Open Government in Argentina

Assessment and Recommendations

Setting the scene: The context for open government reforms in Argentina

The current government has brought new dynamism to Argentina’s open government reform agenda but important challenges remain

Argentina has been implementing policies to promote open government principles for some time, but the current government has given new impetus to the country’s open government reform agenda. The new approach to open government represents a true change of paradigm and could be characterised as a big bang approach. In the space of only a few years, thanks to the important efforts of the then Ministry of Modernisation, an important number of new institutions joined the open government agenda and initiatives are now being implemented by entities at all levels of government and by all branches of power. From a narrow initial focus on e-government the current government has seen Argentina’s open government agenda start to mature, moving beyond the Open Government Partnership (OGP) process towards a much broader approach incorporating all open government principles.

Within a few years, Argentina has become an international leader in a number of fields of open government, taking over the position of co-chair of the OGP and improving the country’s position in international rankings. Despite significant progress and an ongoing move toward an open state approach, further collaboration with other branches and levels of the state offers Argentina opportunities to improve the implementation of open government reforms, so as to avoid their fragmentation and ensure their impact and long-term sustainability.

Argentina is the first country to be assessed against the OECD Recommendation of the Council on Open Government

The analysis in this OECD Open Government Review is based on the OECD Recommendation of the Council on Open Government. Adopted in December 2017, the Recommendation represents the first international legal instrument on open government. It defines a set of criteria for the design and implementation of successful open government agendas. It features ten provisions that help adhering countries to identify an enabling environment that is conducive to efficient, effective and integrated governance of open government and to ensure that open government principles are rooted in the public management culture. The Recommendation further promotes the alignment of open government strategies and initiatives with – and their contribution to – all relevant national and sectoral socio-economic policy objectives, at all levels of the administration. Argentina adhered to the OECD Recommendation in July 2018 and is the first country worldwide to be assessed against its ten provisions.

Creating a sound policy framework for open government in Argentina

Argentina’s definition of open government is not yet uniformly applied across the whole public sector

Like almost all OECD countries, Argentina has elaborated a definition of open government. The then Ministry of Modernisation (MoM), as the co-ordinating entity of the national agenda, defined it as “a process of state transformation that promotes transparency, citizen participation and collaboration as principles for the design of innovative public management”.

In addition, a majority of ministries (79%) and provinces (80%) have a definition of open government in place, which demonstrates wide uptake of the concept across the country. These definitions, however, vary widely. This indicates that actors either do not yet share a common understanding of what open government entails (and does not entail) or prefer to focus on specific aspects of it. In any case, the result is an inhomogeneous and potentially unaligned prioritisation of open government initiatives across the country.

Open government principles figure in a variety of key policy documents in Argentina

The open government principles of transparency, accountability, integrity, and stakeholder participation form part of a significant number of policy documents of the Government of Argentina (GoA):

• Open government principles are present among the 100 priority objectives of the current government.

• The State Modernisation Plan (Plan de Modernización del Estado) provides the strategic framework for public governance reform and includes open government as one of its core elements.

• Within the framework of the Federal Council for Modernisation and Innovation in Public Management (COFEMOD), provinces and the national government have developed the Federal Commitment for the Modernisation of the State (Compromiso Federal para la Modernización del Estado) in order to jointly modernise provincial administrations. While the time horizon of two years (2017-19) is relatively short, the Commitment has served to raise awareness about the importance of open government reforms.

• Open government principles have been included in a variety of sectorial policy documents elaborated by Argentinian ministries. For example, the National Women’s Institute (Instituto Nacional de las Mujeres) National Plan of Equal Opportunities was elaborated using a participatory approach.

• The Undersecretariat for Public Innovation and Open Government in the then MoM elaborated what it calls the National Open Government Strategy. The document is divided into three axes, namely: 1) Open Data, 2) Public Innovation, and 3) Open Government and it has provided inspiration to line ministries and other stakeholders that want to engage in open government reforms. However, it does not constitute a whole-of-government policy document, as it does not specify a concerted vision, strategic objectives, or monitoring and evaluation mechanisms.

• Argentina’s third Open Government Partnership Action Plan (2017-19) includes commitments from a wide range of national ministries, all branches of power, independent public institutions and the provinces. The inclusion of a sectorial approach, referring to topics such as climate change and education, shows that the country acknowledges the potential of open government reforms to contribute to a range of policy objectives. However, the Action Plan constitutes a compilation of priority open government initiatives and, has to be complemented with a more long-term policy framework to effectively foster a cultural change.

• Argentina informed the OECD currently developing a National Anti-Corruption Plan. The government reports that the new plan will include references to open government principles. Which is of course encouraged and aligned with OECD practice.

Argentina could contribute to global standard setting by designing a whole-of-government policy framework for open government

In order to align efforts and create an umbrella framework for all open government reforms within a country, the OECD recommends the development of a National Open Government Strategy (NOGS). According to OECD research, such a strategy could provide the missing link between high-level commitments (e.g. those included in the 100 priorities of the GoA) and medium-term commitments included in broader strategic documents (e.g. those that form part of the State Modernisation Plan), as well as short-term, delivery-oriented commitments included in the biannual OGP Action Plans.

