Service and Citizen Satisfaction Assessment (GE0088)

Commitment 8: Introduction of a system of assessment of services and citizen satisfaction level measurement in Ozurgeti Municipality

The Ozurgeti Municipality Assembly and Town Hall actively work on the perfection of services rendered to their citizens and the introduction of a system of monitoring of the indicators presented in the program budget. This commitment aims at introducing a system of assessment of services rendered by the local self-government to the population and measurement of the citizen satisfaction level, which is to raise the citizen awareness and engagement in the decision-making process.

Commitment 8: Introduction of innovative methods for effective governance and citizen engagement
Lead Agency Ozurgeti Municipality Assembly and Town Hall
Other Involved Actors Public Agency
Civil Society/ Private Sector/ International organization THE FORUM-MEMBER NGOS; NATIONAL PARLIAMENTARY LIBRARY OF GEORGIA
Issues to be Addressed - Lack of a system of assessing the service rendered to population and measuring the citizen satisfaction level;
- Low awareness of the modern technology possibilities;
- Shortage of modern methods and innovative technologies;
- Low interest of citizens in the engagement in the decision-making process.
Main Objective Introduction of a system of assessing the service rendered to population and measuring the citizen satisfaction level.
OGP Challenge Better management of public resources

OGP Principles Transparency Accountability Civil Participation Technology and Innovation
   
Milestones to Fulfill the Commitment New or ongoing commitment Start date End date
Setting up a planning group for identifying the service delivery assessment indicators. New
September 2018

October 2018

Setting up a working group of skilled observers for measuring the indicators. New
October 2018

December 2018

Collection of service delivery data New January 2019 March 2019
Comparing the results with the indicators and adjusting the service management New March 2019 June 2019
Introduction of the project “Self-government for Education” – promotion of the self-government importance and encouragement of the youth engagement in the decision-making process (conduct of awareness raising activities) New September 2018 September 2019
Indicator - The system of assessing the service rendered by self-government to population and measuring the citizen satisfaction level has been introduced;
- Assessment of services delivered to population and its outcomes informing to population takes place twice per annum;
- Information meetings within the framework of the project "Self-government for Education” have been held.
Risks and Assumptions The issue is complex and its successful implementation depends on the engagement of the respective donor and civil society.

Commitment 23: Introduction of a System of Assessment of Services and Citizens Satisfaction Level Measurement in Ozurgeti Municipality

Language of the commitment as it appears in the action plan:

“The Ozurgeti Municipality Assembly and Town Hall actively work on the perfection of services rendered to their citizens and the introduction of a system of monitoring of the indicators presented in the program budget. This commitment aims at introducing a system of assessment of services rendered by the local self-government to the population and measurement of the citizen satisfaction level, which is to raise the citizen awareness and engagement in the decision-making process."

-Lack of a system of assessing the service rendered to population and measuring the citizen satisfaction level;

- Low awareness of the modern technology possibilities;

- Shortage of modern methods and innovative technologies;

- Low interest of citizens in the engagement in the decision-making process.”

Milestones: 

1. Setting up a planning group for identifying the service delivery assessment indicators.
2. Setting up a working group of skilled observers for measuring the indicators.
3. Collection of service delivery data
4. Comparing the results with the indicators and adjusting the service management
5. Introduction of the project “Self-government for Education” — promotion of the self-government importance and encouragement of the youth engagement in the decision-making process (conduct of awareness raising activities)

Start Date: September 2018

End Date: September 2019

Editorial note: For the full text of this commitment, please see https://www.opengovpartnership.org/documents/georgia-action-plan-2018-2019/.

Context and Objectives

Ozurgeti Municipality is a hub for using technology to increase the transparency and effectiveness of local governance. For example, under Commitment 23 from Georgia’s third action plan (2016–2017), Ozurgeti Municipality introduced the live broadcasting of Assembly meetings. This allowed residents to follow agenda items. The municipality also started sending SMS notifications and emails on upcoming Assembly meetings. [119]

Under this current commitment, the Ozurgeti Municipality Assembly and City Hall aim to develop evaluation standards to assess public services and citizen satisfaction with these services. The government can use this data to identify gaps and plan relevant actions to address them, including communication and outreach. According to an interviewed representative of Ozurgeti Municipality, the municipality plans to collaborate with the National Parliamentary Library of Georgia and local civil society organizations in an initiative called “Local government for Education”. [120] These collaborations will involve holding meetings with locals in all villages of the municipality to deliver information. They will also raise awareness about self-government functions, advantages, rights, opportunities, and available participation mechanisms. Milestone 23.5 generally plans to encourage greater youth engagement in decision-making processes. Therefore, the commitment is relevant to the OGP value of civic participation.

While this commitment presents a set of activities that are verifiable, some activities of the commitment lack specificity. For example, the “planning group” and “working group” under Milestones 23.1 and 23.2, respectively, are not well defined, nor is the introduction of “Self-Government for Education” among youth under Milestone 23.5.

Overall, the potential impact of the commitment could be moderate, if fully implemented. The achievement of the first four milestones, in particular, would, for the first time in Ozurgeti, create an evaluation standard to assess public services in the municipality and explore citizens’ experiences. Transformative reform, though, would entail introducing tools to ensure citizens’ role in the process of the service identification and design. Such reform would also require the self-government to respond to the results of the assessment and propose changes accordingly.

Next steps

The IRM researcher recommends that Ozurgeti Municipality introduce citizen participatory tools. It should also ensure that the findings of the assessment of public services are published and that they keep the government legally accountable to reflect on the assessment results.

[114] OGP Intermunicipal Meeting in Ozurgeti: Mirian Kalisonia, Head of Public Relations Department at Zugdidi City Council, interview with IRM researcher, 11 June 2019.

[115] Kilasonia interview, June 2019.

[116] Nika Baramaia, Business Analyst, Municipal Service Development Agency, interview with IRM researcher, 3 October 2019.

[117] IRM researcher’s focus group discussion with students in Zugdidi, 15 June 2019.

[118] Georgia Good Governance Initiative, USAID, E-readiness Study in Georgia, 2016, https://bit.ly/2KInsgS.

[119] Open Government Partnership, IRM: Georgia End-of-Term Report 2016–2018, pp 72, https://bit.ly/3cSaJHp

[120] OGP intermunicipal meeting in Ozurgeti: Davit Darchia, Chairman of Ozurgeti Municipal Assembly, interview with IRM researcher, 11 June 2019.

23. System to assess services and citizens’ satisfaction in Ozurgeti Municipality

Theme VI: Municipalities

Complete

Ozurgeti Municipality, in partnership with local NGOs, developed a service monitoring methodology and involved youth in the data collation process. [82] The municipality conducted information meetings in the five local high schools, and trained 25 students in interviewing and data collection. The working group prepared an assessment report that reflected on the service delivery practice. 

In the "Self-government for education initiative,” Ozurgeti Municipality and Assembly, in cooperation with local NGOs [83] and the Parliamentary Library, organized 25 awareness-raising meetings with around 400 participants to promote self-governance and participation mechanisms among the municipal population. Also, a new e-repository of self-governance resources (textbooks, documents, reports) was published on the website of the National Parliamentary Library. [84]