2013-05-25T05:01:34-04:00 Francis Maude http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/author/index.php?author=francis-maude Copyright 2008, HuffingtonPost.com, Inc. HuffingtonPost Blogger Feed for Francis Maude Good old fashioned elbow grease. tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.2723277 2013-02-20T06:46:57-05:00 2013-04-22T05:12:01-04:00

Francis Maude http://www.huffingtonpost.com/francis-maude/
Last year prime minister David Cameron visited Burma, inaugurating a new phase in the historic relations between our countries. We are determined to back Burma as it strengthens its democracy, transforms its governance, and embraces reform. When President Obama visited Burma he secured the commitment of President Thein Sein to join the OGP by 2016. Burma's willingness to participate in OGP is as remarkable as it is welcome - before the reforms of the past 18 months it would have been quite unthinkable for Burma to have taken this brave step.

All countries could be more transparent; all of us can benefit from greater openness. But - obviously - some countries are in better places than others; some people are further from freedom and closer to tyranny. OGP must do more than just preach warm words to committed reformers. As lead co-chair of OGP, Britain should support people living where democracy, freedom of speech, and human rights are starting to emerge from decades of dictatorship and repression. That is why I am visiting Burma this week.

I will be speaking to government ministers, opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and also to wider civil society. We will discuss how we can help Burma meet the OGP's eligibility criteria. Burma remains far from this aim. It is one of the poorest countries in Asia with weak health and education services. It faces a legacy of bitter and debilitating internal unrest. Human rights violations remain to be addressed and there is a critical ongoing ethnic conflict to be resolved. But if Burma does eventually join the OGP it would be a watershed for its people.

We will offer Burma the support it needs in cultivating good governance and public financial management, promoting responsible investment, improving transparency, strengthening the work of parliament, and helping the process of political dialogue and ethnic reconciliation. This builds on work already underway, including to fund the establishment of a Resource Centre on Responsible Business, our cooperation with the World Bank to help Burma manage its public finances, and plans to support poverty-reducing business proposals.

Some will be sceptical. They will question why the world needs OGP. Isn't it yet another international movement? They might ask what the OGP is doing engaging with countries which are at present - to be blunt - less than open. Others will ask whether a new talking shop for groups of ministers and diplomats is really the answer (and if so, to what question?). Cynics will wonder how OGP will avoid being shaped just by developed countries?

These are legitimate questions. OGP is determined to be different. It's barely two years old but it already has 58 members across every continent. Unlike some of the large multilaterals, OGP is slim and agile. Sitting at the table are civil society groups, not just governments. Fine words are not enough: members have to meet OGP's criteria and then sign up to concrete commitments and firm timetables. Whereas other organisations let countries mark their own homework, OGP's independent reporting mechanism (overseen by international experts) will ensure real public accountability. And its founding members include not just Britain and the US, but others like Brazil and Indonesia

This is an important year for Britain: our chairmanship of OGP coincides with us leading the G8 and our work on the UN's High Level Panel to decide the next Millennium Development Goals. Uniting all of this is the golden thread of transparency. The theme of our OGP chairmanship is that transparency drives prosperity. Openness is good for social development, citizen engagement and civil participation, but it also furthers economic growth. In doing this, Britain is working closely with our co-chairs Indonesia and the Civil Society group, International Budget Partnership.

Earlier this week I visited Indonesia. Britain and Indonesia share an interest in building a successful global economy. But we also have common values including tolerance, diversity and democracy. Indonesia will succeed us as the next lead co-chair of OGP in October, and sits alongside us on the High Level Panel. In Jakarta we worked together with civil society partners to debate the future of OGP - both its opportunities and the challenges it faces.

