Austin Participates in Organization of American States (OAS) Collaboration with OGP
Austin OGP's Sabine Romero shared the OGP Experience
During the summer of 2021, the OAS School of Governance and the Open Government Partnership held an online joint initiative for 13 Caribbean OAS member States, "Advancing Open Government in the Caribbean: Strategies and Tools to Increase Transparency and Citizen Participation in Public Policy." Events included a panel with Sabine Romero, representing the City of Austin's OGP Local commitments.
The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago participated in the 4-week online program.
The deep dive panel into local good governance included Sabine Romero; Mélanie Robert, Executive Director of Open Government at the Treasury Board of Canada; and Sue Bateman, Deputy Director of the Data and Innovation Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO) of the United Kingdom, as well as civil society representatives such as Aidan Eyakuze, Executive Director of Twaweza East Africa and OGP Steering Committee; and María Barón, Executive Director of Directorio Legislativo and OGP Steering Committee Lead Co-chair.
Participants shared their feedback, with one attendee stating, “The program expanded my knowledge of what the open government initiative is and clearly outlined the important components of such a program. It also allows [us] to learn of successful open government projects that can be tailored for my country which have similar issues."
The City of Austin welcomes and appreciates the opportunity to collaborate with local and national peers in shared discussions of best practices and next steps for communities around the world.