

Yes

Degree of result:

Marginal

Explanation: In narrative form, what has been the impact on people or practice.

Knowledge of Open Government and Glasgow’s involvement in it has improved as a consequence of this commitment being progressed. We now have more information on our website that explains and describes Glasgow’s Open Government development.

As increased knowledge of what Open Government seeks to achieve and the progress Glasgow has made in implementing its Plan. Glasgow has also realised the value, and need, to provide clearer links on the work being undertaken and its association to Open Government. This is important if we are to further Open Government aims.

2.1.2. – Did the government create new opportunities to seek feedback from citizens/enable participation inform or influence decisions; improve existing channels or spaces to seek feedback from citizens/enable participation/ inform or influence decisions; create or improve capabilities in the government or the public aimed to improve how the government seeks feedback from citizens/enables participation/ or allows for the public to inform or influence decisions?

Yes

Degree of result:

Marginal

Explanation: In narrative form, what has been the impact on people or practice.

Glasgow has sought to improve its communication of what the OGP represents and how we are looking and working to progress the principles. This has given us the opportunity to better involve stakeholders in the work we are taking forward on behalf of our Action Plan.

Through the work of the Centre for Civic Innovation, a vehicle for better consultation and improved working with communities, we have realised an improved process for improving feedback from citizens in a way which better facilitates decision making.

2.1.3 Did the government create or improve channels, opportunities or capabilities to hold officials answerable to their actions?

Yes

Degree of result:

Marginal

Explanation: In narrative form, what has been the impact on people or practice.

Yes, Elected Members, partners, and internal stakeholders have been given the opportunity to know more about what we are doing to progress our Action Plan. This work is at a developing stage which should become more established as the programme progresses.

2.1.4 Other Results

Not Applicable

2.2 Did the commitment address the public policy problem that it intended to address as described in the action plan?

Yes

Provide a brief explanation of your answer:

Yes, however, it is in a limited way. To increase the impact, we require to better integrate the Commitment into the other work being progressed as part of our OGP Action Plan

3. Provide at least one lesson or reflection relating to the implementation of this commitment. It can be the identification of key barriers to implementation, an unexpected help/hindrance, recommendations for future commitments, or if the commitment should be taken forward to the next action plan.

That knowledge of the Open Government Partnership, its ambitions and what it seeks to promote are part of whatever commitments are made by participants. As such the commitment to ‘Increase Open Government awareness and progress through use of social media, websites and direct communication with citizens’ requires to form an element of all our aspirations, over and above the explicit work to promote it exclusively.