The concept of “Open Government” implies the establishment of mechanisms for the transparència of Governments and Public Administrations, creating spaces for citizen participation and collaboration. And there is no doubt that technology is becoming a key factor in this process as it provides the channel for politics and citizens to come closer, facilitating access to data and public information.
While it may seem like a recent concept, the Public Administrations have been working for years on a new form of relationship between public managers and citizens, first creating the legal basis that frames these relationships, and then launching projects that they pursue this goal.
In this sense, we can highlight as an example the Electronic Administration (e-administration), understood as the inclusion of information and communication technologies (ICT) in administrative processes, with the aim of improving productivity, efficiency, external processes and the elimination of paper to optimize administrative procedures, streamlining procedures and reducing costs.
On the other hand, the explosion of the use of social networks by citizens has led to the perception of these new essential channels in politics when it comes to conveying information and opinion between citizens and politicians, emerging the concept of Politics 2.0 as a new space for debate. If spaces for deliberation and participation are added to Policy 2.0 so that citizens can take ownership of the initiatives launched by governments and, therefore, get involved in decisions, then we have what we can call Democracy 2.0.
Now is the time to go further and take a step forward in the relationship between government and citizenship: Open Government, which opens the door to the management of public affairs to the citizenry, so that it can have a higher degree. knowledge, information and control over the actions of public management and, at the same time, intervene, collaborate and participate in its management.
Open Government implies free, unrestricted and technically simple access to public data, mechanisms and procedures for citizen collaboration and participation, and also between administrations, based on three fundamental pillars:
- La Transparència: Public information (while respecting personal data) is the property of the public. Access must be transparent, easy and free to evaluate and facilitate accountability.
- Participation: Citizens must also be able to channel their opinions and commitment to the public policies of their government, and this must be understood as an opportunity to be able to evaluate or contrast their decisions and implementation. .
- The Collaboration: The current socio-economic environment and context is becoming increasingly complex, and this makes it more necessary for both civil society actors and business organizations to work together with government action to make it more efficient. and effective.
Governments, therefore, must be: promoters of welfare through regulatory capacity; transparent; promoters of participation and citizenship; and efficient, collaborating, and knowledge-generating. At Localret we believe that the challenges we will have to face from local bodies to achieve these goals in the coming years are:
- Political challengess: clear, strong and express will of political leadership, with the implementation of Open Government policies as one of the central axes of Government action.
- Cultural challenges: Public employees, as a fundamental part of this public management, must know, understand and be aware of this new scenario of relationship with citizens: a new relationship based on transparència. At the same time, it is necessary to make the public aware of what this new culture is and how they can participate in this new scenario. The collective good must be promoted over the individual, and involvement in management and the ability to receive information to make good use of it must be encouraged.
- Regulatory challenges: it is necessary to have rules that cover the transparència and the right of access to public information.
- Technological challenges: in this whole process, ICTs play a key role as they are the facilitators to carry out each and every one of the projects that are to be developed. Now, as had to be addressed with electronic administration, it is necessary to redefine the organization, processes and systems to support the development of Open Governments, when addressing projects such as projects on open data, smart cities, citizen participation and transparència.
For all these reasons, the Board of Directors proposes to the General Assembly of Localret the adoption of the following:
Agreements
First.- Strengthen the role of Localret as the municipal voice in the implementation of the Open Government, to promote an improvement in relations with the public and companies, emphasizing the important role to be played by the local world as the first level of relationship between the administration and the citizen. To this end, it is necessary to facilitate collaboration between local bodies, favoring the creation of workspaces where knowledge, objectives and experiences are shared, shortcomings are detected and joint strategies are defined.
Second.- Ensure and promote the technical and legal changes that serve to define the procedures that must be addressed so that all local entities can become Open Government. . especially those facing financial difficulties for its implementation
Third.- Assume the commitment to lead jointly with the supramunicipal entities, especially the provincial councils, the county councils, the AOC Consortium, to work in coordination with the aim that the development of Open Government is done with the best use of public resources and with criteria of economic and organizational sustainability, eliminating duplications and dysfunctions in
