The Open Government Partnership (OGP) is a global multilateral initiative with the core objective of securing solid commitments from governments to promote transparency, empower citizens, fight corruption, and harness new technologies to strengthen governance, in partnership with civil society and the private sector.
Since its inception in 2011, more than 75 countries have joined the OGP. The Partnership is governed by a Steering Committee that is comprised of both government officials as well as civil society members. Each member country is required to publish a two-year action plan for their open government initiatives developed in consultation with civil society and interested citizens.
Canada has been an active OGP member since 2012; its first Action Plan covered the period of 2012-2014. Most recently, Canada stood as a candidate in the election of the new OGP Steering Committee members in 2017. Four steering committee seats were available, and 12 countries submitted their candidacy. Canada came first in the election, and assumes its seat on the Steering Committee in September, 2017.
Increasingly, the global open government community is looking to expand beyond opening up access to data and information, to also supporting more meaningful, dependable and honest dialogue between citizens and the governments that serve them.