Ultimately, if co-created with all relevant actors, a NOGS has the potential to affect all government functions and activities, and change the way that government and society relate to one another. In line with Argentina’s open state agenda, there may also be opportunities to extend involvement to all branches of power and levels of government, in order to create a truly holistic Open State Strategy. Important factors that influence the drafting process of a NOGS are summarised in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Key considerations in the drafting of a National Open Government Strategy (NOGS)

Source: Author’s own work.

Key recommendations

1. Design a National Open Government Strategy that acts as an umbrella for existing policy documents that include open government initiatives and ensures that initiatives reinforce each other and are implemented in ways that contribute to a shared vision and common objectives.

• Co-create a National Open Government Strategy with all key stakeholders, including civil society organisations, academia and the private sector.

• Consider involving the legislature, the judiciary and independent public institutions, as well as subnational levels of government, in the design and implementation of the strategy, thereby transforming it into an Open State Strategy.

2. Move towards a single definition of open government that is accepted by the whole public sector, all branches of power, independent public institutions, subnational government and external stakeholders.

• Consider launching a consultative process for the creation of an updated definition to ensure even better buy-in and ownership from these institutions and all stakeholders. The consultative process could take place within the framework of the process to design the National Open Government Strategy, as discussed below.

• Encourage individual institutions to continue elaborating and using their own definitions of open government that are based on a single definition and share similar conceptual understandings.

Towards a more solid legal and regulatory framework for open government in Argentina

Argentina’s constitution provides a strong basis for the development of open government strategies and initiatives

A solid legal and regulatory framework provides legal certainty for all actors involved in open government reforms and enables governments and citizens to effectively implement policies. Similar to most OECD countries, the National Constitution of the Argentine Republic does not include a specific reference to the concepts of open government or an open state, but it does incorporate a number of provisions on transparency, accountability, integrity, and stakeholder participation.

The country’s access to information law requires horizontal coordination among access to information agencies in order to be effectively implemented

The right to access government information is a necessary legal foundation for open government in policy making (OECD, 2014). In line with OECD practice, Argentina adopted a Law on the Right of Access to Public Information (Ley de Derecho de Acceso a la Información Pública, Law 27.275) in 2016. Prior to this law, the right of access to public information was regulated through a decree. By extending the decree’s scope and by obliging all branches of the state, the new law’s purpose is “to guarantee the effective exercise of the right of access to public information, to promote citizen participation and transparency in public management” (Article 1).

Pursuant to Article 19 of the ATI law, Argentina created the Agency for Access to Public Information (Agencia de Acceso a la Información Pública) as a functionally and administratively autonomous controlling entity in the executive branch within the Office of the Chief of Cabinet. The agency’s responsibility is to ensure compliance with the principles and procedures established by the law, guaranteeing the effective exercise of the right of access to public information and promoting the proactive disclosure of information.

Replicating the executive’s agency with identical powers and functions, Article 28 of the ATI law requires the establishment of separate organs for each independent institution and branch of the State. Acting in the area of the respective organisations that created them, all six access to information agencies shall ensure compliance with the legal framework, the effective exercise of the right of access to public information, and the promotion of active transparency measures.

To ensure a co-ordinated approach to the interpretation and application of Argentina’s ATI law and the implementation of Article 8 of Decree 899/2017, the six autonomous agencies established a Coordinating Roundtable for Access to Public Information (Mesa de Coordinación de Acceso a la Información Pública) in November 2017. Little insights can be drawn from comparative international experience regarding the establishment of such a large number of access to information agencies, as most countries have established only one such institution. In order to guarantee a common approach to the implementation of the national ATI law, it is important to further formalise the Roundtable’s existing mechanisms and other informal co-ordination practices between the various agencies. The agencies’ current work on the establishment of indicators to measure implementation of the national ATI law could help them to find common shortcomings, identify challenges and promote good practices for a successful and uniform approach to the access of information for citizens.

In this context, it is also important that the agencies discuss the creation of clear and simple procedures to request information. Citizens and other relevant stakeholders need to be provided with guidance on how and where to request government information. Argentina has started to standardise and homogenise information about these procedures in order to ease the process for citizens, but further opportunities, such as the development of a single online request form or uniform guidelines for citizens, could result in more citizen-friendly procedures.

The effective application of the right to access information requires strong appeals procedures and clear legal enforcement

Unlike many OECD countries, Argentina’s proactive disclosure of information applies to all branches and institutions, subject only to limited exceptions. Regarding the classes of information made public, the right of access covers all material held by public institutions in all formats, indifferent of who created it. The Argentinian ATI law (Article 13) only permits an entity to refuse access to information if the requested information does not exist, if the entity is not legally obliged to produce the information, or if one of the exceptions provided for in Article 8 applies. The law does not provide for a “harm test” applicable to all exceptions, with the results that information requests are only turned down when publication represents an actual risk of harm. While the use of exemptions is common practice across OECD countries, they need to be limited, used restrictively and properly justified, in order to ensure that the public official’s level of discretion remains relatively low.

In the event of a denial of information, Argentina’s ATI law (Article 14) allows for the possibility to appeal decisions directly in courts of first instance in federal administrative litigation and to initiate administrative complaint procedures with the Agency for Access to Public Information or the corresponding respective entity where the information was originally requested. Should the Agency find that an entity failed to comply with its obligations under the ATI law, it will request the institution to deliver the information within ten working days (Article 17). Any non-compliance on the part of an institution can be considered is subject to legal and administrative proceedings as foreseen in Article 24 (p) and (q). The formal aspects and requirements of Argentina’s appeals procedure to contest the decision of an institution in cases of refusals of information requests reflect the common practice of OECD countries. However, while Article 24 (p) and (q) state that the director of the Agency can initiate legal actions and request administrative investigations and sanctions from the respective institution in cases of non-compliance, the ATI law does not provide the AAIP with the possibility to directly sanction officials or institutions that do not comply with its decisions or infringe the law. Consequently, the legal effect and the possibility of follow-up procedures to address non-compliance remain unclear.

