• Among the issues discussed, the global summit of Vitoria-Gasteiz, the Open Administration Week, the fulfillment of the commitments of the IV Open Government Plan and the elaboration of the V
• Clara Mapelli advocates the construction of a digital governance, focused on citizenship, that makes transparency and accountability its usual way of operating

The Secretary of State for Public Administration, Clara Mapelli, presented at the plenary meeting of the Open Government Forum, held in Toledo, the main initiatives and challenges of her Department in terms of transparency and open government, such as the program of the Spanish co-presidency of the Alliance for Open Government (OGP) that will culminate with the IX Global Summit in Vitoria, the process of elaboration of the V Open Government Plan 2025-2029 and the Open Administration Week. Within the chapter of accountability, the Public Governance team of the Secretary of State has also carried out a review of the commitments made within the framework of the IV Open Government Plan. During the day, which was attended by the first vice-president of the Junta de Castilla-La Mancha, José Luis Martínez Guijarro, Clara Mapelli highlighted the important role played by both civil society, as well as regional and local administrations as essential actors in the development of open government, “a path that has no turning back”.

The Open Government Forum is a space for participation and permanent dialogue between the three administrations and the delegates of civil society, represented in a joint manner with 32 members each; the presidency is run by the person in charge of the Secretary of State for Public Service.

Regarding the development of the V Open Government Plan, the members of the forum have been informed of how the process is developing, prioritizing the participation of citizens and administrations and with a strong involvement of civil society.

The V Plan will strengthen all the elements included in the IV, with an emphasis on transparency, integrity and accountability, including a section dedicated to digital governance and artificial intelligence and an observatory of good practices in the Transparency Portal. In the words of the Secretary of State, “the fight against misinformation is one of the great challenges, as well as the construction of a digital governance, focused on citizenship, that makes transparency and accountability its usual way of operating”.

Accountability and responsibility

With regard to the implementation of the Fourth Open Government Plan, the officials of the Secretary of State have presented results with a degree of compliance that exceeds 90%, with 111 initiatives and 537 activities.

The most relevant initiatives completed have focused on four axes: transparency and accountability, the Council of Europe’s agreement on access to public documents and the transposition of the directive to promote the opening of data and reuse of public sector information; in participation, the integral plan for elderly people for assistance to administrative services ACCESS 65+, participation in the HAZLAB laboratory or the protection of whistleblowers; in the third axis, awareness and training, compliance with the reduction of the digital divide, training of public employees and interministerial cooperation and, finally, in the fourth axis referring to the autonomous and local areas, administrative force is redefined.

Another of the issues addressed has been the celebration of Open Administration Week, an initiative that began in 2018 with 347 events held. Seven editions later, our country revalidates its leadership among OGP members by holding a total of 1,348 events during that Week in 2024. Regarding the design of the Open Administration Week for 2025, which will be held between May 19 and 25, the deadline is open to submit proposals.

Summit of the OGP

On this occasion, a team of the Alliance for Open Government, led by its CEO, Aidan Eyakuze, and the co-president together with Spain, representing civil society, Cielo Magno, attended the meeting in Toledo. They participated in the presentation of the program of that joint presidency. The Government of Spain and Cielo Magno focus their leadership on several priorities that are grouped into three main pillars: people (an open public administration as a fundamental right of citizens); institutions (a transversal and multilevel open government) and technology and data (digitization, artificial intelligence and open data).

This joint project will end with a global summit in Vitoria, from 6 to 10 October, an event that will bring together multiple actors from the international community, as well as from the governments of Spain and Brazil, civil society, the government of the Basque Country and the municipality of Vitoria. Civil society has a relevant role both in the process of elaborating the program and in the design of specific sessions through innovative mechanisms, such as the platform consider.it.