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OVERVIEW
From March to October 2015, I participated in the inaugural edition of the Organization of American
States’ Fellowship on Open Government in the Americas (“the Fellowship”). The Fellowship aims to
empower the next generation of public policy leaders in the Americas. It is run by the Organization of
American States (OAS) with support from partners, particularly the United Nations’ Economic
Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). It is funded by numerous donors,
including the Government of Canada.
My experience in the Fellowship was extremely positive. It provided me with excellent exposure to
important trends in modern governance and connected me with an exceptional network of leaders
from across the hemisphere. I unreservedly recommend that the Government of Canada sustain its
support for the Fellowship.
This report includes the following sections:
1. A summary of the Fellowship;
2. My reflections on the Fellowship; and
3. Recommendations on Canadian involvement in the Fellowship.
OUTCOMES AT A GLANCE
24 fellows
committed to
enhancing
governance
outcomes
16 countries
represented by the
fellows
6 projects to
sustainably
improve openness,
accountability and
citizen involvement
In-person seminars
in Maryland and
Mexico, plus dozens
of learning
activities
A dedicated
network of leaders
from across the
hemisphere
A shared vision for
open government
in the Americas
ABOUT THE CANADIAN FELLOW
Jaimie Boyd is a policy analyst with the Government of Canada. She works at the
Internal Trade Promotion Office at Industry Canada. She is a graduate of the
Government of Canada’s Accelerated Economist Training Program and an alumnus of
Action Canada, Canada’s leading public policy fellowship. Originally from Victoria, B.C.,
Jaimie holds degrees in political science and economics.
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1. SUMMARY OF THE FELLOWSHIP
OVERVIEW & STRUCTURE
The Fellowship aims to create a network of change makers by connecting the next generation of
public policy leaders from across the Americas. It offers a space for reflection, debate, capacity
building and exchange of knowledge and experiences relating to public policy. It focuses on
emerging trends and tools in public policy, with a particular focus on open government.
Participants are selected from all sectors through a highly competitive process. The 24 fellows that
participated in the inaugural edition of the Fellowship were selected from amongst 657 applicants
from 23 countries in the Americas. They were chosen on the basis of their ability to contribute to
public policy debates, their track record of enhancing governance outcomes, and their commitment
to developing and implementing innovative initiatives to overcome policy challenges in the Americas.
Fellows are required to be proficient in Spanish.
Over the course of the Fellowship period, which lasted from March to November 2015, fellows
participated in the following activities:
- A two week, intensive online course on open government through the OAS Virtual Campus;
- An in-person seminar in Maryland that included training in open government and public
policy; development of leadership skills; and exposure to global leaders in open government;
- Development and implementation of initiatives to enhance open government;
- A six month, online coaching program on open government and project management, run by
the GovLab at New York University;
- An in-person seminar in Mexico, which included participation in the global summit of the
Open Government Partnership.
OBJECTIVE
The goal of the Fellowship is to strengthen open government
practices in public policy across the Americas. Specifically,
it seeks to enhance transparency, civic participation, and
collaboration among stakeholders from different sectors of
society. It thereby seeks to contribute to democratic
governance and modernization of public administrations,
enabling citizens to actively participate in their country’s
political debates, shape public policy and take part in
decision making processes.
To achieve these objectives, the Fellowship proposes to
create a network of change agents, uniting emerging leaders
from the public sector, civil society and the private sector. It
encourages targeted knowledge transfers within the region
to build capacity, foster regional co-operation, and enhance
open government strategies across the Americas.
WHAT IS OPEN GOVERNMENT?
An emerging public policy paradigm
predicated on the belief that
Governments should offer platforms for
collaboration and meaningful
interaction across sectors.
Key values and principles:
- Transparency and accountability
- Participative democracy
- Open, accessible information/data
- Use of new tools and technologies
Pillars:
Open government
Open
information
Open data
Dialogue &
collaboration
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WHY OPEN GOVERNMENT?