Vertical co-ordination between all levels of government is essential to guarantee effective access to public information

Similar to other countries with a federal structure, legislation passed at national level in Argentina does not apply directly to the provincial or municipal levels. The Constitution, however, provides the possibility for provinces to declare a federal law applicable in their territory. To increase legal certainty for citizens and guarantee effective access to information at all levels of the state, the national government can inform and encourage all provinces to adopt legislation on the access to information and ensure the effective implementation of existing legislation at the provincial level. Furthermore, Article 29 of the national ATI law created the Federal Council for Transparency (Consejo Federal para la Transparencia), which is composed of high-level representatives of all provinces and the City of Buenos Aires. Established as a permanent interjurisdictional body, the Council aims to promote technical co-operation and consultation regarding transparency and access to information policies across all levels of government, in order to promote agreement on policies and criteria for access to public information.

In order to ensure effective implementation of the ATI law and guarantee a fully functional Federal Council for Transparency, able to adequately fulfil the co-ordination role and mandate assigned to it under the law, the Council must be provided with a statute and the necessary human and financial resources. By exchanging experiences and promoting good practices related to transparency and the right of access to public information, the Federal Network for Access to Public Information (Red Federal de Acceso a la Información Pública) has the potential to positively impact the promotion and implementation of the right of access to information across all levels of the state. Founded in 2014, the Network is a voluntary national association composed of public institutions at the national, provincial and municipal levels. To what extent the Network will be able to contribute to improved vertical co-ordination in questions of access to information will depend on the participation of a greater number of entities at the national level.

Key recommendations

1. Ensure the effective and harmonised application of the national ATI law across all branches of the state.

• Continue formalising co-ordination mechanisms for the various agencies responsible for ATI as part of the Co-ordinating Roundtable for Access to Public Information and beyond, in order to guarantee a common approach for the full implementation of the national ATI law.

• Ensure regular meetings of the agencies’ directors and consider creating working groups of technical staff, in order to contribute positively to information exchange at all levels and full collaboration between the autonomous institutions.

2. Promote the adoption and implementation of ATI legislation at the provincial level to guarantee access to information at all levels of the state.

• Ensure that the Federal Council for Transparency is provided with a statute and the necessary human and financial resources to adequately fulfil its co-ordination role and mandate to promote technical co-operation and consultation regarding transparency and access to information policies across all levels of government.

3. Standardise and simplify the process to request information for all public institutions, in order to make access to information more citizen-friendly.

• Develop a single online request form, and potentially a unified portal, and publish supporting guidelines on how to request information. To ensure consistency between institutions, make sure that fees for the reproduction and potential delivery of information are set centrally and remain the same for each entity providing information.

4. Ensure that a robust and efficient institutional framework for access to information is in place.

• Ensure that the six agencies for access to public information have a legal basis to enforce the ATI law and can effectively sanction non-compliance by public entities and officials.

• Ensure that the access to information agencies enjoy full independence and are provided with sufficient financial resources as well as human capacities to guarantee full implementation of the law.

Fostering the effective implementation of open government initiatives in Argentina

The number of institutions involved in open government reforms in Argentina requires extensive co-ordination

In the executive branch of the state of Argentina, the core team of open government consists of the Government Secretariat of Modernisation and the Secretariat for Institutional Strengthening in the Office of the Chief of Cabinet of Ministers, the Access to Information Agency, the Ministry of the Interior, Public Works and Housing, and the National Anti-Corruption Office.

However, the results of the OECD surveys demonstrate that the implementation of open government principles in Argentina goes well beyond these core institutions and has penetrated deep into the entire institutional landscape. For instance, most Argentinian line ministries now have either an office or a person in charge of open government. Furthermore, while only a selection of institutions participated in Argentina’s first OGP Action Plan, 28 public institutions are now involved in the third OGP Action Plan cycle.

The high and growing number of actors contributing to the promotion of open government principles is a very positive sign, and a testimony to the outreach efforts of the Government Secretariat of Modernisation; however, it also creates a strong need for effective co-ordination.

Horizontal co-ordination of open government initiatives in Argentina has improved, thanks to the creation of the Open Government Roundtable

For its third OGP Action Plan, in line with good practices in OECD countries, the Argentinian government created a National Open Government Roundtable, as a space for co-ordination and dialogue. The Roundtable is composed of four government institutions and four civil society organisations. In contrast to several OECD countries, Argentina’s Roundtable does not include academia or the private sector. The Roundtable’s role was formalised over the course of 2018 and now has a legal basis in the form of a Resolution and an Internal Operating Regulations. While this formalisation is a positive measure, the Roundtable’s mandate is mainly restricted to the OGP process and its inclusiveness could be further enhanced.

