Cabinet Office is today opening nominations for the 2015 Open Government Awards. We want to recognise the reformers up and down the country that are helping make our government more open, accountable and responsive to citizens. This year’s theme is Improving Public Services through Open Government and we want you to tell us about any interesting and ambitious projects that resulted in:
- Citizens having better access to information on the public services to which they are entitled, and/or information on the performance of public service providers.
- Government being better at asking for and responding to feedback or complaints by citizens on the quality of public services.
- Citizens having ways to actively participate in the design and delivery of public services.
- Citizens having mechanisms to monitor and oversee public works and services.
We are particularly interested in initiatives that expanded access to public services, benefited vulnerable populations or improved the quality and efficiency of the service.
What are the Open Government Awards?
In each of the 65 countries participating in the Open Government Partnership, government and civil society are working together to develop and implement ambitious open government reforms. As chair of the OGP in 2013 we helped launch this annual international award because we want to shine a light on the great ideas and learn from the unique experiences of other countries to help drive progress at home.
Last year the awards looked at citizen engagement in the design of public services, and the UK was placed sixth out of thirty-three countries for the Sciencewise programme. This was a fantastic achievement and we hope to find an equally impressive example this year.
How does it work?
We are asking civil society organisations, central and local government, businesses and citizens to tell us about great examples of where public services have been improved through open government. The deadline for nominations is Friday 29 May.
Once we have received all your ideas, we will look through them and score them against the criteria below. We will then select the best UK example to put forward. OGP judges will score and comment on each country’s application and the winning teams will be invited to attend the Global Summit in Mexico City in October 2015.
What should I do if I have a great idea?
Share it with us! We don’t need you to fill out a form - just tell us about it via email (transparencystrategy@cabinetoffice.gov.uk), twitter (@UKTransparency) or in the comment box below. It would be great if you could include a link to any further information and a few words on how it meets the criteria below. We can then get back in touch with you with any follow-up questions.
What are the criteria?
Each example that we receive will be reviewed against the following criteria:
Core criterion
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Find an initiative that demonstrates an improvement in public services. Good quality and effective public services respond to the needs of people, including vulnerable groups, and form the foundation of inclusive development.
Eligibility
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Must be institutionalised within government, in partnership with civil society.
Project suitability
- Seeks to improve public services in terms of quality and effectiveness.
- Provides evidence that the initiative was able to expand access to public services to a larger population than before.
Results
- Had a clear population that benefitted.
- Improved a specific service or set of services.
- Solicited regular input and feedback from citizens to improve quality and/or accountability in public service delivery.
1 comment
Comment by piotr posted on
When I try to open the opengovawards website it does not seem to work? anyone else having this problem?