Online transparency for accountability: one assessing model and two applications

This paper proposes, in the context of Open Government, a model to assess how public sector entities are taking advantage of the internet as an information disclosure tool and a means to promote transparency, specifically in what concerns the use of public resources (input transparency for accountability). The assessment model and resulting Transparency Index gives particular attention to the disclosure of detailed (disaggregated) data according to the principles of Open Government Data, namely by valuing data visibility, adequate format for further processing, and the autonomous presentation of individual information items. Subsequently, the paper demonstrates the applicability of the proposed model by carrying out two assessment exercises on two subsets of Portuguese and Italian municipalities. Results show that, all in all, the municipalities analysed do not yet disclose enough information useful for accountability processes and they do not take advantage of the internet potential to make the data provided more visible and re-usable by citizens and local stakeholders. Alone, high-level policy directives, governmental requirements and national legislation guaranteeing access to information are not enough to ensure public entities (municipalities in particular) disclose all the relevant data, and therefore specific guidelines are needed

Transparency in government institutions: a literature review

This paper presents a literature review on the issue of transparency in government institutions. The review is carried out through a bibliometric survey of the Scopus database, brazilian government websites, and brazilian legislation. The review explores and evaluates government transparency as it pertains to Brazilian as well as international spheres. An analysis of the articles (from 2011 to 2012) found in the Scopus database using the keyword “transparency,” uncovered the following recurring themes: open government, e-government, government accountability, and communication. The theoretical scope was constructed from these issues, plus the more relevant Brazilian legislation as well as issues encountered on websites focusing on international governmental institutions. Thus, it was possible to construct a theoretical framework that should guide the development of future researches

Are Public Administration institutions willing to disclose their performance through data portals? The case of the Portuguese Directorates-General

Over the last couple of decades, public administrations have been adopting performance measurement systems with a twofold aim: internally, to obtain feedback on the extent to which they are achieving their goals and, consequently, to have indications on the changes they need to introduce; and, externally, to support their accountability mechanisms. Within a principal-agent perspective, citizens are entitled to more information disclosure regarding the way public resources are being used and how well public services are performing. Given their accessibility and taking into account open government principles, the internet is an essential channel to convey information to a wide range of stakeholders (services users and citizens in particular) thus being crucial in promoting transparency concerning performance measurement. With reference to the Portuguese context, the current chapter analyses the performance information disclosure procedures implemented by the Directorates-Generals and evaluates some features of the performance indicators used.This research was supported by the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia through national funds to the Research Centre in Political Science (CICP) [grant number UID/CPO/00758/2013] and to INESC [grant number UID/MULTI/00308/2013]

Intertwining Judicial Reforms and the Use of ICT in Courts: A Brief Description of the Portuguese Experience

This paper, focusing on the Portuguese experience, analyzes changes on the legal framework and the governance requirements in the different stages of development and implementation of courts’ ICT. To this end, the paper provides for a concise description of the Portuguese justice system and of the main challenges its organization and territorial division has faced in the last decades. Follows a description of the introduction of the two main courts’ information systems in: CITIUS (for judicial courts) and SITAF(for administrative and tax courts). The paper then on focuses the recent measures adopted under the Justiça + Próxima plan, analyzing the main needs they intend to address and goals they expect to fulfill, in the attempt to understand if they will be able to introduce the new era of courts e-services that has been promised

Gobierno abierto y transparencia: construyendo un marco conceptual

La confusión del término anglosajón open government así como del término transparency han traído consigo ambigüedades y creado falsas expectativas. Además de utilizar ambos conceptos como sinónimos, se han implementado políticas públicas para hacerlos realidad en distintos países latinoamericanos sin tener una dirección precisa o un objetivo claro. Esta investigación busca aportar elementos teóricos que ayuden a delimitar los principales caminos teóricos que se han seguido y proponer un concepto que distinga tanto la transparencia como el gobierno abierto. Para lograrlo se han revisado las principales revistas académicas y artículos de los últimos seis años y se han agrupado en tres corrientes de pensamiento para proponer un concepto sobre gobierno abierto. El objetivo es contribuir a la construcción de una teoría general más sólida, que ayude a entender mejor el gobierno abierto, la transparencia y la rendición de cuentas.La confusión del término anglosajón open government así como del término transparency han traído consigo ambigüedades y creado falsas expectativas. Además de utilizar ambos conceptos como sinónimos, se han implementado políticas públicas para hacerlos realidad en distintos países latinoamericanos sin tener una dirección precisa o un objetivo claro. Esta investigación busca aportar elementos teóricos que ayuden a delimitar los principales caminos teóricos que se han seguido y proponer un concepto que distinga tanto la transparencia como el gobierno abierto. Para lograrlo se han revisado las principales revistas académicas y artículos de los últimos seis años y se han agrupado en tres corrientes de pensamiento para proponer un concepto sobre gobierno abierto. El objetivo es contribuir a la construcción de una teoría general más sólida, que ayude a entender mejor el gobierno abierto, la transparencia y la rendición de cuentas