OECD experience shows that an institutionalised National Open Government Steering Committee (Comite Nacional de Gobierno Abierto, CNGA) can foster continuity of open government strategies and initiatives beyond the mandate of a single government. A permanent CNGA that involves all relevant actors could function as a space to co-create a National Open Government Strategy. Sub-commissions of the CNGA could then follow up on high-level commitments and translate the common vision into concrete actions. Sub-commissions could also focus on thematic areas (e.g. Access to Information, Open Government and Education, or the Sustainable Development Goals) or on specific processes such as the OGP Action Plans or legal reforms.

Figure 2. Possible composition of the new National Open Government Steering Committee

Source: Author’s own work.

The institutional relocation of the Government Secretariat of Modernisation to the Chief of Cabinet of Ministers Office creates new opportunities

The Government Secretariat of Modernisation is Argentina’s leading open government actor at the national level. It was created as the Ministry of Modernisation in 2015 in an effort to reform and modernise Argentina’s public sector. Following the September 2018 government reform, it was incorporated into Argentina’s main Centre of Government institution, the Office of the Chief of Cabinet of Ministers. The new Government Secretariat of Modernisation is headed by a Secretary of Government for Modernisation and Deputy Chief of Cabinet.

The 2018 reform gives the Undersecretariat for Public Innovation and Open Government – the entity within the Secretariat of Modernisation (SGM) that leads the open government reform agenda – additional opportunities to promote horizontality and inclusiveness within Argentina’s open government agenda. However, the benefits of the new structure will also depend on the extent to which the senior leadership of the Government Secretariat of Modernisation manages to leverage direct access to the highest levels of the government, in order to mainstream and broaden their agenda. To this end, close collaboration with line ministries and provinces will be of major importance.

In this regard, there is a need for dedicated Open Government Contact Points (Enlaces de Gobierno Abierto, EGA) in all institutions to ensure the implementation of laws, policies and initiatives relevant to open government principles, while at the same time providing individual and personalised support to their institutions’ public servants.

Sound human resource management and innovation initiatives have been introduced and are contributing to a change in the culture of governance

The SGM has taken notable steps to provide capacity-building opportunities for public servants. The Secretariat of Public Employment, a body located in the SGM, is responsible for skills development programmes and has launched the following initiatives targeting different groups of public officials:

• Líderes en Acción is a programme designed to augment the competencies of young officials.

• Protagonistas de Recursos Humanos is an initiative addressed to HRM officials.

• Construyendo Nuestro Futuro targets high-level public managers.

• Argentina’s National Institute for Public Administration (INAP) offers courses with a special focus on open government.

• SGM’s Government Lab of Argentina (LABgobar) is a multi-disciplinary team located in the Undersecretariat for Public Innovation and Open Government, that provides assistance for ministry and municipality projects, aiming to make use of tools to innovate.

In 2016, the Government Secretariat of Modernisation’s Directorate for the Development of Capacities for Innovation (Dirección de Desarrollo de Capacidades para la Innovación), working in close collaboration with INAP and LABgobar, established a Design Academy of Public Policy. The Academy offers training courses on innovation for public officials. The Design Academy of Public Policy is highly successful in terms of outreach, having taught 32,000 students until March 2019. However, the Academy’s training agenda seems focused largely on innovation. Additional courses with a stronger alignment to open government principles could help the Argentinian government realise its declared goal of achieving a “State of the 21st century”.

Key recommendations

1. Create a National Open Government Steering Committee (CNGA) in order to institutionalise dialogue between public institutions and all relevant stakeholders, and provide a forum to co-ordinate Argentina’s entire open government agenda, including the design and implementation of a National Open Government Strategy.

• Invite high-level representatives from institutions to join the Committee in order to ensure that it can provide the necessary leadership to the country’s open government agenda.

• Provide the CNGA with a mandate to go beyond the OGP process and to co-ordinate the whole national open government agenda.

• Ensure participation from civil society organisations beyond the usual suspects by including organisations working on topics such as climate change, education and violence against women.

• Organise regular Open State Meetings within the framework of the CNGA, in order to create a space that allows for the permanent exchange of good practices and experiences between branches of power and levels of government.

• Create sub-commissions of the CNGA to allow for discussions at a more technical level and to translate a commonly agreed vision and shared objectives into concrete actions and initiatives.

2. Take advantage of the new institutional anchorage of the Government Secretariat of Modernisation in the Office of the Chief of Cabinet of Ministers to strengthen co-ordination and mainstream open government principles.

3. Create dedicated Open Government Contact Points in all public institutions and branches of power, and at all levels of government, in order to enable a continuous exchange of experiences and good practices.

• Build capacity for Contact Points to enable them to provide individual and personalised support to their institutions’ public servants.

• Create a network of Open Government Contact Points to enable them to exchange experiences and share good practices.

• Capitalise on and foster synergies with existing networks such as the Open Data Focal Points and the Network of Contact Points for Access to Public Information.

• Invite selected Contact Points to meetings of the National Open Government Steering Committee and its sub-commissions.

4. Raise awareness among public servants of the economic, political and social benefits of open government principles.

• Advocate for the inclusion of open government principles in public servants competency and values framework, as well as their Terms of References, including in the provinces.

• Further enhance the impact on open government reforms of the courses offered by the Design Academy of Public Policy, by harnessing the potential offered by the large number of trained public servants, including through (in)official networks of alumni.

• Move towards a strategic approach to Human Resource Management by including HRM provisions in the National Open Government Strategy.

