Open Government process in Georgia
Georgia became a Member of Open Government Partnership (OGP)
OGP was established in 2011. Georgia was one of the first countries to join the initiative when it developed the OGP Georgia Action Plan for 2012-2013.
In that same year, a unified portal of governmental services – MY.GOV.GE was created as a common platform of electronic services in the public and private sectors. Presently the portal offers more than 450 various services to citizens without them having to leave their homes.
Access to public information reform started in Georgia; OGP Georgia Forum – a permanent dialogue mechanism with civil society was established
Decree of the Government of Georgia “About Electronic Requests and Proactive Disclosure of Public Information” was approaved.
Contest of “Bright Spots” was conducted within the scope of the London OGP 2013 Global Summit aimed at identifying innovative projects advancing government transparency and accountability. The reform about the electronic request and proactive disclosure of public information made it to the 7 finalists of the competition. This was recognized as a successful example of the cooperation between the government and NGOs with the endorsement by the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI).
In 2013, the Ministry of Justice established the OGP Georgia Forum – the first permanent dialogue mechanism that has brought together government agencies, local and international organizations.
Georgia became a member of the OGP Steering Committee; the Supreme Court became involved in the OGP process; the first-ever open data portal – DATA.GOV.GE was created.
For the first time in 2014 Georgia was elected as a member of the OGP Steering Committee for a two-year term. The Steering Committee is the decision-making body of the organization where 11 states and 11 NGOs are represented.
In the same year, the first-ever open data portal - DATA.GOV.GE was created, where open data are published in a processible format accessible for all. This enables businesses, NGOs, and government agencies to use needed data uninterruptedly and to create applications, electronic services and consequently, to gain income from using them.
Georgia held the first-ever full-scale public consultations to elaborate OGP Georgia Action Plan in 2014. The OGP Georgia Action Plan for 2014-2015 was approved by the Government Decree N557.
The Supreme Court of Georgia got involved in the Action Plan implementation for the first time.
Georgia hosted the first-ever OGP European Regional Conference; the Parliament of Georgia became involved in the OGP Georgia process
Delegates from more than 40 countries – stakeholders from government agencies and international organizations participated in the OGP European Regional Conference. Delegations from France, USA, Great Britain, Ukraine, Turkey, Slovakia, Serbia, Romania, Norway, Netherlands, Montenegro, Malta, Jordan, Ireland, Hungary, Czechia, Croatia, Bulgaria, Azerbaijan, and Armenia paid a special visit to Georgia for the conference.
At the OGP Global Summit conducted in Mexico in the same year, Georgia was granted Open Government Champion’s Award for successful cooperation with civil society.
In 2015, the Parliament of Georgia joined the process. An interfractional group coordinating OGP activities was established and the First Action Plan of Open Parliament was elaborated with the active involvement of non-governmental and international organizations.
Georgia, along with France, became a Co-Chair of OGP; the city of Tbilisi and 5 municipalities joined the OGP process.
OGP Georgia Action Plan for 2016-2017 was elaborated and approved by the Decree of the Government of Georgia where commitments of 5 municipalities with respect to various areas were considered as a separate, independent component. Also, the selection of topics of commitments determined by the Action Plan was broadened and now already included the issues related to the environment, healthcare, competition, energy, and consumer rights.
Tbilisi Municipality City Hall became involved in OGP Local Program. The capital of Georgia made it into the list of the 15 cities selected among the 45 participating candidates throughout the world.
In 2016, Georgia, along with France, became the OGP Co-Chair country for a one-year term and in 2017 took over the chairmanship of the Partnership from France.
Georgia is elected as the OGP Chair country for a one-year term
Prior to Georgia, OGP was chaired by Great Britain, Indonesia, Mexico, South Africa, and France. As a Chair of OGP, the Government of Georgia highlited 4 priority areas:
- Enhancement of citizen involvement and cooperation
- Ensuring more transparency and combating corruption
- Introduction of innovations in delivering public services
- Developing better partnership
- The first-ever official governmental platform for citizens’ electronic petitions - ichange.gov.ge was created.
- Public officials’ Asset Declaration Monitoring System was launched.
- An innovative platform - Budget Monitor was created and civic participation in oversight over public finances was increased.
Georgia took over OGP chairmanship and hosted the 5th OGP Global Summit on 17-19 July in Tbilisi
On 12 November 2018, the Government of Georgia approved the OGP Georgia Action Plan for 2018-2019 by Decree N537. According to the above plan, the number of municipalities increased and now comprises 13 municipal bodies of 11 municipalities. For the first time the OGP Action Plan covered issues such as the advancement of transparency of government grant funding system, development of housing policy, transparency of enterprises with government's equity participation, economic reforms, and civic engagement in the development of legislative acts.
Georgia hosted the 5th OGP Global Summit in Tbilisi in 2018. 2270 delegates from 115 countries including government delegations and representatives of civil society, international organizations, academia, and media participated in the event. Up to 80 sessions and panel discussions were held within the scope of the Summit. The Ministry of Justice of Georgia was in charge of Summit preparation.
As the term of chairmanship expired, Georgia handed over the leadership of OGP to the Government of Canada.
Georgia was elected as a member of the OGP Steering Committee once more – this time for a three-year term; the Administration of the Government of Georgia was tasked to coordination OGP
The OGP Georgia process at both national and international levels was coordinated by the Ministry of Justice until April 2019.
According to Decree N197 of the Government of Georgia of 22 April 2019, the Administration of the Government of Georgia was tasked with coordination of Georgia’s OGP membership nationally and internationally. Public Administration Unit was established within the Administration of the Government of Georgia, in charge of managing OGP Georgia and the Public Administration Reform (PAR).
Since October 1, 2019, together with Germany and Indonesia, Georgia has been elected to the OGP Steering Committee for a three-year term. The head of the Administration of the Government of Georgia represents Government at the Steering Committee.
In 2019, a legislative change on Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) of Legislative Acts came into effect.
The first-ever OGP Georgia High-level Inter-Agency Coordination Council was established; NGOs became involved in the process with the right to vote.
The first-ever OGP Georgia High-level Inter-Agency Coordination Council was established under the initiative of the Administration of the Government of Georgia and with the active involvement of NGOs. The Statute of the Council was approved by Decree N110 of the Government of Georgia dated by 13 February 2020. All Deputy Ministers and heads of local NGOs enjoy the right to vote in the Council.
All Deputy Ministers and heads of member NGOs participate in the Council with the right to vote.
OGP Georgia Forum was assigned as a permanent working group of the Council.
OGP Georgia website was developed with the support of the USAID-funded GGI program.