Finland Implementation Report 2017-2019
- Action Plan: Finland Implementation Report 2017-2019
- Dates Under Review: 2017-2019
- Report Publication Year: 2020
Finland improved implementation of commitments in the third 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.... Notable achievements include improving the accessibility of state procurement data and the development of open government principles for public sector reform, which could be replicated in other sectors. The 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... on expanding the access to information principle to cover public services produced by corporate entities was not completed, as its implementation required legislative changes.
| Table 1. At a glance
Participating since: 2013 Action plan development Action plan design Action plan implementation |
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 a global partnership that brings together government reformers and civil society leaders to create action plans that make governments more inclusive, responsive, and accountable. The Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM)The Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM) is OGP’s accountability arm and the main means of tracking progress in participating countries. The IRM provides independent, evidence-based, and objective ... monitors all action plans to ensure governments follow through on commitments. Finland joined OGP in 2013. Since, Finland has implemented three action plans. This report evaluates the implementation of Finland’s third action plan.
General overview of action plan
Finland completed five out of seven commitments in its third action plan. While this marks a major improvement compared to previous action plans, many activities in the third plan lacked specific and measurable indicators to accurately assess their impact on opening government. The Finnish government engaged civil society organizations (CSOs) in the implementation process to a limited degree but could increase the role of government-civil society partnerships in the implementation of subsequent action plans.
During the third action plan, Finland significantly improved the accessibility of public procurementTransparency in the procurement process can help combat corruption and waste that plagues a significant portion of public procurement budgets globally. Technical specifications: Commitments that aim t... data by creating a low-threshold online service that facilitates easier access to it. Finland also developed and applied open government principles in the context of a major public sector reform.
Table 2. Noteworthy commitments
| Commitment description | Status at the end of implementation cycle |
| 3. Widen access to information principle
Extend the access to information principle to cover public services that are produced in a company format. |
This commitment was not completed. The primary reason for the limited completionImplementers must follow through on their commitments for them to achieve impact. For each commitment, OGP’s Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM) evaluates the degree to which the activities outlin... is that the commitment requires legislative change. In July 2019, the Finnish government committed to assessing whether the scope of application of the Act on the Openness of Government Activities should be broadened to cover legal entities owned or controlled by the public sector. |
| 5. Publish state procurement data | Through this commitment, Finland significantly improved the 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 of public procurement data by creating a low-threshold online service that facilitates easier accessibility. As a result, individuals and organizations are now able to access government procurement information without having to submit access to information requests. |
Five Key IRM Recommendations
The IRM key recommendations are prepared in the IRM Design Report. They aim to inform the development of the next action plan and guide implementation of the current action plan. In Finland’s 2017-2019 Design Report, the IRM recommended the following:
| 1. Improve commitment quality through better problem-solution framing, clarifying relevanceAccording to the OGP Articles of Governance, OGP commitments should include a clear open government lens. Specifically, they should advance at least one of the OGP values: transparency, citizen partic... to OGP values, and identifying verifiable milestones. |
| 2. Increase high-level government representation in a multi-stakeholder forumRegular dialogue between government and civil society is a core element of OGP participation. It builds trust, promotes joint problem-solving, and empowers civil society to influence the design, imple... for a more ambitious action plan. |
| 3. Allow for greater civil society participation in shaping the final scale and scope of commitments. |
| 4. Extend commitments related to the Regional Government, Health and Social Services Reform to cover several action plans. |
| 5. Assess the feasibility and legal status of proposed commitments during the action plan development process. |
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