One year later, the banner of President Aquino’s campaign promise – combating corruption – places the Philippines on the global radar screen for its efforts in pursuing transparent and open government. Thus, on the sidelines of the UNGA, the Philippines, together with seven other countries and nine civil society organizations, compose an international steering committee that will convene the first meeting of the Open Government Partnership (OGP) – a new multilateral initiative that “aims to secure concrete commitments from governments to promote transparency, empower citizens, fight corruption, and harness new technologies to strengthen governance.”
OGP is an e-government initiative institutionalized through an Open Government Declaration committed to transparent, effective and accountable governance in the spirit of multi-stakeholder collaboration. Apart from the Philippines, the seven other countries identified are: Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, Norway, South Africa, United Kingdom, and the United States.
And the nine leading civil society representatives include: Africa Center for Open Governance (Kenya), Instituto de Estudos Socioeconômicos (Brazil), Instituto Mexicano para la Competitividad (Mexico), International Budget Partnership (Int’l), MKSS (India), National Security Archives (US), Revenue Watch Institute (Int’l), Transparency and Accountability Initiative (Int’l) and Twaweza (Tanzania).
In this meeting, the United States and Brazil co-chair the OGP International Steering Committee, where its members will announce their country action plans to promote OGP principles as well as welcome the commitment of additional countries to join the Partnership. No less than President Barack Obama will lead this effort along with the other seven Heads of State – including our very own President Aquino.
But being a member of the steering committee of the OGP increases the stakes for the Philippines who is expected to present a robust e-government strategy in two weeks’ time. But this commitment must be matched by an equally strong ICT policy framework and institutional mechanism that can bring all this together. Yet sadly the very office meant to lead this effort remains just that – an office.
Back in 2002, Digital Philippines, an ICT industry think tank, first published an e-government readiness index and benchmarking study for the Philippines, which gained enough media awareness to prompt a Congressional Hearing into the efforts of various government agencies to quickly adopt and implement an ICT plan, resulting in the development of a Government Information Systems Plan (GISP) to ensure inter-operability among agencies. The work has begun, initiatives have been built, and efforts have been plenty – but this needs to be backed by 2 key ingredients to spell success: a respectable budget and an ICT Champion with the President’s full backing.
The Obama initiative
US President Obama correctly saw the relationship between ICT and political reform. On his first full day in office, Obama issued a Memorandum for his Cabinet on “Transparency and Open Government”. In this memo, Obama declared that his administration is committed to a government that is transparent, participatory and collaborative. As ICT would enable these three goals, he directed the US Government’s Chief Technology Officer to make recommendations (within 120 days) for an Open Government Directive “that instructs executive departments and agencies to take specific actions implementing the principles set forth in this memorandum.”
The resulting Open Government Directive required the executive branch to take the following steps:
- Publish Government Information Online;
- Improve the Quality of Government Information;
- Create and Institutionalize a Culture of Open Government – with a specific requirement that within 120 days, each agency shall develop and publish on its Open Government Webpage an Open Government Plan that will describe how it will improve transparency and integrate public participation and collaboration into its activities; and,
- Create an Enabling Policy Framework for Open Government.
A key outcome of the presidential memo and directive is Open Government Data. This makes it a policy for government to share public records with the public over the Internet to promote analysis and reuse. To date, Open Government Data has grown into a global movement of 16 countries (including Kenya), a regional organization (OECD) and two international organizations – the World Bank and the UN, that have open data initiatives.
Thus, the OGP meeting is the perfect opportunity for President Aquino to unveil the ICT component of his anti-corruption drive. While the President has spent much of his time to inveigle government officials and civil servants to stay on the correct path (“Ang Daang Matuwid”) – this cannot be mutually exclusive from reengineering, automating and transforming the bureaucracy through ICT.
Presidential game changer: The first in ASIA
The President must immediately create a governance structure to implement e-governance. This can be accomplished with the President creating a cabinet level Council by Executive Order that will be responsible for the implementation of his e-governance initiatives. The Council should be able to mandate cross-agency interoperability of systems so that social services can be delivered more efficiently and effectively. And it is critical that the President chair this Council – he is the Champion of Open Government. To successfully run the Council and implement its mandate, he must also name a Government Co-Chair and Alternate who represents him and embodies his decision-making powers. The Council should also embody one of the core principles of his Administration – public private partnerships (PPP), and thus, a private sector Co-Chair must also be identified to help carry out this strategy. Membership should be multi-sectoral, which include Secretaries of key departments specifically responsible for the delivery of social services (i.e., DOH, DSWD, DepEd, DILG, among others), the business community and civil society. Participation of the private sector will ensure that the PPP strategy is adapted for ICT projects. With this Council in place, the President can more confidently participate in the Open Government Partnership Forum in New York this September.
We can be the first country in developing Asia to commit to an open government and adopt open government data. This could be the centerpiece technology policy that would support and enable “Ang Daang Matuwid”. A President that can commit his time, energy, and resources to combating corruption and make government worthy of the people’s trust again can certainly lead the transformation to an “open government”.
Respectfully submitted for your consideration, Mr. President.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Roberto R. Romulo
Quelle/Source: The Philippine Star, 09.09.2011
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