Ó Muilleoir: Open government key commitment
(via the Department of Finance)
Speaking today at an event to mark the first year of the OpenDataNI portal the Finance Minister announced that the Executive has agreed to a range of open government commitments to strengthen transparency and accountability across Executive departments.
Máirtín Ó Muilleoir said: “I recognise the achievements to date in progressing the open government agenda across the Executive. Considerable progress has been made in being more open, most notably with the data and information that government collects and uses. Since the OpenDataNI portal was launched a year ago around 200 datasets have been published and there are over 1,000 active users per month.
“However, feedback from representatives from civic society and across the public sector highlights possibilities for the Executive to go further to integrate the principles of open government to deliver better services to the public.
“In recognition of this, the Executive has agreed to key open government commitments aimed at enhancing public engagement and enabling improved service delivery across Executive departments.”
Welcoming the announcement Colm Burns, Chairperson from the NI Open Government Network said: “We are pleased that the Executive has agreed Northern Ireland-specific commitments as part of the Open Government National Action Plan. These commitments have been co-designed by government and citizens. We look forward to working with the Department on implementation of the commitments.