Open government is emerging as one of the most significant trends in contemporary public
administration. It is increasingly considered to be a key element of democratic governance, effective
policy development and implementation, social stability and economic development.
While there have been significant advances in democratic consolidation in the Americas in recent
decades, many countries still lack basic tools relating to transparency, access to information,
e-government and open data. In other, more advanced democracies like Canada, the institutional
framework for open government may be strong, but its implementation may still be incomplete. In
Canada’s case, for example, many experts agree that excellent progress has been made by openly
releasing data, but that other kinds of information can be difficult to access and that dialogue and
collaboration with civil society and the private sector are insufficient. Restrictions on the pillars of
open government are considered to hinder citizen participation in policy development and
implementation, undermining the effectiveness and legitimacy of policy outcomes.
Unlike most other countries in the world, the federal public service in Canada appears to have
adopted a relatively narrow definition of open government; however, many of the activities and
commitments covered by Blueprint 2020, the Central Innovation Hub at the Privy Council Office, and
the Deputy Minister Committee on Policy Innovation would fall under conventional conceptions of
open government, in addition to the efforts led by the Open Government Secretariat within the
Treasury Board Secretariat.
PARTNERS
The Fellowship is run by the Department for Effective
Public Management at the OAS. It receives support from
experts at the United Nations’ Economic Commission for
Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and Avina, a
Latin American foundation that supports sustainable
development. It additionally receives support from the
Government of Canada, the Government of Mexico, The
Carter Center, and Hivos, a global non-governmental
organization that supports sustainable development.
THE FELLOWS
Given the highly competitive nature of the selection
process, participants in the inaugural edition of the
Fellowship were remarkable in their knowledge,
leadership abilities, and commitment to enhancing
governance outcomes in the region. All 24 fellows are
recognized leaders in public policy in their respective
countries. Of note, this year’s winner of the top honour
awarded by the Open Government Partnership is led by
a fellow. A summary of the fellows follows below.
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Bruno Andrade
Brandao, Brazil
Country director
for Transparency
International
Jaimie Boyd,
Canada
Policy analyst,
Industry Canada,
Gov. of Canada
Paulina Bustos,
Mexico
Director of
Operations, Code
for Mexico
Fernanda
Campagnucci,
Brazil
Deputy director for
Integrity, City of
Sao Paulo
Daniel Carranza,
Uruguay
Professor,
consultant and co-
founder of Data
Uruguay
Mauricio Delfin,
Peru
PhD candidate at
McGill University
and founder of
Cultura Peru
Mariana Gatti
Font, Uruguay
Director of
Transparency,
Government of
Uruguay
Guillermo Incer,
Nicaragua
Executive director,
Nicaraguan
Network for
Democracy
Jorge Jimenez
Barillas,
Guatemala
Lawyer and founder
of Open Congress
Jimena Luna,
Chile
Policy advisor, Unit
for People with
Disabilities, Gov.
