Session 3.1: Open Government The 1 st Asian Public Governance Forum on Public Innovation June 2014, Jakarta Panelist: Warren Turner Senior Public Management Specialist Asian Development Bank

“My Administration is committed to creating an unprecedented level of openness in Government. We will work together to ensure the public trust and establish a system of transparency, public participation, and collaboration. Openness will strengthen our democracy and promote efficiency and effectiveness in Government.” President Barack Obama “I believe we all share the view that openness and transparency are key to an effective government. These are the virtues that the OGP [Open Government Partnership] promotes. And these are the virtues that can help governments respond to the public needs more promptly and appropriately. Such as to deliver more economic benefits, civic rights, and equal opportunities to improve people’s lives.” President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono

Why is the open government agenda catching on? For government: For reformists, open data is a quick win—technologies make front-end data portals that interface with citizens relatively easy to create For civil society and private sector: The promise of greater access to public information. It is also an opportunity to showcase new technologies For development partners: The development benefits. Open data platforms also make governance support tangible— easier to demonstrate results It’s a win, win, win

…but there are inherent challenges Up to government to create the enabling environment for openness 0 Politics: right to information laws can be a political challenge 0 Security: need to balance openness with secrecy—Wikileaks! 0 Capacity: lack of technical expertise and shortcomings in back-end information systems and records management 0 Civil society: not mobilized and capacitated to demand openness, and maximize use of open data Source: Anupama Dokeniya, “Enabling Open Government” World Bank (2011) Open Government Partnership (OGP) launched in 2011, but only three of 64 participating countries are from developing East Asia and the Pacific—Indonesia, Mongolia, and the Philippines

Open government is more than open data “Public policy has increasingly blurred the boundaries between the technologies of open data and the politics of open government” Harlan Yu & David Robinson, “The New Ambiguity of Open Government” (2012) Red flags: 0 Transparency, accountability, and citizen participation lose prominence in policies and strategies 0 Passage of right to information laws floundering, or not being implemented 0 Front-end data portals limited to repackaged existing information, and data formats prevent easy reuse 0 Government success defined in terms of number of data sets 0 Under investment in back-end information systems and records management Not strengthening the enabling public institutions and systems risks unsustainable open government policies, and a disenfranchised civil society

The Philippines: An Example Progress Open Government Partnership: Philippines becomes an inaugural member of OGP in 2011 Good governance policy: Launched in 2012 to promote transparency, accountability, and citizen engagement Open Data Philippines: Public data portal launched in 2014, Challenges Politics: 0 Timetable for institutionalizing open government is narrowing—Presidential elections in Freedom of Information Bill floundering in Congress Public sector: 0 Bureaucracy operating in functional silos preventing inter-agency cooperation 0 Delays in back-end systems development due to bureaucratic red tape and capacity constraints Civil society: 0 Demand side capacity remains a challenge

Thank you