Britain will shamelessly spread the word about the benefits of open government. This October we will host an OGP plenary meeting in London. Our aim is that by then the OGP, which already covers a third of the world's population, will have the foundations needed to count as a serious, lasting organisation. We want to see prosperity for all - and transparency by driving growth, sharpening accountability and informing choice can help get societies there. But as we promote openness, our core priority over the next months will be to make this transparency movement truly sustainable.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.2344559 2012-12-21T07:53:01-05:00 2013-02-20T05:12:02-05:00

Francis Maude http://www.huffingtonpost.com/francis-maude/
Government faces the dual challenge of rising public expectations coupled with the need to make spending cuts to deal with the deficit we inherited. That's why we put our aspiration of making government digital by default at the heart of our plans to reform the civil service. And today, government departments are unveiling plans to deliver a first wave of digital public services that are really fit for the 21st century.

The future of government is digital. And if we're to get ahead in the global race, we must equip ourselves to meet the challenges of the 21st century. The prize is enormous: simply by making everyday transactions digital, we can save up to £1.2 billion by 2015, and an estimated £1.7 billion a year beyond 2015 an estimated £1.7 billion a year beyond 2015. We will have services that are faster, easier to use and delivered more cost-effectively.

Digital isn't just quicker and more convenient: it's much cheaper for both government and the consumer. For some services, the average cost of a digital transaction is almost 20 times lower than by phone, about 30 times lower than by post, and about 50 times lower than face-to-face.

Smarter digital government services support public sector transparency and accountability, and facilitate economic and social growth. They will enable the creation of innovative, new businesses. But above all this digital revolution is the vehicle for a new generation of public services designed explicitly around the needs of the consumer.

Government handles over a billion different transactions every single year through 650 different services - from paying car tax, to booking driving tests, completing tax returns, or applying for the state pension. For many of these transactions, digital options have yet to be designed. Where digital options do exist, they are often underused and need redesigning from scratch.

In their strategies, the seven departments responsible for nine out of 10 government transactions - HM Revenue & Customs, the Ministry of Justice, the Home Office, and the Departments for Transport; Work and Pensions; Business, Innovation and Skills; and Environment, Food and Rural Affairs - have each identified services to make up the first wave for digitisation. This wave of new services will come online by March 2015 at the latest.

We will introduce an entirely online tax self-assessment system, alongside an online tax service for businesses to match those available from internet banking. In the year that volunteering received the recognition it deserves, to make it easier for people to volunteer we will digitise criminal record checks; and we will support business by introducing an online service to manage intellectual property rights. Our new online resource will allow candidates for National Apprenticeships more easily to search for vacancies, and enable employers to advertise vacancies and identify suitable candidates.

Online services will benefit the vast majority. We intend to make them so good everyone will want to use them. But we won't leave anyone behind. That's why our strategy is 'digital by default', not '100% digital'. In our 'Approach to Assisted Digital', also published today, we commit to providing other ways to access services for those who really need them.

This is another step towards providing the public with the services they deserve. In a sense, this a race without a finishing line. But we want to see an exceptional civil service delivering the best for Britain, and we are determined to forge ahead.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.2276548 2012-12-11T19:00:00-05:00 2013-02-10T05:12:02-05:00

Francis Maude http://www.huffingtonpost.com/francis-maude/
As lead co-chair of the Open Government Partnership, the UK hosted the first ministerial level meeting in Britain of this growing international initiative. But this meeting wasn't just symbolically significant. We put in place key measures that will help move the OGP from fine words to accountable actions.

At the same time, the Open Data Institute, based in London's Tech City, and the first organisation of its kind anywhere in the world, officially opened for business. In practice, the ODI has been active for a couple months, and is already nurturing new data-driven businesses. I expect other countries will follow our example and create their own ODIs. Open data is another field where Britain is leading the world in the global race.

The work of the ODI, demonstrating the commercial and social value of open data and encouraging the public sector to release more of it, supports our vision for the OGP in the next year. It also supports the theme of our chairmanship, which is that transparency drives prosperity.

People's antennae can twitch sceptically when governments speak about their "vision". Rather than a statement of intent, it can suggest worthy aspirations for which there is no credible plan.

But there is nothing airy fairy about this government's commitment to transparency and our passionate belief in its power to change governments and societies for the better.

