The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Mr Brendan Howlin TD will announce a number of significant measures to accelerate Open Data in Ireland and advance Ireland’s membership of the Open Government Partnership (OGP) at the annual OGP Summit in London this week (www.opengovpartnership.org)
The OGP Summit taking place on 31 October and 1 November is expected to be attended by more than 1,000 delegates including ministers from almost 60 participating OGP member countries as well as representatives from civil society groups from across the world.
The Minister said:-
“Ireland is currently in the process of becoming a full member of the OGP early in 2014.
As part of that process and in response to some key recommendation contained in the recent report on Ireland’s OGP priorities proposed by civil society groups I am proposing a suite of measures designed to provide major impetus to Open Data in Ireland.
Open Data – more open access to public sector data - has a significant potential to yield substantial benefits to the citizen and the economy as well as underpinning greater openness, transparency and accountability”
At the Summit the Minister will be announcing the objective of:-
- signing up to the G8 Open Data Charter – the primary international standard for Open Data
- establishing of an Open Data Board - to design and oversee effective governance of Open Data in Ireland
- setting up of an Open Data Implementation Group - to drive progress in making public sector data much more widely available and accessible; and
- building an online Open Data Platform - to act as the primary source for public sector datasets.
The Minister concluded-
“The Open Government Partnership (OGP) complements our national public service and political reform objectives.
It reaffirms Ireland’s commitment to greater openness and transparency,
The delivery of these commitments on Open Data at the Summit can drive innovation and economic growth, improve public services and strengthen performance accountability by creating a culture in which public sector data is widely accessible for re-use and the realisation of user benefits”.
31 October, 2013
Editorial Notes
· The Open Government Partnership (OGP) is a global multilateral initiative that aims to secure concrete commitments from governments to promote transparency by making more information available about their activities, empower citizens through increased civic participation, fight corruption, and harness new technologies to strengthen governance.
· Ireland is expected to officially join the Open Government Partnership (OGP) in April 2014, when it presents its action plan to the Steering Committee and endorses the Open Government Declaration.
· Participation in the OGP Summit will give the Minister the opportunity to collaborate with ministers and civil society representatives of OGP member countries to advance effective models of civil society engagement and to share experiences and best practice on OGP actions.
As part of the process to secure full OGP participation Ireland has committed to developing an OGP National Action Plan through a multi-stakeholder process including the active engagement of citizens and civil society.
Following a public consultation process with civil society groups and citizens over recent months (www.ogpireland.ie) the Minister intends to bring the report of the consultation to Government in the coming weeks with proposals for the development of Ireland’s first OGP Action Plan.
· The G8 Open Data Charter, which was announced during the recent G8 Summit at Lough Erne, embodies five core principles. They are that data should be: Open by default, of high quality, useable by all, contributing to improved governance, and promoting innovation.
· The Open Data Platform is intended to act as an online resource for the publication of public sector data.
· The five key themes around which the London OG Summit discussions are structured are as follows:-
Open data – to boost accountability and growth
Government Integrity – to fight corruption and build on transparency
Fiscal transparency – tax payers can see where their money goes to
Empowering citizens – transforming relationships between citizens and governments
Natural resource transparency
Further information is available at www.opengovpartnership.org
The Minister has also been invited to participate in a dedicated session on whistleblower protection at the OGP Summit at which he will give an address on whistleblowing and Ireland’s Protected Disclosures legislation.