Open Government Partnership (OGP) Positive Outcome Story: Strengthening the Open Government Ecosystem in Brazil
Brazil has a significant history of social participation and transparency policies. One of the eight founding countries of the Open Government Partnership (OGP), Brazil is currently implementing its sixth national open government action plan. In addition to the federal government, various actors have been working on the open government agenda for over a decade. However, at the 2022 Open Americas Global Summit, a powerful core group of civil society members, academics, and government representatives formed, and upon returning to Brazil, began meeting and managing a collaborative space. With the expansion of OGP Local members in Brazil back in 2020 and in 2024, the open government agenda gained more local reach, leading other municipalities and state governments to become interested in improving and expanding their transparency, citizen participation, innovation, and accountability policies. This interest has generated many questions and difficulties regarding how to develop or improve open government initiatives and policies in alignment with its pillars and the proposal for co-creation within society.
Nevertheless, it also presented a unique opportunity to share experiences, learn from one another, and, in a coordinated manner, accelerate the impact of local open government in Brazil. Thus, the open government ecosystem expanded to form the Brazilian Open Government Network (RGBA by its initials in Portuguese), a national network to enhance and foster open government initiatives and practices across the country. The RGBA is an initiative aimed at promoting, improving, and disseminating open government practices and policies, in which public authorities from all spheres and branches of government, civil society organizations, private sector representatives, and academia can participate. Through the implementation of transparent measures, rigorous accountability, and facilitation of citizen participation, the RGBA works to ensure the legitimacy of institutions and empower citizens.
As a result, the Network created its Charter of Principles as the first step towards formalization, outlining the Network’s objective, mode of operation, values, and commitments to the open government agenda in the country. The proposal is that adherence to the principles of the Charter be the first step for the entry and retention of new actors who want to be part of the Network. Many actors from local governments (both OGP members and non-members, civil society, and academia) are committed and willing to strengthen this agenda at the federal, state, and municipal levels. Undoubtedly, this is a great challenge given the size of the country (203 million inhabitants), but in the coming years, the aim is to consolidate the Network as a space to facilitate and promote the exchange of experiences, training, knowledge production, and dissemination of best practices in open government.