Building a monitoring and evaluation framework for open government in Argentina

The Argentinian government’s commitment to implementing and mainstreaming open government calls for solid monitoring and evaluation (M&E) tools to support and promote operational and strategic decision-making, performance, accountability and learning. While formal requirements for planning, monitoring and evaluating public policies in Argentina were largely absent until recently, the country has initiated a move towards the institutionalisation of an M&E culture in 2016 with the introduction of the State Modernisation Plan. The rollout of this plan is characterised by a gradual approach, starting with building planning capacities at the line ministry level, then moving to monitoring policy priorities and, eventually, evaluating results.

Under the leadership of the Office of the Chief of Cabinet of Ministers (JGM), the Government Secretariat of Modernisation (SGM) is responsible for working with all line ministries to standardise planning, monitoring and evaluation. For this purpose, the government has designed an integral M&E management system, based on a management by results methodology. The system includes several different dashboards that enable users to keep track of government commitments, such as the Results Management Dashboard (Tablero de Gestión por Resultados, Gpr), the Integral Management Dashboard (Tablero de Gestión Integral) and the Strategic Monthly Report (Informe Mensual Estratégico). With open government as one of the government’s 100 priorities, these tools offer a means to monitor the implementation of key open government projects, such as the organisation of Open Argentina (Argentina Abierta).

Strategic outcome or impact objectives for open government can enhance the monitoring of line ministries’ open government initiatives

The monitoring of open government initiatives at sector level is done primarily by the SGM through tools developed by the government to monitor the implementation of OGP commitments. This reporting is done using Trello, an online project management tool. The information provided through Trello is managed internally by the SGM through a dedicated dashboard that is different from the one used for the Results Management Dashboard (Tablero de Gestión).

The monitoring of line ministry open government initiatives is not aligned to any strategic outcome or impact objective for open government. As explained in Chapter 2 on the Policy Framework, Argentina has not yet established medium-term to long term goals (outcomes and impacts objectives) for open government to strategically link high-level political commitments (e.g. “open government” as part of the 100 government priorities) to short-term activities (e.g. outputs, such as line ministry open government initiatives).

The SGM’s public follow-up mechanism (Trello) contributes to only one of the Results Management Dashboard’s key priority projects, the follow-up to the third OGP Action Plan. Such limited connection between the JGM’s high-level monitoring system, and the absence of medium and long-term whole-of-government strategic goals on open government, risks weakening incentives for line ministries to co-operate in a systematic way.

The Government of Argentina recognises the importance of developing comparable indicators

The Government of Argentina’s commitment to taking important steps in implementing and mainstreaming open government across government also raises the challenge of developing indicators to monitor outcomes and impact. To date, both government-wide open government priority goals and line ministries’ efforts have been monitored mainly through process and output indicators, as in most OECD countries. While using process and output indicators can be useful to measure activity progress, it does not allow the assessment of whether a policy initiative is delivering on expected results. These indicators are designed to be used primarily for internal management.

While acknowledging that the development of robust and relevant output, outcome and impact indicators is a complex endeavour, to which the Argentinian government is fully committed in the medium and long term, specific initiatives could be launched to help ensure progress towards this goal. These could include, among other things, the adoption of a theory of change approach in the design of open government strategies and initiatives.

Specific training and guidelines can foster a culture of monitoring, evaluation and learning among public officials in charge of open government initiatives

The monitoring and evaluation of open government initiatives will not have the desired impact if public officials do not have the right skills and incentives to carry it out successfully. In this regard, Argentina is making substantial progress in building public service capability for open government issues and results-based management.

In the field of open government, the government provides training mainly on issues related to citizen participation and service delivery. In the field of results-based management (RBM), the Argentinian government has developed training to guide the implementation of the M&E guidelines defined by the JGM. In addition, the Design Academy of Public Policy (Academia de Diseño de Políticas Públicas) provides public servants with innovative tools to design and implement public policies, including the use of a theory of change approach.

Despite the relevance of these initiatives, there are no dedicated training courses on M&E of open government efforts, despite the government’s need to enhance public officials’ capacity to design, monitor and evaluate such initiatives. Current training on open government does not include an M&E component and training on M&E is primarily addressed to public officials in charge of reporting to the JGM on the monitoring and evaluation of government priorities (termed the Guía del Sistema de Gestión por Resultados).

Another measure to support the development of capacities in the public sector is the development of guidelines and toolkits. The Argentinian government has developed a toolkit on open government, which focuses mostly on its benefits, and another on evaluation, which offers insights into planning, policy design and theory of change approaches, in addition to several materials prepared within the framework of the Design Academy of Public Policy. However, as with the training courses, according to the information gathered during the fact-finding mission, the available guidelines on M&E are not generally used for the design, monitoring and evaluation of open government initiatives.

Towards the evaluation of open government initiatives

In Argentina, the relatively weak evaluation culture across government and the absence of a broader institutional framework for policy evaluation have limited the government’s capacities to evaluate open government initiatives. Nevertheless, despite the lack of a government-wide evaluation policy, the annual Monitoring and Evaluation Plan for Social Policies and Programmes can be used by the GoA to ascertain how open policy making can lead to better governance and services.

There are ongoing efforts to use M&E strategically to improve the multi-level governance and capacities of open government at the provincial and municipal level

Argentina is carrying out intensive efforts to disseminate open government to all levels of government. This is reflected in COFEMOD’s recently developed criteria to measure the progress of the Federal Modernisation Commitment. The result is a dashboard with a set of baseline indicators that enables calculation of the degree of fulfilment of commitments. This type of peer benchmarking can serve as an incentive for the development of sound open government strategies and initiatives at the provincial level.

