OECD evidence shows that, despite the existence of many open government initiatives at national and subnational government levels, a coherent and structured approach is often lacking, even though it is important to ensure a cultural shift and to enable a strategic use of open government initiatives. Therefore, the OECD Recommendation on Open Government advises adherents “to develop, adopt and implement open government strategies and initiatives.” According to the Recommendation, “an open government strategy is a document that defines the open government agenda of the central government and/or of any of its subnational levels, as well as that of a single public institution or thematic area, and that includes key open government initiatives, together with short, medium and long-term goals and indicators.”
The open government approach adopted by the municipality of Salé is based on a number of practices that aim to promote transparency, stakeholder participation, integrity and accountability (see discussion below). Although implemented in a regular manner, these initiatives do not form part of a global vision or strategy – a challenge shared by many cities and countries that are implementing open government reforms. While ad hoc and specific initiatives increase confidence and enable policies to be better designed in a given sector, these do not lead to the strategic use of open government to transform the administration as a whole, and its connection with its citizenry. Nor do they allow a common vision to shape the future of the city. The city of Edmonton in Canada (see Box 2.1) has launched the “Open City Initiative” in an attempt to define the objectives that will form the basis of the city’s vision for 2040. Similarly, the municipality of Salé could consider developing a strategy for open government. It would group together all current initiatives and propose a roadmap for the future of open government in Salé. By setting objectives, the strategy would enable activities to be prioritised – including long and medium-term ones – and define the needed budget and corresponding human resources. Such a strategy would include a vision of the human resources and training required, as well as indicators for evaluation and impact, so as to measure its success. The strategy would enable all actors to agree on the pathway to be followed, and could set out a long-term vision that goes beyond the municipal council’s current electoral mandate.