City's First OGP Year Receives Final Review
Projects commended for impact and engagement
On Tuesday, May 8th, independent researcher Raymond Weyandt with the International Reporting Mechanism (IRM) shared his preliminary report assessing the City of Austin's 2017 open government efforts in Open Government Partnership (OGP), an international association of nations. His presentation is part of OGP's international Open Government Week.
The City of Austin joined OGP in December 2016 as part of a 1-year pilot program for local governments. The pilot "Pioneer Program" gave 15 local-level governments an opportunity to identify 3-5 open government projects to complete in 2017. OGP required the projects be completed with community collaboration and further values of accountability, transparency, community engagement, and technology innovation. OGP also required cities to allow an independent assessor to review their work. OGP engaged Mr. Weyandt to complete that assessment.
The City of Austin's five projects focused on homelessness, an equity assessment tool, the city's internal Open Government Operating Board (now the Open & Smart Advisory Committee), city council public meetings, and an online city project tracking tool.
Find Mr. Weyandt's presentation here.
Highlights included:
- The city's homelessness project is commended for its high level of specificity and transformative impact; innovative research methods; and cross-departmental collaboration.
- The equity tool has become an international model for civic participation and transparency; engagement from dozens of community organizations; and implementation in eight initial city departments.
- The Open & Smart Advisory Committee project promoted internal department collaboration; provided the city with an inventory of open government projects; and updated the entity's purpose and mission to address more open government opportunities.
- The public meetings project is noted for its contributions to transparency and civic participation; a high level of outcome specificity; and council support.
- The project tracking tool is the most tech-savvy of the five projects; pulled data from multiple sources into one effective site: https://grackle.
austintexas.io; and launched live at the city's culminating Open Government Showcase