News 14th November 2017
Coming soon: a different Scotland network – get involved!
by Paul Bradley
A few months back I blogged some reflections on my first few months in the network. I asked you to influence our work in the following months, and through individual meetings, network workshops and profiles, you have!
Whilst a growing membership bodes well for the future of Scotland’s Open Government Network and any future open government action plans, the lack of structure for collaborating with government as well as a governance framework are just a couple of areas that need to be different.
Without this, how can we ensure we build on the great lessons learned during Scotland’s first full year in the Open Government Partnership?
We invite you to shape the network
Based on your input, three brief papers are now available covering network governance, network communications and action plan collaboration. We’re setting up three temporary groups in the network to focus on these areas and invite you to take part in steering progress – view more information on each group.
How do I get involved?
All you need to do now is register to one or more of the groups and we will do the rest, including coordinating meetings for participants or ensuring online discussions are progressing well.
Each group has a remit and desired outcome as a starting point, each fitting into the overall aim of having a network that belongs to you and that can reach out across civil society. Outputs from these groups will be shared with the wider network for discussion and to agree on next steps.
Your time is precious, but don’t let that put you off getting involved. Much of the conversation can take place in the dedicated online spaces and groups can decide whether an actual meeting is needed. What’s more, all your inputs will be pulled together by me.
These are short-term groups and what happens next will depend on the governance framework selected by you, the network. A timeline for activity can be found here.
Why are we doing this?
Members of the network should be able to take part in all levels of improving the network, deciding which activities and processes it should pursue and have confidence in its independence and decision making. This is an underlying issue of importance to the network.
The next few months provide the opportunity for members to shape governance whilst taking forward initial conversations on how it should work with a future action plan and network communications. This will form evidence as to the views of network members and inform any new governance in place.
The Open Government Partnership has also committed to continuing the Subnational Programme. Although not confirmed, Scotland has been invited to take part in a second round of action plans. A new plan would span over two years, come into force in September and have a longer development phase between February – August 2018. |
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| I hope you will take part in one or more of the groups that interest you, and I look forward to supporting you in what should be an exciting phase of developing the network over the next three months. If you have any questions, please get in touch. Most importantly, please join a group! |
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