Transparency and accountability in municipalities: an analysis of 40 year evolution in Portugal

This chapter reviews the main transparency-related initiatives that have been developed and implemented in the local government context in Portugal, over the last 40 years. A critical discussion on these landmarks allowed concluding that, in order to be effective in what concerns transparency and accountability, initiatives need to combine administrative and legal reforms with automatic data disclosure, embedding reporting mechanisms in already existing processes, and incorporating frameworks to regularly monitor the results. Another major recommendation could finally be derived from this analysis: it is necessary to put in place a comprehensive set of principles regarding transparency mechanisms, to be included, at a very early stage, in every Public Administration innovation programme. Transparency should be a concern when developing such programmes, as it is efficiency and effectiveness.This work has been partially supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), under project grant PEst-OE/ EEI/UI308/2014 (INESC Coimbra) and national funds awarded by the FCT to the Research Center in Political Science (UID/CPO/0758/2013), University of Minho

Generating Value from Open Government Data

A driving force for change in society is the trend towards Open Government Data (OGD). While the value generated by OGD has been widely discussed by public bodies and other stakeholders, little attention has been paid to this phenomenon in the academic literature. Hence, we developed a conceptual model portraying how data as a resource can be transformed to value. We show the causal relationships between four contextual, enabling factors, four types of value generation mechanisms and value. We use empirical data from 61 countries to test these relationships, using the PLS method. The results mostly support the hypothesized relationships. Our conclusion is that if openness is complemented with resource governance, capabilities in society and technical connectivity, use of OGD will stimulate the generation of economic and social value through four different archetypical mechanisms: Efficiency, Innovation, Transparency and Participation

Factors in the adoption of open government initiatives in Spanish local governments

Acknowledgements This research was carried out with financial support from the Min- istry of Science, Innovation and Universities (Spain) (Research project number: RTI2018-095344-A-100), the Centre of Andalusian Studies (Research project number PR137/19) and the Regional Government of Andalusia (Research project number PY20_00314 and B-SEJ-556-UGR- 20). Funding for open access charge: Universidad de Granada / CBUA.The Open Government Data (OGD) projects have spread rapidly in recent years, given that they involve a great transformative potential, whose aims to guarantee transparent government and stimulate the participation and citizenry engagement. It seems that there is a lack of studies analysing factors regarding both the access to OG projects and the volume and format of data published into OGD projects. Therefore, this paper seeks to identify main factors affecting both the way of accessing the OG projects and the volume and format of data published into OGD projects in larger Spanish municipalities (with >50,000 inhabitants and a sample of 145 municipalities). Our main findings seem to point out the intention of sample governments to increase their information disclosure as a way for enhancing their reputation or government's image introducing OGDPs initiatives. Also, it revels differences among analysed municipalities regarding the context in which the information is disclosed.Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (Spain) (Research project number: RTI2018-095344-A-100)Centre of Andalusian Studies (Research project number PR137/19)Regional Government of Andalusia (Research project number PY20_00314 and B-SEJ-556-UGR-20)Funding for open access charge: Universidad de Granada/CBU

A transparency ontology in the context of open government

No contexto do governo aberto surgiram diversas iniciativas visando a disponibilização online de dados sobre o funcionamento das entidades públicas, de forma a facilitar prestação de contas (transparência) e a responsabilização dos agentes públicos por parte dos cidadãos (accountability). Estas iniciativas levantam, no entanto, diversas questões, entre as quais: que dados disponibilizar? Como tornar coerentes os dados dispersos (fragmentados) por diversos portais? Como tornar os dados disponibilizados mais compreensíveis para o cidadão comum? Este trabalho tem como objetivo definir uma ontologia para dar resposta a estas questões, colmatando assim uma lacuna identificada nesta área. A ontologia proposta procura adotar a perspetiva do cidadão comum, partindo da identificação de temas/termos relevantes debatidos na comunicação social (escrita), considerando o papel dos jornalistas enquanto information brokers. Espera-se que através da ontologia aqui apresentada se possa melhorar a forma como as estratégias de governo aberto são conduzidas e os portais que dela resultam.Several initiatives have been launched, within the context of open government, to make available online data concerning the functioning of public entities. Such initiatives aim to improve transparency of public entities and to enhance accountability of public officials towards ordinary citizens. However, these initiatives raise several questions, namely: Which data should be disclosed? How to bring together dispersed (fragmented) data disclosed through several different portals? How to improve the understandability by ordinary citizens of the data disclosed? The goal of this paper is to define and propose a transparency ontology that might help to provide an answer to these questions, thus filling the gaps in this research area. The proposed ontology seeks to adopt the perspective of the ordinary citizen in what concerns public entities’ transparency and accountability. Therefore, the process of ontology definition started by identifying relevant themes/terms discussed in the media (newspapers) considering the role of journalists as ‘information brokers’. The proposed ontology might be used by public officials to improve the formulation of open government strategies and the way they are implemented through open government data portals.FCT -Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia(PEst-OE/EEI/UI308/2014