High level summary of UK Multi-stakeholder Forum (27/04/2021)
Readout provided by government.
High level summary of Multistakeholder Forum (27/04/2021)
The Open Government Partnership (OGP) is an international group of over seventy countries, committed to the open government principles of transparency, accountability, and participation. As a founding member of the OGP, the UK exercises these principles by undergoing a co-creation process every two years, in collaboration with civil society, to develop ambitious yet feasible commitments in various areas of open government. These commitments form what is known as a “National Action Plan” or NAP. The UK is currently undergoing its fifth NAP cycle, with anticipated release in December 2021.
The NAP5 co-creation process officially launched on Tuesday, April 27th 2021, with the Multistakeholder Forum – held virtually due to COVID-19. Co-chaired by Minister Julia Lopez and Kevin Keith, Chair of the UK’s Open Government Network (OGN), the event welcomed participants from eight government departments, the devolved administrations, and delegates from the OGN civil society steering committee.
The Minister engaged with the steering committee and civil society delegates on the importance and feasibility of some of the thematic areas that emerged during strategic pre-discussions – open justice, open contracting, climate change and natural resources, disinformation, freedom of information, Public Standards and Democracy Building, and algorithmic transparency. Relevant government policy leads provided insight into current and future work streams as applicable, and links were suggested to G7, COP26, and Summit for Democracy priority areas. The Minister agreed to push for departmental collaboration and prioritisation of GOV.UK access for hosting materials pertaining to the NAP5 process.
Following the Multistakeholder Forum, the agreed thematic areas have been turned into Working Groups. Set to meet biweekly, Working Groups bring together government policy leads and civil society under Chatham House rules, and are tasked with holding in-depth discussions to produce a mutually agreeable commitment. The Working Groups began meeting in May 2021 and are expected to run through August 2021. Meeting summaries will be available on both the OGN website and GOV.UK.