At home, we are pushing ahead, releasing ever more data. This is already making a real difference, with publication of health, education, transport, crime and other data improving citizen choice and quality of life, fuelling new businesses, exposing inefficiencies and driving improvements in public services. Mastodon C, for example, one of the innovative start-ups based at the ODI, is working with health technology start-up Open Health Care UK, NHS doctors and academics. They have analysed data on prescribing patterns to identify potential savings of millions of pounds.

The watchword of the OGP is "from commitment to action" and our vision as lead co-chair echoes that practical approach. The days when governments could blithely set out plans and commitments and not expect to be held to account when they're not met have gone. We expect to be challenged on our priorities and how we deliver them. This is what will make transparency stick.

We launched our co-chair vision in September at the OGP first anniversary reception in New York. Because openness is not just about consultation but active collaboration with wider society, the vision was developed in partnership with a number of national civil society organisations - it is the first product of the "open policy making" process we intend to use to produce our new National Action Plan for greater transparency.

Our main priority for the year ahead is to show that transparency and participation drive economic growth, well-being and prosperity through efficient use of resources, citizen engagement and inclusive development. Strengthening the OGP networking mechanism will be a key part of this. We want it to effectively connect people who need advice with organisations that can provide it, whether other governments, civil society organisations or private sector consultants and experts. Success here will support another priority - to build on the progress we have made and establish the OGP as a global force for democratic change that other countries aspire to join.

But for the OGP to be truly credible, it must not only demonstrate the benefits of openness, but show that it can live up to its own principles. How can this be done? I believe success rests in large part on weaving transparency and accountability into the very fabric of the OGP. All members must be seen to be delivering the promises they make, and it must be transparently clear when they fall short.

At last week's OGP meeting in London, we officially launched the Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM) that will help hold countries to their openness commitments. We also announced the appointment of an International Expert Panel to oversee the Reporting Mechanism, and I am delighted that figures of the calibre of Mary Robinson, Mo Ibrahim and Graça Machel have agreed to act as senior advisers. They can now get started on this critical work, producing an annual report on every member country's progress against their national action plan.

The IRM can particularly add value in supporting domestic reformers, within government and outside, providing them with an amplifier of evidence and data to help ensure that their voices are heard at the highest levels.

The next 18 months are critical for the OGP, but I am optimistic. We are building a practical framework for action on the OGP's founding principles, and introducing a system of scrutiny that will give governments nowhere to hide.

Transparency isn't going away, because, once they have seen what it can do, the citizens to whom all governments are eventually accountable won't let it.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.2218985 2012-11-30T19:00:00-05:00 2013-01-30T05:12:01-05:00

Francis Maude http://www.huffingtonpost.com/francis-maude/
During our chairmanship we are determined to turn the rhetoric of transparency into practical effect. We want to firmly establish the OGP as a credible and sustainable force for change. The theme of our chairmanship is transparency drives prosperity because openness has the potential not just to sharpen accountability but to drive economic and social growth as well.

Next week, I will host the first meeting in London of the partnership's ministerial Steering Committee. At the event we will launch a unique initiative - the Independent Reporting Mechanism. The mechanism will see civil society researchers scrutinize the progress of each member, publishing their findings annually. They will examine whether commitments have made the jump from promise into action.

Let's be clear: this won't be easy. Most countries would prefer to mark their own homework. But who has faith in assessments given by politicians about their own actions? To be credible the mechanism must be independent. And to be truly independent the mechanism can't be run by governments.

Britain is leading from the front - we and the partnership's other founding members will be the first countries to be examined.

To ensure that the reporting remains independent, the mechanism's work will be overseen by an Independent Expert Panel. We can announce today that three internationally respected senior advisers will sit on the Panel: former Irish President and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson; the Sudanese-born entrepreneur Mo Ibrahim; and the Mozambican politician Graça Machel. It is a tribute to the growing reputation and importance of the OGP that these three have agreed to add their expertise to its work.

During the year ahead, Britain will promote the OGP and highlight the advantages of openness in government. We know transparency helps root out corruption, exposes inefficiency, and highlights incompetence.

But for transparency to strengthen the hand of democracy there is another critical element: the searchlight of a free and rigorous media. So, I renew my call for journalists the world over to shine an unforgiving light on the data that governments release. Waste, mismanagement and dishonesty should have no dark corners in which to hide. Failing hospitals, wasteful governments, corrupt officials, misguided politicians - all should be exposed. The media must help us ensure that openness sticks.