COFEMOD is also taking active measures to build M&E capacities at the provincial level, especially through training. However, despite the progress made in fostering co-operation with several provinces, COFEMOD and its Open Government Commission still face human resources and financial challenges to promote multi-level governance and horizontal co-operation from a technical point of view.

Key recommendations

5. Consider including M&E provisions within a National Open Government Strategy. Depending on its legal nature, this could provide a specific mandate to the JGM to develop an annual M&E plan for the National Open Government Strategy.

• Link the monitoring of open government strategic outcomes and impact objectives (as recommended in Chapter 2) with different initiatives at sector level, including the OGP commitments.

• Use the recommended National Open Government Steering Committee as an institutional platform to follow up and discuss the results of M&E activities in a systematic way.

• Develop specific operating principles to monitor open government initiatives, such as standards for developing open government outcomes and impact objectives, standards and templates for monitoring reports, and rules for the frequency of monitoring.

6. Develop comparable indicators to measure processes, outputs, outcomes and impact in collaboration with stakeholders.

• Consider adopting a theory of change approach for the development of open government initiatives, to ensure that each open government initiative pursues a specific objective (outcome and impact) and to facilitate the development of indicators associated to each stage of the intervention process (input, process, output, outcome and impact).

• Create a platform to support the co-creation of robust indicators with the participation of key stakeholders, such as civil society organisations (CSOs), universities and think tanks. This could be done, for instance, within the context of the implementation of the Open Government National Strategy recommended in the previous chapters.

7. Foster a culture of monitoring, evaluation and learning among public officials by increasing their capacity to regularly conduct exercises for these purposes in collaboration with relevant stakeholders.

• Develop capacity-building activities on the M&E of open government strategies and initiatives, in collaboration with relevant stakeholders.

• Consider the development of a dedicated set of guidelines to elaborate open government initiatives, and facilitate the inclusion of process, outputs, outcomes and impact indicators.

• Consider mandating the team of the Undersecretariat for Public Innovation and Open Government in the SGM to train and assist the different institutions in using a theory of change approach in the development of sector initiatives. Piloting projects with specific institutions could be a feasible starting point.

• Incorporate M&E thinks tanks and academia into the development of these capacity-building activities.

8. Strengthen the technical role of COFEMOD.

Continue ongoing efforts to develop baseline indicators on open government.

Promote capacity-building activities and horizontal co-operation on the monitoring and evaluation of open government strategies and initiatives, in partnership with key stakeholders that are already providing technical assistance, such as national universities and CSOs.

Mainstreaming citizen and stakeholder participation in the policy cycle in Argentina

Different opportunities exist for stakeholders to participate in policy making in Argentina, but these need to be better communicated

Active use of public communication has increased substantively in Argentina in terms of size and scope, namely through increased public investments in communication initiatives and the growing presence of government on social media, as well as through the creation of websites for different ministries. However, the team in charge of communication in the Government Secretariat of Modernisation (SGM) faces challenges in harnessing the benefits of sound communication for open government initiatives, especially in terms of limited staff and the absence of a fixed budget.

The provision of information and regular two-way communication with citizens and other stakeholders constitutes the basis for effective engagement. Ministries and provinces acknowledge that stakeholders are not yet sufficiently informed about participation opportunities and noted insufficient awareness among public officials of the value added of stakeholder participation practices. In order to address this challenge, the government has created a number of toolkits that could help to raise awareness about the benefits of stakeholder participation. Networking and dissemination events such as the annual conference Argentina Abierta, which provides a forum for representatives from provinces to meet, existing roundtables and COFEMOD also offer occasions to raise awareness about the existence and usefulness of these tools.

In an important move towards an open culture of governance, the government has started to institutionalise stakeholder participation in open government. To this end, it has created the National Open Government Roundtable (Mesa Nacional de Gobierno Abierto), which features the participation of four CSOs. However, organisations from civil society active in specific sectorial policy areas, such as environment or transport, are not yet integrated into the Roundtable. In addition, the absence of representatives from the private sector and academia impedes full inclusiveness.

The government has created various virtual engagement platforms

A central approach of open policy making frequently used by the Secretariat of Modernisation is Open Innovation (Innovación Abierta). The SGM uses this paradigm to provide platforms and in-person meetings to allow participants to share and co-create knowledge, assess public challenges and seek new approaches to tackle them. The composition of Argentina’s Open Innovation initiative is noteworthy as it brings together representatives from the state, the private sector and civil society. Other examples for virtual engagement include:

• Public Challenges (Desafíos Públicos): This platform developed within the framework of Open Innovation offers citizens and other stakeholders the opportunity to upload innovative proposals addressing challenges relevant to society.

• The Citizen Innovation Laboratory of the Province of Santa Fe (SantaLab): The Laboratory creates a space for new forms of citizen organisation and self-organised groups that make policy making more resilient and adaptive through informal processes of citizen practice.

To avoid confusion among stakeholders regarding which different platform to consult, Argentina has undertaken efforts to create a single platform for consultations conducted by different ministries or institutions. In a noteworthy initiative, Argentina has undertaken efforts to consolidate these in a single platform for consultations. The Platform of Public Consultation (Plataforma de Consulta Pública) offers ministries the possibility to ask citizens for input on their respective policy areas and unified previously existing platforms into a single one.

