OGP's Local Program: Developments Coming in 2019

On November 27, 2018, OGP shared its vision for the OGP Local program's next steps

In late 2018, OGP staff shared updates on proposals for next steps for the OGP Local program.  OGP subsequently approved these proposed program changes.

OGP is developing an OGP Local Next Steps strategy, with additional cities interested in participating and learning from current participants.  

The underlying guiding principles for OGP Local going forward will be:

1. Seek Synergies: Look to have integration and independence between local and national processes.
2. Respect Local Needs: Local participants are not required to have approval or review from their national-level counterparts.
3. Sustainable Growth: As the OGP Local program grows, ensure those participating receive sufficient support.
4. Continue Derived Eligibility: A local entity is eligible to participate as long as their national entity is eligible
5. Diverse Local Participation: Diversity in geography, development patterns, language, and scales of government are all valuable
6. Continue Competitive Entry: National level entry is not competitive, but local level entry will remain competitive

OGP would like to grow from the current 20 local members to 30-40 local members; this includes deep and targeted OGP support, and participants seek to be on the cutting edge of innovation. OGP would also like to create space for many more local participants, that would participate in a more decentralized approach.  These would be either led by a national entity or a local entity. The hope is that through 2019, this addition would allow local program scale and reach in an "OGPx" fashion, much like TEDx, with hundreds of new participants. Finally, OGP would like to broaden the base for the community of practice to include thousands of new participants in an awareness raising fashion.

In addition, this year, OGP will add 10 more Local members.  In addition, existing Local members will be allowed to engage in three 2-year cycles.  Locals who engage in a third 2-year cycle will be required to mentor a new Local. In the alternative, Locals can engage in two 2-year cycles and then rotate into a OGPx model. At the May 2019 Summit, the OGP Steering Committee will also clarify local participation issues such as sharing in governance and OGP finance.