of Chile
Gustavo
Maultasch, Brazil
Deputy director,
Technology and
Information, Min.of
External Relations
Ramon Olivas,
Mexico
Deputy advisor to
the Deputy Minister,
Ministry of Energy
Natalia Paiva,
Brazil
Executive director,
Transparency
Brazil
Iris Palma
Recinos, El
Salvador
Director of El
Salvador Data
Laura Paonessa,
Argentina
Director, Open
Government Lab,
City of Buenos Aires
Gerardo Perez
Gallardo, Mexico
Director of digital
governance, City of
Xalapa
Carlos Pimentel,
Dominican
Republic
Country director for
Transparency
International
Maikol Porras,
Costa Rica
Consultant, founder
of the Citizen
Association for
Open Society
Carolina Pozo
Donoso, Ecuador
Secretary General
for planning and
open government,
City of Quito
Edilma Prada,
Colombia
Journalist, founder
of an independent
newspaper
Fabro Steibel,
Brazil
Project coordinator,
Institute for
Technology and
Society
Teofilo Urbieta,
Paraguay
Executive director
of Parigual, a
human rights
organization
Alan Vera, Bolivia
Policy advisor,
Andean Parliament
Rebeca Yañez,
Chile
Professor,
consultant in
information
management
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CAPACITY BUILDING
Throughout all elements of the Fellowship, significant effort was made to ensure that fellows were
exposed to the most recent thinking on open government and public policy; developed their
leadership skills; and had contact with leading thinkers. Examples of guest speakers include:
- Michael Shifter – President of
Inter-American Dialogue
- Gabriela Gomez Montt –
Executive Director of
Laboratorio para la Ciudad,
Mexico City’s government lab
and one of the leading labs
globally
- Laura Neuman – Director of the
Global Access to Information
Initiative, The Carter Center
- Pablo Collada – Executive
Director of Ciudadano
Inteligente, one of Latin
America’s leading public policy
centres
FELLOWSHIP PROJECTS
A key element of the Fellowship was the development and launch of a series
of initiatives to enhance open government in the Americas. These initiatives
were designed and implemented by six task forces formed by fellows at the
first seminar. They were developed over a period of six months with the
support of OAS advisors, the GovLab, and mentors that were assigned to each
project. For example, my project focused on building a platform for monitoring
infrastructure investments; my task force was assigned a mentor from the
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development with expertise in
infrastructure.
All six initiatives were launched at the global summit of the Open Government
Partnership and were announced by the Secretary General of the OAS at the
opening plenary in the presence of high-profile attendees, including heads of
state. The initiatives are:
- Really Open Gov – a campaign to enhance equality, diversity and
inclusion in conversations and planning around open government
- Opening Countries for Security (APPS, from its acronym in Spanish) – a
strategy to encourage transformative commitments relating to citizen
security in Open Government Action Plans
Fellows participating in one of the GovLab's regular coaching sessions
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- Open Justice – standards for applying the principles of open government to the judiciary
throughout the Americas
- Open Journalism – a project to unite journalists and citizens in order to create media reports
on social issues and other topics of interest
- My City – a platform for monitoring commitments and progress on public infrastructure
investments
- Factory for Government Labs - an initiative to create and strengthen Open Government Labs,
which are spaces for collaboration and innovation with both civil society and governments
THE OPEN GOVERNMENT PARTNERSHIP
As part of the second seminar, fellows participated in the annual global summit (October 27-29,
2015) of the Open Government Partnership (OGP). OGP is an alliance between 68 countries,
including Canada, which was launched in 2011. It aims to provide an international platform to help
make governments more open, accountable, and responsive to citizens. By requiring countries to
develop biennial action plans, and subjecting evaluation of both the plans and government
performance to an independent reporting mechanism, OGP encourages government and civil society
to work together to develop and implement ambitious open government reforms.
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2. REFLECTIONS ON THE FELLOWSHIP
STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE FOR CANADA
The Fellowship offers diverse opportunities to advance the Government of Canada’s interests at
home and abroad. This section highlights three key ways in which the Fellowship aligns with
Canada’s strategic interests.
Open government is a priority
Canada has shown international leadership on open government. The OGP was launched in 2011 to
provide an international platform for countries committed to making their governments more open,
accountable, and responsive to citizens. Canada supports this vision having joined OGP in late
2011. It has also endorsed other international open government initiatives, including the G8 Open
Data Charter and the G8 Science Ministers’ Statement on Open Science. It has demonstrated
significant leadership in developing the International Open Data Charter.
According to its Open Government Action Plan, the Government of Canada is committed to
supporting all three pillars of open government: open data, open information, and open dialogue.
Canada’s strong federal institutions support these efforts; for example, compliance with the Access
to Information Act is far more deeply engrained than in many countries. Canada has also had great
success implementing open data policies, releasing an unprecedented number of high quality data
sets through its open data portal.
In spite of these successes, Canada continues to have opportunities to improve its performance on
open government norms outside of open data. Canada’s independent reporting mechanism, as well
as other relevant stakeholders, have highlighted opportunities to deepen engagement with civil
society, particularly through robust consultation and increased disclosure of information that
pertains to the policy development process.
