President Obama committed to change the way Washington works. On his
first day in Office, he signed the memorandum
on transparency and open government, ushering in a new era of open and
accountable government meant to bridge the gap between the American people and
their government. This proves his noble intentions. He wants to cherish
democracy and to take it to a new height which made him the man of history.
Open
Government (OG) hammers what is this all
about, and why it is required. OG concept does affect everyone’s life everyday
in some ways. It is as fundamental to our democracy as free speech. If
government records were not open to all, there would be no accountability and
there would be no journalism. In
essence, there would be no democracy, as democracy was founded on the
principles of openness and freedom of information.
A
lack of accountability might mean that those who hold positions of power would
be more likely to abuse it. When government is open every person has the power
to hold those in power accountable for following through on their promises and
serving the people.
Why
is OG Important? A free and democratic society can work only if government
works in the open. Access is what ensures that government officials will remain
honest. It keeps us aware of how our taxes are spent and helps citizens decide
whom to vote into office and whom to replace. It provides a check on government
officials by providing voters with the information.
Citizens
need a constant stream of information to provide meaningful attention to the
actions of government. Deprived of such information, they can’t monitor their
elected and appointed leaders. And they can’t hold them accountable.
Obama opined that for too long,
the American people have experienced a culture of secrecy in Washington, where
information is locked up, taxpayer dollars disappear without a trace, and lobbyists
wield undue influence. For Americans, business as usual in Washington has
reinforced the belief that the government benefits the special interests and
the well connected at the expense of the American people.
On December 8, 2009, the White House issued an unprecedented open
government directive requiring federal agencies to take immediate, specific
steps to achieve key milestones in transparency, participation, and
collaboration.
The directive aspires to create
an unprecedented and sustained level of openness and accountability in every
agency, senior leaders should strive to incorporate the values of transparency,
participation, and collaboration into the ongoing work of their agency.
Achieving a more open government
will require the various professional disciplines within the Government –
such as policy, legal, procurement, finance, and technology operations – to
work together to define and to develop open government solutions.
Integration of various disciplines facilitates organization-wide and lasting
change in the way that Government works.
The
transparency directive expected that Open
Government Plan should explain in detail how agency will improve transparency.
It should describe steps the agency will take to conduct its work more openly
and publish its information online. The
participation directive directed to create more informed and
effective policies, the Federal Government should promote opportunities for the
public to participate throughout the decision-making process.
On
Collaboration front directive instructed that Open Government Plan should explain in detail how agency will
improve collaboration, including steps the agency will take to revise its
current practices to further cooperation with other Federal and non-Federal
governmental agencies, the public, and non-profit and private entities in
fulfilling the agency’s core mission activities.
Addressing 65th assembly of United
Nation in September 2010 President Obama emphasized “the collective call for
open government: Each
country will pursue a path rooted in the culture of its own people. Yet
experience shows us that history is on the side of liberty; that the strongest
foundation for human progress lies in open economies, open societies, and open
governments. To put it simply, democracy, more than any other form of
government, delivers for our citizens. And I believe that truth will only grow
stronger in a world where the borders between nations are blurred.”
He
further remarked to the assembly that no one country has all the answers, but
all of us must answer to our own people. In all parts of the world, we see the
promise of innovation to make government more open and accountable. And now, we
must build on that progress. And when we gather back here next year, we should
bring specific commitments to promote transparency; to fight corruption; to energize
civic engagement; to leverage new technologies so that we strengthen the
foundations of freedom in our own countries, while living up to the ideals that
can light the world.
Obama’s
effort was added upon by a group of passionate and committed advocates of open
government. They came together on December, 2010 in Denver, Colorado for a one
day unconference: CityCamp Colorado. They launched an OG initiative. This
initiative is a collaborative project that includes representatives from
CityCamp, OpenColorado, Codefor America and Sunlight foundation, OpenPlans and
others. This initiative reflects ongoing efforts around the world and in meant
to be shared with them.
Furthermore,
a 35years old US based NGO, the TIDES launched the project “Open Government Partnership
(OGP) on September 20, 2011.” This is a global effort to make governments
better. Project is designed for more transparent, effective, and accountable
governments-with institutions that empower citizens and are responsive to their
aspirations. But this is never easy.
The OGP formally came into life with 8
founding governments (Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, Norway, Philippines, South
Africa, UK, and USA) endorsed an Open Government Declaration and announced
their country action plans. Since then, OGP has welcomed the commitments of 47
governments to join the Partnership.
The OGP is a new multilateral initiative
that aims to secure concrete commitments from governments to promote
transparency, empower citizens, fight corruptions and harness new technology to
strengthen governance. In the spirit of multi-stakeholder collaboration, OGP is
overseen by a steering committee of governments and civil society
organizations.
Initiating
OG is very easy but its implementation is not- most difficult. It is a strong
magnet of strong poles of easy and difficult. Hence, it attracts the public
worldwide. Its implementation is very
closely associated with change of attitude and culture of officials, information
holders, and custodians. Therefore it is a slow changing and time taking because
of it high inertia. It is like discarding of an old era of secrecy and adopting
of a new era of openness.
Evaluating
OG performance, Josh Gerstein wrote president obama’s muddy transparency record
in politico on May 3, 2012. He said Obama’s
Open Government Initiative had all the makings of a signature presidential
accomplishment: a poor track record by his predecessor, a public commitment by
the president himself and a team of White House staffers devoted to fulfilling
his vision. Some of the groups that lauded Obama for his intentions have become
increasingly frustrated about the administration’s record.
Karim R. Lakhani, associate professor at
Harvard Business School accompanied by
Vivek Kundra, Ex-CIO, led the case discussion
for 50 technology executives in a weeklong HBS executive education course.
Kundra
observed Information is power. By "democratizing
data," ordinary citizens have the ability to shift the balance of power in
positive ways that can encourage innovative ideas to be developed into
practical goods and services. "Washington, DC does not have a monopoly on
the best ideas," he told the executives. "The public has the ability
to innovate."
He continued Data.gov allows
people to be watchdogs as well as innovators. Our
goal is to create a runway, a platform for innovation. The government can't
make the most innovative apps. But Data.gov can be a platform.
OG
initiative is a dawn of a new era. Barack has made a noble start of this era. Inspired
by him, many others like OGP project are doing excellent job to achieve OG
worldwide. One should not disappoint on it performance, as it is a time taking
process.
Obama’
noble intention planted ‘OG’ tree. It bears fruits beneficial to all countries
who export it. This is a political product which helped him indirectly and invisibly
in winning second term. It helped his re election by convincing voters about
his people oriented approach and noble intention.
This
issue is ripe now for the United Nations to take up and popularize it among
member countries. OG is in the centre of
all issues. To secure desired developments and world peace, UN must adopt this
agenda by getting the mandate of general assembly to include it in its core
issues.
Heera Lal (views are
personal and based on different sources)
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