End of Commitment Report – Accountability and transparency

Name of Evaluator

Asociación GIGAPP

Email

info2@gigapp.org

Member Name

Aragón, España

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 – Aragón, Spain, 2021 – 2023

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...

Accountability and 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

Action

The aim is to progress in terms of clear communication and easy reading to make the institutional information in general, and the transparency and participation information in particular, more universal and simpler. To this end, all the information published on the Transparency Portal and the responses to access requests must be written in uncomplicated, clear, direct language, while also meeting all legal requirements. A change in communication culture is needed to assist the public in understanding, having a sense of security, and being engaged in public activity. To implement this, a clear, rigorous methodology must be in place and most of the organization must be involved. In this endeavor, the Transparency Portal in general and the accountability tools in particular (VisualGOB and EARSE) are expected to be brought closer to those individuals still unfamiliar with them, and a 20% increase over the pre-pandemic statistics is expected after the pandemic has ended.

Problem

While great efforts are being made to progress in terms of transparency, we cannot settle for merely publishing blocks of information and data sets without communicating with the public in the same registers as they use. The contents of the Transparency Portal and the right of access resolutions are not readily comprehensible and sometimes excessive information leads to disinformation. The contents of the Portal must be brought even closer to the public, using clear communication and graphic resources, tutorials, etc. One good example is the VisualGOB real-time accountability tool, where the goals of the Government’s Plan can be reviewed and assessed based on the three-fold progress agenda (Social, Green, and Digital), the seventeen SDGs in the United Nations 2030 Agenda and the ten departments in the executive branch, with a highly intuitive design. VisualGOB must be mainstreamed among the public.

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:

According to the first Action Plan, the goal of this commitment was to offer a renewed Transparency Portal, improving its usability and navigability, providing cross-cutting training in clear communication directed at public officials, advancing a clear communication strategy in the development of resources, forms, and materials that adhere to the criteria of clear and accessible language, as well as maintaining and making available tools for accountability so that citizens are informed of the compliance indices of the Government Plan of Aragon.

Except for the initiatives of VisualGOB and clear communication actions that had significant progress, and consolidated greater government openness, and with 5 out of 10 milestones completed or making substantial progress, the overall assessment of this commitment across its four initiatives and milestones reveals a level of limited compliance and marginal government openness.

Provide evidence that supports and justifies your answer:

• Implementation Assessment – OGP Aragon 2021-2023

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

Regarding the improvements to the transparency portal, the actions not carried out or with limited progress were affected by two factors. On one hand, there was a strategic rethinking of the initiatives, mainly focused on prioritizing public transparency related to the COVID-19 emergency. On the other hand, budgetary and personnel limitations did not favor the implementation of this agenda of improvements and required concentrating efforts on the mentioned prioritization.

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:

Except for the initiatives of VisualGOB and clear communication actions that had significant progress, and consolidated greater government openness, and with 5 out of 10 milestones completed or making substantial progress, the overall assessment of this commitment across its four initiatives and milestones reveals a level of limited compliance and marginal government openness.

In global terms, and due to reasons associated with a strategic shift in priorities within the COVID-19 context, of the three included commitment-strategic lines, this is the one that had the least progress during the validity period of this Action Plan.

Despite this, we highlight some very relevant advances and results associated with the transparency portal (in response to the COVID-19 crisis) and VisualGOB as a tool for extended transparency and accountability.

Provide evidence for your answer:

• Implementation Assessment – OGP Aragon 2021-2023

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:

Outstanding

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

The most significant progress in terms of extended transparency towards accountability was provided by the VisualGOB project.

Provide evidence for your answer:

• VisualGob Initiative Assessment

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?

Not Applicable

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

This commitment did not include actions related to citizen participationAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, citizen participation occurs when “governments seek to mobilize citizens to engage in public debate, provide input, and make contributions that lead to m... More.

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

Yes

Degree of result:
Major

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

The most significant progress in the area of expanded transparency towards accountability was provided by the VisualGOB project.

Provide evidence for your answer:

• VisualGob Initiative – Assessment

2.1.4 Other Results

Yes

Degree of result:

Major

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

Progress in the initiative for the Training of Public Officials in Clear Language and Communication is underscored.

The strategy of the Government of Aragon, driven by the Aragon Digital Services (SDA) and supported by the LAAAB, has been in this direction, offering not only training actions with the support of the Aragon Institute of Public Administration but also providing evidence of the implementation of a cross-cutting strategy for the design, review, and improvement of public services and procedures managed by this autonomous community. This includes incorporating a clear language perspective in key parts of the process of reviewing, designing, and deploying projects and the more than 1500 services that are managed. This effort earned Aragon Digital Services (SDA) the National Innovation and Design Award (special mention in design professionals) 2022, which is awarded as the most important recognition in Spain in the fields of innovation and design. The award was given for “…incorporating strategic and service design impeccably and effectively as a fundamental element for the transformation, modernization, and innovation of public administrations (…) SDA has been able to conceive (…) a new paradigm on which to base people’s relationships with public institutions, thanks to a committed team determined to place citizens at the center of public policies and optimize the possibilities of design as a tool for improving procedures and digital environments.”

Provide evidence for your answer:

• Training of Public Officials in Clear Language – Assessment

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

No

Provide a brief explanation of your answer:

Today, the redefinition of a new transparency and accountability agenda remains pending. The goal is to maintain ambitionAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, OGP commitments should “stretch government practice beyond its current baseline with respect to key areas of open government.” Ambition captures the po..., utilize technologies and approaches that have proven effective, and enhance success. Furthermore, there is an intention to broaden the focus, establish a better connection to the value of public accountabilityAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, public accountability occurs when ”rules, regulations, and mechanisms in place call upon government actors to justify their actions, act upon criticisms ... More, and incorporate structural improvements to the transparency portal by integrating it with other spaces within the established website ecosystem of the Government of Aragón, towards full navigability. This includes improvements based on an accurate and updated diagnosis of needs and opportunities to expand current standards of public transparency, from a citizen perspective. This will be achieved through the application of technological advances and web resources, including one developed in-house (PLGO), which holds great potential as a mechanism associated with accountability.

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.

The grouping of projects and initiatives within this commitment and its assessed level of fulfillment for this action plan encourage us to reflect on what lessons can be incorporated into a broader discussion linked to the promotion of greater public transparency and more robust public accountability, based on an integrated strategy of action.

The First Open Government Action Plan of Aragón clearly had a strategy of action in the matter, consistent with its time and associated with a specific reality that it sought to improve. The strategic reorientation it underwent was due to budgetary limitations and a crisis, such as that experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Although this did not favor the fulfillment of the current Action Plan and its activities, the associated learning indicates that the strategic reorientation bore fruit and was worthwhile. It produced positive effects and addressed relevant demands for public information, allowing for higher levels of public transparency associated with the management of economic resources linked to the pandemic. The surge in the number of registered visits is one of several pieces of evidence that attest to this success.