Exposure to best practices benefits Canada
Given the importance of open government to the
Government of Canada, sustained exposure to global best
practices is highly desirable in order to inform the
development of open government policies and practices. It
is of particular interest given platform commitments made
in October 2015 by the new Liberal government, which
include significant enhancements to open data and open
parliament policies.
Interest in enhancing open government builds on
important pre-existing trends within the federal public
service. Blueprint 2020 recognized that the policy
profession no longer holds a monopoly on providing policy
advice and Destination 2020 pivoted towards
implementing strategies to enhance the networked,
“It is time to shine more light
on government and ensure
that it remains focused on the
people it is meant to serve.
Government and its
information should be open by
default.”
- Liberal Party of Canada
Platform 2015
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innovative nature of the federal public service. Similarly, the Deputy Minister Committee on Policy
Innovation, the Central Innovation Hub at the Privy Council Office, and numerous departmental labs
are committed to enhancing the suite of tools available to the public service for developing and
implementing policy.
Conversations currently taking place within the global open government community are closely
aligned with work taking place in Canada under the banner of policy innovation. As such, there is a
clear strategic advantage associated with policy analysts within the Government of Canada being
party to those conversations given that there are increasing opportunities to implement new tools at
home. Particular insight could be gleaned on best practices in consultation and co-creation.
Key opportunity for soft diplomacy
The Americas are an area of strategic interest for Canada.
Canada’s Department of Global Affairs “[places] great value
in fostering lasting and meaningful relationships with
countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.” Current
efforts to implement an ambitious Trans-Pacific Partnership
are bolstered by strong relationships in the region, as is
Canada’s ability to implement effective programming in
many of its development countries of interest given that 5 of
Canada’s 25 priority regions are in the Americas.
In addition to these broad strategic interests, two of the
three goals identified in Canada’s Strategy for Engagement
in the Americas are supported by the Fellowship:
Goal #2: Addressing insecurity and advancing freedom, democracy, human rights and the
rule of law – The strategy seeks opportunities to share Canadian experience to strengthen
institutions required for stability and growth. The Fellowship provides diverse opportunities
to share Canadian experiences and showcase the strength of its institutions and democratic
practices. In my experience, it provided an effective platform for direct, candid engagement
on these topics with thought leaders from throughout the Americas.
Goal #3: Fostering Lasting Relationships – The Fellowship provided me with access to a very
effective, well connected network of emerging leaders from all sectors throughout the
Americas. While the other fellows are already very accomplished, I have no doubt that they
will continue to offer leadership in public affairs in their respective countries, providing me
and the Canadian public service with exceptional people-to-people connections. These
friendships support existing bilateral relations with countries of particular interest
(e.g., bilateral trade partners, Brazil).
Sharing the Canadian experience
Fellows in various working sessions
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SIGNIFICANT LESSONS
My participation in the fellowship was exceptionally enriching. Not only did it provide me with a new
network of very helpful colleagues, it also exposed me to thinking and experiences that equip me to
offer key observations on modernizing governance which I believe to be deeply relevant to the
current policy environment in Canada. Salient observations are described below.
Democratic norms are evolving
It is commonly acknowledged within the Canadian public service that citizen expectations are
changing. It is less common, however, to connect this reflection to the nature of our institutions and
even our democracy. Through the fellowship, I learnt that in many other countries, citizens and civil
society now connect heightened expectations to questions of legitimacy; that is, institutions that fail
to conform to open government norms are seen as deficient. My experience suggests that, in many
countries, open government has allowed participative democracy to evolve from being perceived as
a luxury to a basic expectation. Even where electoral democracy is less deeply engrained than in
Canada, civil society is increasingly demanding far more than just free and fair elections.
I suggest that changing citizen expectations will increasingly reshape what is conceived in Canada as
good public policy. Indeed the process through which policy initiatives are developed will have
greater inherent value to both civil society and, as diverse actors learn to effectively engage in policy
development processes, to government.
