France Becomes 64th Country To Join The Open Government Partnership

France becomes 64th country to join the Open Government Partnership

Paris (April 24, 2014) – At the Paris Conference on Open Data and Open Government, Minister Marylise Lebranchu today announced that France is to join the Open Government Partnership (OGP).

France becomes the 64th country to join OGP, which now represents over 2 billion people around the world. This milestone now means that all G7 countries, except Germany and Japan, are part of OGP. Already a world leader in open data, France launched its open data portal, data.gouv.fr, in December 2011, allowing public services to publish their own data. In December 2013, a new version of this portal was launched which adds a social and collaborative dimension by opening up to citizens contributions. It now also allows civil society organizations to enhance, modify and interpret data with a view to co-produce information of general interest.

France joins OGP ahead of the European Regional Meeting in Dublin (8-9 May) where over 30 countries will attend to share innovation and best practice on open government. Many of those countries are in the process of finalising their second OGP National Action Plans, which contain specific open government reform commitments. France will now begin drafting its National Action Plan in consultation with civil society.

France joining OGP will help make the case for other Francophone countries, including in Africa, to join too. Currently, the only other French-speaking countries, which participate in OGP are Canada and Tunisia. As France becomes a member, it also creates momentum for OGP ahead of its upcoming regional meetings in Bali (6-7 May) and Dublin (8-9 May).

Marylise Lebranchu, Ministre de de la Décentralisation, de la Réforme de l'Etat et de la Fonction Publique, France, said:

"France is joining the Open Government Partnership with great determination. France is willing to contribute to its dynamism with full commitment and by engaging in a fruitful dialogue with its partners. What's at stake is innovation and building the public action of tomorrow. It's not only about being accountable, it is also about deeply renewing the way we design, drive and assess public action.”

Commenting on France joining Rakesh Rajani, Civil-society co-chair of OGP said:

“Opening up government to citizen ideas and oversight is not easy and not always popular. France has shown today that it is willing to take the extra step of joining the Open Government Partnership, and putting citizens at the heart of government reform efforts.”

Minister Kuntoro, Government co-chair of OGP said:

"I welcome today's commitment of the French Government to join the Open Government Partnership. OGP is stronger today with France as a participant, and I look forward to working with them to advance reform efforts in France and globally. The demand from citizens for open, innovative and accountable governments is common across the world. France can help strengthen OGP and inspire other countries to join this vibrant movement."

OGP was formally launched in September 2011 and has grown from eight to 64 governments.

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Contact for OGP: Hanover Communications, +44 207 400 4480, [email protected] or visit www.opengovpartnership.org. Joe Powell, Deputy Director of the OGP Support Unit, is available for comment in Paris, +12024892146, [email protected]

Notes to Editors

1. About OGP

OGP is a multilateral initiative aimed at securing concrete commitments from governments to promote transparency, increase civic participation, fight corruption, and harness new technologies to make government more open, effective, and accountable. It is fostering news ways of the citizen and the state working together to solve common problems.

OGP was formally launched in September 2011 when eight founding governments – Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, Norway, Philippines, South Africa, United Kingdom and United States – endorsed an Open Government Declaration, and published national OGP action plans with specific open government reform commitments. In just two years, the eight founding OGP countries have been joined by a further 53 countries bringing the total to 64 participating countries. Their combined population is over 2 billion, based on the 2012 statistics from the World Bank (the latest available figures).

2. About the Paris Conference

The Paris Conference on Open Data and Open Government on Thursday, April 24th and Friday, April 25th is a prime occasion to take stock of these evolutions in France and throughout the world, with some of the key actors of this global movement.

The first day of the Conference, held at the Cour des comptes (the French Government Accountability Office) showcases three major dimensions of the open government revolution:

• Building trust and transparency in our democracies through more open data, more open decision-making processes and the construction of a culture of accountability in government;
• Empowering citizens by sharing and co-developing the resources that an active, informed and autonomous civil society requires to thrive;
• Ushering government and public services into the age of the digital revolution, from data-driven strategies to government-as-a-platform.