#OGP16 – Overview of the workshop on accountability

#OGP16 – Overview of the workshop on accountability

The High Authority for transparency in public life organized a workshop on « How does digital technology renew the principle of accountability ? » during the 4th Open Government Partnership (OGP) Summit held in Paris on 7, 8 and 9 December 2016.

The session was moderated by Mr. Gabriel Poifoulot, Head of Studies at the High Authority, and it brought together Mr. Bogdan Stan, President of the Romanian Integrity Agency (ANI), Ms. Romina Colman, data journalist at the La Nación newspaper in Argentina, Ms. Chaima Bouhlel, President of the Tunisian NGO Al Bawsala and Mr. Salvatore Marras, Head of Innovation at the Directorate of Public Administration of Italy.

The debate highlighted the contribution of digital tools on strengthening transparency in public life and in renewing the relationship between citizens and institutions.

Recalling the rise of digital technologies in a context where the global perception of corruption is high, Mr. Poifoulot started the session by presenting the High Authority’s contribution to the OGP Summit entitled “Open Data and Public Integrity”. Throughout specific examples, this contribution highlights a correlation between the degree of advancement of open data policies and public integrity performance.

Mr. Stan presented the Romanian National Integrity Agency, which is responsible for the asset control of public officials in Romania. Mr. Stan emphasized the importance of civil society in monitoring around 7 million declarations available online.

Mrs. Colman and Mrs. Bouhlel acknowledged the role of civil society in promoting a culture of open data and accountability around the reuse and monitoring of public officials.

Mr. Marras presented the project “Open Expo”, which was launched after a corruption scandal around the Milan Universal Exposition of 2015. The aim of the project was to publish all the data related to the organization of the exposition.

The exchange with the audience brought up questions about the obstacles in using digital tools to promote integrity. All the participants agreed on the need for a stronger common action between public authorities and civil society.

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