Given this evolving policy environment, Canada has an excellent opportunity to learn from
international counterparts. Governments and civil society organizations around the world are
developing, experimenting with, and iterating new strategies for fruitful cross-sector collaboration.
New tools being used include collaborative technological platforms (e.g., All Our Ideas,
Democracy OS), radical transparency (e.g., Latvian cabinet live-streaming its meetings), opportunities
for co-creation (e.g., Buenos Aires Hackathons) and participatory budgeting (e.g., at the municipal
level across Brazil). I would argue that Canadian public servants should have greater exposure to
these tools to be able to adapt them, as appropriate, to the Canadian policy context.
Civil society can help modernize governance
A second major realization facilitated by the fellowship has been that Canadian civil society is
relatively inactive in Open Government. In many other countries, civil society organizations are
actively demanding transparency and proposing concrete tools to improve cross-sector engagement.
For example, in Chile, a single NGO has developed a suite of over 20 initiatives to enhance
government transparency, including major projects to track beneficial ownership of companies and
reveal political financing. While Canada already has a robust legal framework that obviates the need
for many such initiatives, the Chilean experience and many like it suggest that civil society may have
relevant skills and interests that could enhance openness.
The benefits of such openness are clear in places where civil society is empowered to effectively
engage with government. Organizations are able to analyse data that is relevant to their needs as
well as to intimately and productively provide insight into their interests. In Canada, however, very
few organizations engage vocally in conversations around open government (with the significant
exception of Open North, a Montreal-based NGO). I recognize that the proliferation of NGOs in other
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countries may be symptomatic of ineffective participatory tools and institutions that are less evident
in Canada. However, given the beneficial role of civil society in driving collaboration and improved
governance outcomes, Canada may be well served by looking to other countries as models for
effectively engaging and empowering other sectors.
Peer networks can effect meaningful change
A final major lesson from the Fellowship is first-hand knowledge of the benefits of cross-sector
collaboration between peers as a tool for advancing impactful projects. Through the Fellowship,
fellows were encouraged to form task forces to advance open government projects. The teams were
formed organically but, given the diverse composition of the cohort, ended up being almost entirely
composed of fellows from varied backgrounds and countries. This diversity, combined with the high-
performing nature of the fellows, resulted in a suite of extremely high quality initiatives.
An example of a Fellowship project that had a high degree of visibility at the Open Government
Partnership summit was Really Open Gov, a task force-driven campaign to include marginalized
voices in conversations and plans around government modernization. The initiative had a significant
impact, not least because it directly involved people with community-based agendas and people with
disabilities. It leveraged the diversity of the fellows to meaningfully launch an inclusive and highly-
relevant global campaign. My project, My City, similarly leveraged diversity by involving fellows from
municipal government, federal government, and civil society to build an effective, inclusive platform
to enhance transparency around government procurement.
Although in Canada there is wide-spread recognition of the value of cross-sector collaboration to
advance high-impact projects, there are few real opportunities for federal officials to gain relevant
experience. The Fellowship offered a very concrete opportunity to liaise closely outside of my sector
to build and showcase a high-impact initiative.
EVALUATION
Diverse benefits for the Government of Canada
Participating in the Fellowship was a very positive experience. It provided me with an exceptional
network and intimate exposure to important debates. I recognize that the experience constituted a
significant investment from the OAS and partner organizations, as well as from my own employer by
providing me with training time to participate in Fellowship activities (two weeks over six months,
plus roughly two hours per month for coaching sessions scheduled during work hours). I additionally
invested significant time participating in Fellowship activities, studying emerging trends, and working
Fellows engaging at an OAS Roundtable and at the OGP Summit
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with my task force to launch our Fellowship project. Overall, I am
confident that these investments were very worth-while.
