Open government is the simple but powerful idea that governments and institutions work better for citizens when they are transparent, engaging and accountable.
We bring together civil society, as coordinators of the UK Open Government Network (OGN), to collaborate with the UK Government in developing ambitious open government reforms via the 2018-20 Action Plan.
The project aims
The action plan is part of the UK’s promise, as a member of the Open Government Partnership (OGP), to work with citizens and civil society to develop and implement open government reforms. In two-year cycles, the UK produces an action plan that contains commitments which promote transparency, empower citizens, fight corruption, and harness new technologies to strengthen governance.
What we're doing
So, as part of the process to develop the UK’s 2018-2020 open government action plan, the OGN (coordinated by Involve) has collected civil society ideas and proposals for open government from up and down the country.
We then produce a manifesto for open government that outlines civil society priorities which we feed into the process of co-creating the final action plan with government officials.
The action plan should therefore reflect both civil society and government priorities and commitments for open government that are to be implemented over the next two years. Following the launch of the plan, civil society monitors and will hold government to account over implementation.
Good open government reforms can transform the way government and public services work, ensuring that they are properly responsive to citizens, while improving their efficiency and effectiveness, and preventing abuses of state power.
We also coordinate civil society advocacy on transparency, participation and accountability issues outside the Action Plan process.
Partners and funders
The coordination of the OGN is funded through projects with Potter Foundation and Big Lottery Fund.
We work with a broad spectrum of civil society organisations that are OGN members, as well as with our sister Networks in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. To produce the action plan, we also collaborate with DCMS which holds the open government portfolio in the UK Government along with other Departments.
Reports
As part of this process, OGN has produced its Open Government Civil Society Manifesto 2018 which outlines civil society priorities for achieving greater openness in the UK.
The 2018-20 Open Government Action Plan will be launched in the summer of 2018 and implemented over the next two years.