To work towards harmonisation and better alignment of stakeholder participation practices, Argentina could consider developing a guiding document related to stakeholder participation

A number of initiatives that target women, youth or differently abled people have been launched in order to make policy making more inclusive. While these efforts are to be welcomed, they remain fragmented and could be assembled into an overarching or guiding document, such as: a set of whole-of-government citizen participation guidelines, the inclusion of extensive references and provisions on citizen participation in a newly developed National Open Government Strategy, and eventually a dedicated law on citizen participation.

Key recommendations

1. Strengthen the Secretariat of Modernisation’s role as the co-ordinating actor of open government communication in collaboration with the Secretary of Public Communication by:

• Building on successful two-way communication channels to integrate insights from stakeholders and strengthen their buy-in. Social media channels, opportunities for face-to-face meetings such as through Argentina Abierta, and public events like hackathons offer such opportunities and could be used with higher frequency.

• Considering convening regular meetings with Open Government Contact Points and all government communication officers to strengthen their involvement in communication about open government initiatives, and share good practices as well as lessons learned.

2. Continue providing technical support to line ministries and provinces for the implementation of citizen and stakeholder participation initiatives.

3. Strategically build on initial contacts established through the OGP process to foster citizen and stakeholder participation initiatives in line ministries and provinces, including beyond the OGP process.

4. Move beyond the usual suspects by enlarging the variety of stakeholders that participate in each step of the policy cycle and reach out to under-represented groups.

• Encourage participation in the policy cycle and service design and delivery, by all interested and/or affected parties including: individuals regardless of their age, gender, sexual orientation or religious and political affiliations; and institutions and organisations whether governmental or non-governmental or drawn from civil society, academia, the media or the private sector.

5. Consider developing an overarching document on stakeholder participation to work towards harmonisation and better alignment of stakeholder participation practices. The guiding document could take a variety of forms that address challenges in the short, medium and long term.

• Short-term challenges: whole-of-government citizen participation guidelines.

• Medium-term challenges: the inclusion of extensive reference and provisions on citizen participation in a newly developed National Open Government Strategy.

• Long-term challenges: a dedicated law on Citizen Participation.

Moving towards an open state in Argentina

Argentina has made substantial efforts to enhance co-ordination and collaboration between branches of power in the promotion of open government principles

In recent years, all branches of power and independent public institutions in Argentina have begun elaborating and implementing open government initiatives. All the branches of power and independent public institutions that responded to the OECD Survey (2018) indicated that they had a definition of open government in place and all have either an office or a person in charge of their open government agenda. While none of the institutions had a comprehensive open government strategy, they all implement a wide variety of initiatives to foster open government principles.

The main objective institutions pursue through the implementation of open government initiatives is the improvement of institutional transparency, followed by capacity-building to respond to the needs of citizens and businesses. As in many other countries, the OGP process has become an important platform to foster co-ordination between the branches of power and levels of government in Argentina. Institutions from all branches of power and a significant number of independent public institutions have joined the process to elaborate the third OGP Action Plan.

All branches of power and independent public institutions have a general predisposition to collaborate and co-ordinate open government strategies and initiatives across branches. Most institutions have already collaborated with the then Ministry of Modernisation, and in the process received orientation/guidance and participated in capacity-building events.

At present, exchanges between branches of power often rely on informal networks created through the involvement of institutions in the OGP process. Only a small number of formal spaces exist in which these branches can co-ordinate policies in the field of open government, such as the Roundtable on Access to Information.

Provinces have started to consolidate their frameworks for open government, but there is space to further improve the multi-level governance of reforms

Open government principles are well entrenched in many provinces of Argentina and most have at least a basic understanding of open government. Thanks to extensive outreach efforts on the part of the national government, the third OGP Action Plan includes commitments from 11 provinces. The Constitutions of most of these provinces refer to open government principles and the majority have some kind of legislation on access to information in place. In addition, 73% of provinces have either a ministry or an office in charge of their open government agenda and 80% have their own definition of open government. Some of these definitions demonstrate an advanced understanding of open government principles.

All provinces have gained experience in experimenting with open government initiatives. Open data initiatives are particularly high on the agenda, followed by initiatives to foster digital government and transparency. Survey results show that, for most provinces, the most important objective is “improving the transparency of the public sector”, followed by “improving the accountability of the public sector” and “enhancing citizen participation in the formulation of public policies”. The most important challenge provinces face in the implementation of their open government reform agendas is lack of trust among citizens in institutions.

In order to co-ordinate their open government initiatives, most provinces have created a Committee/Roundtable. In most cases, however, these bodies are not formalised and consist of ad hoc working meetings between actors. Vertical co-ordination of public policies in Argentina has historically been managed through the creation of Federal Councils. Currently, the most important council for the vertical co-ordination of open government initiatives is the Federal Council for Modernisation and Innovation in Public Management (COFEMOD), which is headed by the Government Secretariat of Modernisation. One of the Council’s six technical commissions focuses on open government and innovation (the “Open Government Commission”). If fully exploited, the Commission has the potential to become the primary space for the vertical co-ordination of open government initiatives and to provide an excellent entry point for tailor-made capacity-building support. In terms of the development of a possible National Open Government Strategy, the Commission would enable discussion of a shared vision for open government across the entire country.

