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OGP in 2014

After a burst of activity around the time of the London Summit, I’m afraid it has been way too long since I’ve posted on the OGP blog.

I now have a good excuse to check in.  Today we are publishing OGP’s 2013 Annual Report on our website.  There are a lot of details to read, which we hope you will find informative…perhaps even interesting.  But in case you’re short on time, let me summarize my own list of 2013 highlights here:

Under the impressive leadership of the UK — and thanks to creative input from hundreds of session organizers from the open government community — OGP convened a highly interactive and refreshingly unscripted global Summit at the end of October.  Of course, it wasn’t just the 1500 participants from 108 countries that made the Summit exciting, it was the energy and passion that so many of those participants brought with them to London.  While the international ‘buzz’ that the Summit generated may be short-lived, sustained country-level buzz about OGP is exactly what is needed for this initiative to succeed.  So I sincerely hope we can keep the buzz going – and turn up the volume! – in the coming year.

 

OGP’s Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM) went from concept to reality in 2013.  It is truly incredible what this 3-person powerhouse team managed to do in just 12 months. By the end of the year, the IRM had launched its first 8 progress reports for the founding 8 countries, and had hired and trained the next batch of 35 (yes, 35!) local research teams to produce the next wave of reports.  The IRM’s findings for some countries were tough, and not all governments will be happy with their report.  That said, few now question that this accountability mechanism is critical for the OGP model to work. The test now is whether the IRM’s findings are picked up and used to inform the next round of OGP action plans.  If you have not done so already, please do review your country’s report and share your comments here. 

 

The Support Unit made several important investments last year to improve communications with government and civil society contacts in OGP countries.  First, we set up a contact relationship management system that allows us to quickly send targeted messages and reminders to groups of countries.  Second, we built a new, more accessible website. (Those who remember the old site will appreciate that this was no small feat!) Of course, we have a long list of additional improvements we’d like to make to the site, so please do let us know if you can’t find what you’re looking for.

 

OGP launched four multilateral partnerships with the UNDP, the World Bank, the OECD and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).  The top leadership of these four influential institutions has personally committed to working with OGP to advance open government reforms around the world.  Needless to say, on-the-ground support from these partners could be quite instrumental for the many OGP participating countries that stand to benefit. Feel free to contact us if you have specific proposals for how these partners might help your country or organization.

 

Early in 2013, with the strong support of the Steering Committee, we began exploring ways to increase peer exchange between OGP participating countries.  In response to the initiative of committed partner organizations and governments, we decided to launch a pilot of five thematic working groups.  As explained here the working groups are designed to promote the exchange of experience and expertise between countries in order to strengthen OGP action plans.  While it is much too early to assess results, the working groups have already generated a huge amount of interest.  Now it’s time to roll up our sleeves and see what kind of practical support they can provide. [Stay tuned for the publication of the working groups’ 2014 work plans before the end of February.]

 

While all this was going on, there were also some important things happening behind the scenes.

 

First, we invested significant time and effort last year in building the staff capacity  – both within the Support Unit and the IRM – to get the job done.  In the last 12 months the Support Unit team has expanded from 2 to 6, and the IRM team from 1 to 3.  Needless to say, we are probably still not quite where we should be in terms of staffing, but in my view this is a top-notch team that has consistently punched well above its weight. 

 

Second, thanks in large part to the hard work of our colleagues in the Civil Society Coordination team, we seem to be doing a better job of answering civil society’s basic questions about OGP, how it works, and why it’s worth engaging.  Of course, there is still a lot more to do to build trust and increase participation at the country-level, and this will continue to be top priority for all of us in the coming year.

 

Parents of young kids often say that each day feels like an eternity, but each year passes incredibly quickly.  I guess that about sums it up for my first year with OGP!

 

Linda Frey

 

View the full report here and on our Scribd channel here.  

 

 

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