Scot Open Gov

  With the independent evaluation of Scotland’s Open Government Action Plan now underway, I spoke with the independent reporter assigned to Scotland, Andrew McDevitt, to find out what happens next with the assessment process. This includes what’s up for discussion at our next Network meeting on 8th November – you can sign up here to…

This blog on why trust is needed between government and civil society to make Scotland poverty-free was written for The Poverty Alliance for this year’s Challenge Poverty Week. It becomes clear after flicking through the pages of Poverty in Scotland that the knowledge base exists to tackle poverty. We also know this simply through the everyday…

Members of the Open Government Network are invited to join us for an informal discussion with Reema Patel and Kayshani Gibbon from the RSA to learn about the Citizens Economic Council.  This is an opportunity for a discussion on how this approach resonates with the work under way in Scotland on financial transparency and citizen…

Collaboration between government and civil society is at the heart of the Open Government Partnership. Without it, trust will go wanting and success hampered by the lack of a strong guiding coalition maintaining the sense of urgency and vision we need. Success will not occur overnight, but we must work to improve this partnership.   Last…

Today (28 September) is International Right to Know Day, so what better way to mark the occasion than to hear from the Convener of Campaign for Freedom of Information in Scotland, Carole Ewart. I met up with Carole a few weeks back to hear her thoughts on access to information in Scotland and the role…

The next meeting of Scotland’s Open Government Network will take place at Hayweight House in Edinburgh on Wednesday 8th November, between 13:30 – 16:30. The agenda for the meeting can be found here: . The independent evaluator assigned by OGP to assess Scotland’s Action Plan will be attending the meeting as part of his plans…

Increasing transparency, participation, and collaboration throughout government requires significant change. Moving away from traditional approaches to policy design and methods of working to more democratic alternatives requires us to think and behave differently, whilst not getting too frustrated with the long road ahead. Many of us are champions and change agents of open government, committed…

In being a member of the Open Government Partnership, Scotland is seeking a culture of governance that follows the principles of transparency, accountability and participation. This is the lifeblood of open government and we all know the importance of getting it right. Scotland was also one of the first governments to sign up to the…

We are holding a joint workshop between the Scottish Government and Open Government Network on 31st August 2017, from 13:00 – 16:00 Facilitated by The Democratic Society, the session will focus on how the partnership can work together in the delivery of open government commitments and, on ensuring that Scotland meets the five commitments in…

By Emma Harvey (Scottish Government) and Paul Bradley (Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations)   Last year, Scotland was accepted to be part of the Pioneer Tier of the Open Government Partnership, a pilot program consisting of 15 subnational governments with action plans to open up government throughout 2017. This handed Scotland a unique opportunity to show…