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Calling for Stories on the Results of Early OGP Initiatives

OGP Support Unit|

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The OGP Support Unit is very pleased to announce an exciting new call for proposals for research exploring results of early OGP initiatives. 

Background and objectives

Since the Open Government Partnership (OGP) was launched in 2011 nearly 70 governments have made over 2250 individual open government reform commitments. Many of the early commitments made by governments that presented action plans in 2011 and 2012 have now been implemented. The IRM has produced reports analyzing the progress of all these early OGP plans. These reports look at whether the commitments made by governments were relevant to open government principles, ambitious in their potential impact, and the degree of implementation when the report was published.  

OGP is now interested in exploring the results emerging from commitments made in 2011 and 2012, assessing the progress made since the release of the IRM reports, evaluating OGP’s impact at the level of individual commitments in OGP countries and assessing whether citizens are starting to benefit from these reforms and tell that story in a compelling manner.

Research description

The central research question that the study should address is: 

  • What are the changes in policy, practice and services that have come about as a result of the implementation of an OGP commitment and how have these changes benefited citizens?

Leading questions to provide context to the reforms and arrive at answers to the above are provided below

  • What was the nature and extent of the specific problem the open government commitment was intended to solve? Why was this problem important to solve at the particular time and what were the challenges posed by the national (or local) context

  • What were the commitment/initiative’s goals and objectives? Who was it intended to benefit (specify the target population and the intended direct or indirect benefits to citizens)?

  • Who were the key actors in government and civil society in enabling the adoption and implementation of the commitment? What roles did they play, what were some of the challenges they had to overcome and how did they do so?

  • What were the results demonstrated by the initiative at the time of completion of the IRM report? What are the results that have been achieved since, including benefits to the target population and citizens? How can this be measured (this should include statistics and comparison with baseline indicators if available)? The final case study should include a portrait study of at least one citizen affected by the results of the initiative.

  • What are some of the sustainability concerns/challenges? What are the key lessons learnt and takeaways for others aiming to implement similar initiatives?

A secondary question the case study should address is: 

  • To what extent did OGP facilitate the outcomes or has helped provide a platform for reformers in government and civil society to adopt or implement the public policy change?

Scope of commitments

The proposed research should:

  • Assess a commitment from the 2011-2012 OGP National Action Plans from this suggested list of ambitious commitments.

  • Researchers are welcome to suggest commitments that are not in the list above, including commitments from action plans submitted after 2012, but which have shown sufficient progress in implementation to enable assessment of outcomes for the intended beneficiaries. You can send your suggestions, making the case for why your proposed commitment would make for a compelling case study to: shreya.basu@opengovpartnership.org.  

Grant details

  • Grants of 5000 USD will be provided for each commitment researched. Depending on the nature and scope of the commitment and the anticipated fieldwork required, small extensions will be considered after the initial selection of the proposals. The grants may also be extended after the delivery of the first drafts for producing derivative outputs like extended videos with key interviews and ‘commitments in action.’

  • Researchers are welcome to propose studies that include multiple commitments from one or more countries based on their expertise, interest and networks. 

Please see the detailed CFP document for information about deliverables and timelines, process for submitting applications and selection criteria.

Note that the deadline for submitting proposals is 12 midnight EST on 18 April 2016. Any questions can be sent to directly to: shreya.basu@opengovpartnership.org 

Help us spread the word by circulating this message to your colleagues and networks for whom this may be of interest.  

Filed Under: Research
Open Government Partnership