This government is second to none in opening up data. We have already released nearly 9,000 datasets, fuelling new and innovative businesses as well as apps that make everyday life easier and safer. But it's not for the government to exploit the data we are releasing. Yes we should make all the data we can available in the most user-friendly way possible. But we will never be the best judges of its potential value nor the experts at exploiting it. That's why I'm delighted that the independent Open Data Institute (ODI) will launch next week on the 4 December.

The ODI, led by Sir Tim Berners-Lee and Professor Nigel Shadbolt, will help to unleash the potential of open data, foster a new generation of innovative data-driven businesses, and challenge government to release ever more useable data. The appetite is certainly there. Research by Deloitte supported by the ODI will be published next week showing that the popularity of the UK's open data is among the highest in the world, with data.gov.uk receiving more daily visits than equivalent open data sites in the US and France.

And the potential rewards are huge - data could be worth billions across Europe alone.

The opportunities and rewards of openness the world over are enormous. Yet to realise them governments will have to change and adapt under the spotlight of transparency. We in Britain have started down this path and we are already out of our comfort zone. But there is no going back. The developments of the next week will help us take the hard steps towards that welcome point of no return.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1915312 2012-09-26T05:40:56-04:00 2012-11-26T05:12:02-05:00

Francis Maude http://www.huffingtonpost.com/francis-maude/
Open data is driving growth and prosperity. Data is the raw material of the 21st Century and a resource for a new generation of entrepreneurs. But transparency is not just about economics.

Transparency shines a light on underperformance and inefficiencies in public services. It allows citizens and the media to hold governments to account, strengthening civil society and building more open societies.

Twelve months ago, the UK was one of eight national governments that founded the Open Government Partnership, a powerful new international organisation dedicated to the promotion of transparency and openness. Today, the UK is taking over as leading co-chair of the partnership, which now includes 57 member states or a third of the world's population.

Our predecessors as lead chairs, the US and Brazil, have steered the partnership purposefully and energetically to this point. As co-chair alongside Indonesia, Britain will focus on supporting members to deliver their transparency commitments. Forty-six members have already published action plans detailing more than 300 commitments to open government. The remaining members are developing their plans.

Because we believe that transparency is all about greater accountability, we are putting in place a new Independent Reporting Mechanism for partnership members. This will see governments voluntarily subjecting themselves to the formal scrutiny of researchers drawn from civil society and supported by the media. The mechanism will help ensure all members actually turn their words into actions.

As lead co-chair of the Open Government Partnership, the United Kingdom will lead by example. Data.gov.uk, our web portal, is already the largest data resource in the world with over 40,000 files online. We've also ensured that every British government department has specific new open data commitments in their business plans. But we aren't stopping there. Alongside our international work through the partnership, Britain will keep driving forward our domestic transparency agenda.

Today, we've launched a new tool through the Open Data User Group which allows anyone to petition the government to release data sets that aren't currently available. Individuals and businesses can complete an online form, describing what data they want and what benefits its release would bring.

And we have also just announced plans to open up more business data. This will allow consumers to compare companies' environmental or community performance as easily as they can compare prices when choosing a product.

The open data revolution is having real and measurable impacts on public services and citizen choice in Britain. To take just one example from an OGP commitment, we now release information showing GP practice performance in handling cancer cases. This enables patients to compare survival rates between neighbouring practices and make informed decisions about their care.

Over the next 12 months, our aim is to further secure the foundations of the Open Government Partnership as a globally recognised and respected international initiative. We will strengthen the role of civil society organisations, encouraging greater collaboration with governments to forge more innovative and open ways of working. And we will work with emerging powers to help them embed principles of transparency and openness.

And as an OGP member, we are now working to shape the United Kingdom's revised transparency action plan. I look forward to consulting with civil society and open data users to shape these commitments. But above all I hope that civil society, citizens and the media will hold our feet to the fire and demand that we turn our words into action.]]>