Open Government Strategy (FI0031)

Open government actions have previously been taken in Finland based on two-year action plans. The action plans have been founded on commitments and practical support measures. The Open Government Strategy will determine the direction of the work in the long term and the objectives that will be used as the basis of building future action plans. The Open Government Strategy will be used to promote stronger trust between citizens and the government.

The Open Government Strategy and its preparation will contribute to all four OGP initiatives (transparency, citizen participation, accountability and technology & innovation).

Preparation of Open Government Strategy of Finland
The Open Government Strategy will be prepared as part of the public administration strategy that is mentioned in the Government Programme of Prime Minister Rinne. The Open Government Strategy will constitute one of the chapters of this strategy. The Open Government Strategy will be prepared alongside the Action Plan on Democracy Policy.

The strategic work will take into account the changes in the operational environment, which will concern electronic services, communication and exchange of opinions in particular. Developing digital connections
will, on the one hand, introduce new opportunities for communication, action, participation and influence, but on the other hand they are channels that make it possible to actively erode decision-making processes and trust, with means including the spreading false information, cyber attacks and harassment of system operations.

As part of the strategic work, it will also be explored how improved strategic observation of civil society in the work of the various ministries could be realised and when the profit goals are monitored and profitability measured. As part of the strategic open government activities, support is offered for the preparatory work of the ministries’ NGO strategies and their updates. NGOs report that ministries with existing strategies have achieved good results. The regional rounds mentioned in Commitment 1 are also used for dialogue on the open government strategy.

The openness training that will be prepared on eOppiva will be used for communications and dialogue on the strategy.

The Open Government Strategy is also one of the OECD recommendations on open government.

2. Open Government Strategy

Main Objective

“Open government actions have previously been taken in Finland based on two-year action plans. The action plans have been founded on commitments and practical support measures. The Open Government Strategy will determine the direction of the work in the long term and the objectives that will be used as the basis of building future action plans. The Open Government Strategy will be used to promote stronger trust between citizens and the government.”

Milestones

Preparation of Open Government Strategy of Finland. The Open Government Strategy will be prepared as part of the public administration strategy and alongside the Action Plan on Democracy Policy. As part of the strategic work, it will also be explored how improved strategic observation of civil society in the work of the various ministries could be realized. Support is offered for the preparatory work of the ministries’ NGO strategies and their updates. The regional rounds and openness trainings mentioned in Commitment 1 will be used for dialogue on the open government strategy.

Editorial Note: For the complete text of this commitment, please see Finland’s action plan at https://avoinhallinto.fi/assets/files/2019/09/ENGLANTI_Avoin-hallinto_IV_toimintaohjelma_FINAL_240919-1.pdf.

Commitment Analysis
The action plan states that open government activities in Finland have so far been driven by practical support measures in two-year OGP action plans but lack a long-term strategic vision. The government, therefore, plans to adopt an open government strategy as part of its public administration strategy, which would become the basis for future OGP action plans. This is the first time an overarching open government strategy would be created in Finland. According to the Ministry of Finance, the strategy is planned for a 10-year timeframe, but the strategy may be renewed and updated in five years depending on developments in society. [29] As the strategy’s goals and priorities will be determined as a result of consultations with different ministries, government agencies, and civil society stakeholders, the commitment is relevant to the OGP value of civic participation.

According to the action plan, several ministries have civil society strategies to guide their cooperation with CSOs and citizens. The new open government strategy is intended to support these ministry-level strategies by setting common longer-term goals for the development of open government more broadly. [30] The Ministry of Justice regards a coherent strategy as a useful tool for the whole administration. According to Niklas Wilhelmsson, the Ministry of Justice regularly engages external stakeholders in their work but still has room for improvement in developing public services in closer collaboration with the public. [31] Wilhelmsson believes a common strategy would facilitate disseminating good engagement practices more widely within the administration and help find new ways of communicating with citizens and stakeholders. The development of a common open government strategy, therefore, could support a more systematic approach to fostering government openness. However, the impact of this strategy will largely depend on the issues that it will address, the ambition of the goals set for the next 10 years, and the monitoring mechanisms that are put in place to ensure implementation.

Although the priorities of the strategy and its mechanics of implementation are yet to be determined at the time of writing, the Ministry of Finance has started collecting stakeholder input for the strategy. A public consultation has been launched on the otakantaa.fi platform [32] and ideas are being solicited from CSOs during the regional meetings conducted as part of Commitment 1. The strategy will also be discussed in the Open Government working group. [33]