Specific Fellowship outcomes from a Canadian perspective include:
- A highly trained policy analyst well-placed to advise on and
implement open government initiatives across the
Government of Canada;
- Access to a committed network of 24 fellows and many
more Fellowship supporters and mentors that are
committed to supporting open government initiatives in
Canada and throughout the hemisphere;
- A suite of six replicable Fellowship projects that sustainably improve openness,
accountability and citizen involvement;
- Concrete success cases of cross-sector collaboration in support of government
modernization in the Americas;
- Momentum around the global open government movement;
- Visibility of Canadian policies, norms and values across the Americas;
- A shared vision for collaborative strategies to enhance open government and policy
innovation in the Americas.
Exceptional fellowship with clear institutional support
In reflecting on my experience with the Fellowship, I would like to highlight that the positive outcomes
were largely made possible by an incredibly committed team at the OAS. From an institutional
perspective, particular strengths include:
- Extremely well-conceived, organized and executed Fellowship activities, particularly the
seminars in Maryland and Mexico City;
- Very committed team that went to great lengths to provide fellows with outstanding learning
opportunities and to promote our work;
- Demonstrated willingness of the team to adapt Fellowship parameters on the basis of
ongoing feedback provided by fellows; and
- High degree of institutional support from the OAS and partner organizations, notably through
direct promotion of Fellowship projects by the Secretary General of the OAS.
Fellows with Luis Almagro, Secretary General of the Organization of American States
Conclusion of the Fellowship
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3. RECOMMENDATIONS
The Organization of American States’ Fellowship on Open Government in the Americas offers an
exceptional array of potential benefits for the Government of Canada. Given my very enriching and
positive experience with the Fellowship, I would like to offer a few humble recommendations to the
Government of Canada for maximizing the benefit associated with the Fellowship going forward:
- Continue to support the Fellowship financially – I understand that financial support was
provided for the first year by the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
through its development programming. While this pilot funding was very important, it would
be important to identify a reliable, multi-year source of funds to ensure that Canada
continues to garner the reputational benefits associated with supporting such a high-profile
capacity building initiative while remaining involved in advancing the open government
agenda in the Americas. A pertinent model could be the funding arrangements associated
with Action Canada, Canada’s leading public policy fellowship; Heritage Canada provides the
bulk of the funding which is then supplemented by an external partner. The OAS Fellowship
offers an excellent opportunity for the Treasury Board Secretariat (the department that
houses Canada’s Open Government Secretariat) or Global Affairs Canada to show
leadership.
- Support the Fellowship by sharing Canadian expertise – Experts within the Government of
Canada, particularly within the Open Government Secretariat and the Central Innovation
Hub, should immediately reach out to Fellowship coordinators to seek opportunities to
showcase Canadian leadership in governance modernization. To demonstrate the potential
for Canada to play an important role going forward, it may be useful to observe the impact of
another funder, the Government of Mexico, in shaping the fellowship. The Mexican
Presidency hosted the fellows in Mexico for our second seminar. Fellows thereby had
significant exposure to Mexican institutions, including the Department of External Relations
and the National Institute for Transparency, Access to Information and Data Protection.
Enhanced Canadian involvement in the fellowship could similarly offer opportunities to
showcase Canadian leadership.
- Promote the Fellowship within the Government of Canada – Federal officials should
immediately seek to identify high-potential, Spanish-speaking public servants to participate
in future iterations of the Fellowship. The application deadline for the next cohort of fellows
is expected to be in early 2016. Officials that would be particularly well placed to lead efforts
to identify Canadian candidates include the Americas Programming Bureau at Global Affairs
Canada and the Open Government Secretariat. Senior engagement with the fellowship could
be particularly helpful for future fellows as they launch their task force initiatives.
I am available to discuss these recommendations. Please feel free to contact me at
Jaimie.Boyd@canada.ca.
CONTACTS
Matthias Jaeger - mjaeger@oas.org – Program coordinator for the Fellowship
Maria Fernanda Trigo - mtrigo@oas.org – Director, Department for Effective Public Management,
Organization of American States
www.oas.org/OpenGovFellowship