Municipalities have started moving towards an open state

The national government has created a variety of initiatives to promote open government at the municipal level. For instance, the Ecosystem of Innovation programme, led by the Government Secretariat of Modernisation, seeks to streamline and consolidate municipal public policies in order to build innovation capacities in local governments. The SGM also created the programme País Digital (Digital Country) to co-ordinate digital government initiatives with provinces and municipalities. This programme provides provincial and municipal administrations with support in areas such as website creation, digital platforms and open data. Moreover, the Ministry of the Interior’s Under-secretariat for Municipal Relations has a Municipal Training Department that gives courses on open government to municipal governments.

Key recommendations

1. Organise regular Open State Meetings of the National Open Government Steering Committee (CNGA) involving all branches and independent public institutions, in order to harmonise approaches and ensure more fluid and institutionalised exchanges of good practices and experiences.

• Invite the people in charge of open government agendas in all branches of power and in independent public institutions to participate in the Network of Open Government Contact Points, in order to facilitate the sharing of practices and experiences.

• Invite Open Government Contact points from all branches and independent public institutions to participate in specific thematic sub-commissions of the CNGA.

2. Involve all branches of power and independent public institutions in the elaboration of a National Open Government Strategy (NOGS), to ensure that it reflects a shared vision, common objectives and a common understanding of what open government entails.

• Consider designing the strategy in a flexible way to allow all branches and independent public institutions to adhere to it through high-level declarations and to develop independent strategies tailored to the needs of their specific institutions, while contributing to a common vision.

• Consider the option of designing an actual Open State Strategy by co-creating joint objectives and promoting co-ordinated implementation of initiatives together with all branches of power, independent public institutions and all levels of government.

3. Make strategic use of the Open Government Commission of COFEMOD as the primary space for the vertical co-ordination of open government reforms.

• Use the Commission to discuss a shared vision, joint objectives and, possibly, common initiatives when designing a National Open Government Strategy, and consider allowing provinces to adhere to the strategy and develop their own Provincial Open Government Strategies that contribute to the overall objectives of the NOGS.

• Ensure that the agenda of the National Open Government Steering Committee is fully co-ordinated and aligned with the work being done in the Open Government Commission of COFEMOD.

  • Consider giving permanent seats in the Open State Meetings of the National Committee to the two provinces that chair the Commission of COFEMOD.

• Ensure a fluid exchange between the Open Government Commission of COFEMOD and the Federal Council of Transparency.

4. Continue supporting provinces in the development of their own open government agendas that contribute to the achievement of jointly defined national open government objectives.

• Provide additional capacity-building support to provincial governments by using spaces such as Argentina Abierta and the Open Government Commission of COFEMOD.

• Foster the creation of Provincial Open Government Steering Committees that bring together all relevant actors from the provincial government, local civil society leaders, the private sector and academia, as well as the other branches of power and independent public institutions.

5. Foster a more integrated and holistic national government approach to open government at the municipal level, including by involving municipalities in the design and implementation of the whole-of-government National Open Government Strategy.

• Ensure that national government efforts to foster open government at municipal level are well co-ordinated with efforts being undertaken by provinces with their respective municipalities.

Towards a conducive environment for digital and open government reforms in Argentina

Digital government and open government are mutually reinforcing and both work in support of democracy and inclusive growth

Acknowledging the importance of open and digital government, OECD countries have mandated the OECD Secretariat to develop own-standing legal instruments (“Recommendations”) in both areas. Argentina has adhered to both the OECD Recommendation of the Council on Open Government and the OECD Recommendation of the Council on Digital Government Strategies. This underlines the willingness of the country to follow and implement the principles included in the Recommendations, and learn from OECD best practices towards the creation of greater public value and benefits for citizens.

In Argentina, the institutional anchorage of digital government and open government in the Government Secretariat of Modernisation (SGM) provides great opportunities to further aligning the reform agendas and continue the close cooperation between the Secretariat for Digital Government and Innovation Technology and the Undersecretariat for Public Innovation and Open Government. It moreover enables a transversal use of digital and open government initiatives across the whole-of-government by using the political lever of the location of the SGM in the Office of the Chief of Cabinet of Ministers. Yet, room for improvement remains in terms of better engaging stakeholders in digital – and open government initiatives. Evidence from both OECD Reviews show that while inclusiveness and the implementation of citizen-driven approaches appear to be a priority in the context of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) projects and initiatives, untapped potential remains in terms of engaging citizens in public services.

There is currently a multitude of digital platforms such as Consulta Pública or Desafío Públicos. This may leave stakeholders in doubt about the most appropriate platform to interact with and reach out to the government. The central government acknowledges the need to unify and provide stakeholders with more clarity on the most appropriate way to interact. In this context, the digital platforms Argentina.gob.ar and MiArgentina are examples of the willingness of the central government to adopt a government-as one-entity approach vis-à-vis its citizens. For instance, MiArgentina stands out as a valuable platform that simplifies citizens’ experiences when accessing once-analogue public services.

Key recommendations

1. Ensure close interaction between the Undersecretariat for Public Innovation and Open Government and the Secretariat for Digital Government and Innovation Technology of the Government Secretariat of Modernisation. This would help to better design and deliver public services, prioritise data publication, and foster data re-use.

• Consider inviting a representative of the digital government team to the National Open Government Steering Committee to align agendas.

2. Consider further streamlining the variety of digital engagement platforms (Mi Argentina, Platform for Public Consultation, Public Challenges, etc.) and continue the efforts to make the Platform for Public Consultation the principal platform for digital consultation.