End of Commitment Report – Creation of spatial data infrastructure for urban development in Monterrey

Name of Evaluator

Ricardo Luevano

Email

ricardo.luevano@inai.org.mx

Member Name

Monterrey, Mexico

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 – Monterrey, Mexico, 2022 – 2024

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...

Creation of spatial data infrastructure for urban development in Monterrey, that guarantees the right to the city, under the open government principles

Title

Creation of spatial data infrastructure for urban development in Monterrey, that guarantees the right to the city, under the open government principles

Action

Through inter-institutional collaboration, the commitment seeks to make available data relevant to the topic of urban development that will be used for consultation under the principles of 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, innovation and accountability. It is intended that through the data shared in the period of a year and a half, it will be possible to: Map the needs for improvement in public spaces (with data that will make it possible to know the deficits of public space); Consult information on urban developments, such as risk level and building permits in an open format; Access information on land use, cadastres, settlements, housing and occupied spaces; Identify civil society organizations that work on these issues.

Problem

Traditional urban planning, on which Monterrey was based, is insufficient to address the new urban challenges faced by today’s metropolises. Consequently, it is necessary to develop urban planning models that are compatible with the digital, interconnected, and complex era of today. It is imperative that Monterrey has a data and information infrastructure that allows the urban design to be paired with digitization processes that facilitate results-based interventions in order to formulate public policies that bring it closer to urban governance that can respond to its challenges. To achieve this, it is imperative that transparency and anti-corruption, 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, digitization, and accessibility of information and data are prioritized in urban development. It would be impossible to move towards an urban governance model that is compatible with the needs of the city without these factors.

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

complete

Provide a brief explanation of your answer:

According to the current work plan, all established milestones were met and the verification methods consulted correspond to what was established.

Provide evidence that supports and justifies your answer:

Evidence – DU

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

One of the most relevant challenges during the implementation of this commitment was the availability of technologies within the municipal departments. Some departments did not have the information in digital form, or the available technologies were not the necessary ones, which required additional efforts.
Another obstacle that arose was the willingness of the teams to share the available information, as well as learning how to use and update the information in mide+. There was also resistance to adopting new technologies and methodologies, which could slow down some processes. Also, there was a change in the perspective of believing that extra work was being done instead of improving the processes that already exist.
Sustainability is also a factor; ensuring that Mide+ can remain up to date does not only depend on what is established in the regulations, but requires a constant commitment from all the entities involved. In addition, internal and external socialization to use the platform also represented a challenge.

1.3 Was the commitment implemented as originally planned?

Most of the commitment milestones were implemented as planned

Provide a brief explanation of your answer:

According to the content of the Implementation Report of the Local Open Government Action Plan 2022-2024 of Nuevo Leon, a series of modifications were made to the milestones described in the Local Open Government Action Plan. In this sense, the timing and composition of the milestones were modified, but they are identified as complementary and aligned with the proposed goal.

Provide evidence for your answer:

Evidence-DU1

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 commitment to urban development represents an important milestone in the Open Government actions of the municipality of Monterrey; the Technological Governance Regulations were approved; the Guidelines for Interoperability Criteria and Standards; Guidelines for Standard Criteria and Operation of Data Management and Data Openness; and Guidelines for the Quality and Accuracy of Information, Information Management and Spatial Data Infrastructure, documents that provide the foundation and sustainability of the municipality’s spatial data infrastructure.
Mide+ stands out for its interoperability, which is why the data on the platform can also be used in other projects. The spatial data infrastructure benefits both government agencies and citizens because updated information can be consulted in a single space, reducing some processes for obtaining information and directly impacting the processes within the Municipality that involve the information found in mide+.
Spatial data is made available to decision-making areas, so the spatial data infrastructure improves data-driven decision-making. Finally, the layers available in mide+ have served to feed other projects with social impact and understanding of the city, such as the Digital Module and Digital Twins.

Provide evidence for your answer:

Evidence-DU2

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:

Outstanding

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

In developing this commitment, the participation of civil society such as neighbourhood committees and civil society organisations related to urban development issues was included.
These people generated valuable contributions to identify the topics of greatest interest that should be included in the mide+ platform.

Provide evidence for your answer:

Evidence-DU3

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

Yes

Degree of result:

Outstanding

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

A meeting was held as a channel between public servants responsible for information and citizens who are members of civil society organizations that were part of this commitment. At this meeting, those responsible for information were able to identify areas of opportunity as well as positive aspects of the activities already carried out.

Provide evidence for your answer:

Evidence-DU4

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:

The action plan raises the need to have a data and information infrastructure that allows urban design to go hand in hand with digitalization, so the final product of this commitment is aligned with how it was described in the action plan.

Provide evidence for your answer:

Evidence-DU5

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.

In the future, the platform is expected to have a greater variety of data sets that will encourage more meaningful interaction for users and for decision-making related to urban development. With this, it is expected that one of the impacts will be the reduction of information requests, as this data will be available immediately and accessible to all people. In addition, by having the information available to all public servants, duplication of information in different departments will be avoided.