[open-government] Stop Secret Contracts! Launch of new global campaign

Tue Mar 4 16:04:39 UTC 2014

> very aware that the specific demands which will have most traction will vary depending on local contexts, and hope to support local initiatives who have the best understanding of the issues in their area.

Cool - as the campaign progresses, it would be interesting to curate a list of the country-specific demands, to give groups working in other countries ideas for local campaigns.

> Maybe you could say a bit more about the jurisdictions you think have some level of transparency but where it is still inadequate.

As an example, Quebec, like many jurisdictions, publishes information on public contracts, but it uses the names of companies as identifiers, instead of a company number from a corporate registry. The issue is that company names are frequently misspelled, have many valid forms, can change, etc. so it is hard to answer simple questions like "what are all the contracts on which this company bid?" The OECD offers heuristics for identifying bid rigging: http://www.oecd.org/competition/cartels/42851044.pdf Many of those heuristics are difficult to apply in Quebec due to such issues with the published information.

> Do you believe there are jurisdictions in which they've got the rules right?

I can't identify an example, but any jurisdiction that applies the OECD recommendations in its Competition Assessment Toolkit [1] and applies its guidelines for fighting bid rigging in public procurement [2] would be good. The OECD's recommendations/guidelines are examples of cross-jurisdictional demands that can be made of governments.

1. http://www.oecd.org/competition/assessment-toolkit.htm
2. http://www.oecd.org/competition/cartels/42851044.pdf

James

On 2014-03-03, at 9:22 AM, Theodora Middleton wrote:

> Thanks both :-)
> 
> @Adarkwah - great to get your perspective. I would see G20 and OGP as better targets than G8, and particularly the C20 process as being a good route of engagement. Certainly we are very aware of the variety of international contexts, and are really interested in developing a better global picture of the different needs and objectives of different groups working around these issues. We hope to be able to support civil society groups to do national level campaigning in the way that they feel is appropriate for gaining greater transparency in government contracting in their country. 
> 
> @James - absolutely. We are, as mentioned above, very aware that the specific demands which will have most traction will vary depending on local contexts, and hope to support local initiatives who have the best understanding of the issues in their area. In the UK, for example, one of our supporting partners is a group who are calling for companies which receive government contracts to deliver public services to be subject to the same FOI requirements as the government itself. Such a demand might be less appropriate elsewhere. If you are not already aware of them, the Open Contracting Partnership's Global Principles are a useful starting point for discussion. Maybe you could say a bit more about the jurisdictions you think have some level of transparency but where it is still inadequate. Do you believe there are jurisdictions in which they've got the rules right? Do feel free to email me off list if you'd like to!
> 
> Overall, openness and transparency in contracting touches on a whole host of issues, bringing together a diverse range of groups and individuals who share the belief that governments should be accountable to citizens for how public money is spent. For this campaign to be effective, we will need people within our networks to help make these issues make sense where you are from. 
> 
> Best,
> 
> Theodora
> 
> 
> On 3 March 2014 13:46, Adarkwah Dickman <dickmadarkwah at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Hi Theodora, 
> I think the Open Government Partnership will be a great start to push this Agenda. I have a little concern with G8 and G20.
> If G8 starts to propagate this petition, it will feel forced on some countries and it will be hard to get third world countries involved. Many Countries like to appear independent and most of the time act to disassociate themselves from what the G8/advanced world supports. An instance is the Gay/Homosexual rights. My country feels strongly that the advance world is trying to choke it in its throat. So I think engaging a platform that has both advanced and developing economies will be a good start.
> 
>  
> Best Regards
> Dickman Adarkwah
> Events Director
> Youth Economic Dialogue
> +233243463579+233243463579
> 
> 
> On Monday, March 3, 2014 1:22 PM, Theodora Middleton <theodora.middleton at okfn.org> wrote:
> Hi James,
> 
> The aim of the petition, along with the growing list of supporting civil society orgs, is to build a strong call from civil society to governments. We, and campaign partners, will be engaging at key international events this year including the G8, G20 and OGP events to push this up the agenda, and will be supporting national level advocacy by groups working in countries around the world. We are coordinating closely with other established initiatives in this area to help popularise what can sometimes seem a bureaucratic issue. 
> 
> Does that help? Feel free to ask more questions, and also to make any suggestions as to how you think the campaign could be most effective! 
> 
> All the best,
> 
> Theodora
> 
> 
> On 27 February 2014 16:25, James McKinney <james at opennorth.ca> wrote:
> I'm in favor of stopping secret contracts, but I can't tell what this campaign is doing to stop them, besides signing a petition?
> 
> 
> On 2014-02-27, at 10:59 AM, Theodora Middleton wrote:
> 
>> Hi all (apologies for cross-posting :-) ),
>> 
>> Today we have launched a new campaign, Stop Secret Contracts, calling for an end to secrecy in government contracts. We believe this is a crucial issue which goes to the heart of transparency and accountability in government, and we're really excited to be joined by over 30 organisations around the world, including the Sunlight Foundation, Transparency International and Global Witness.
>> 
>> The website is here: http://StopSecretContracts.org/
>> The blog post is here: http://blog.okfn.org/2014/02/27/stop-secret-contracts-new-global-campaign-launched/
>> Image here: http://stopsecretcontracts.org/promo.png
>> 
>> We're tweeting on #SecretContracts
>> 
>> If you support the aims of the campaign, please sign the petition! If you would like to get more involved, get in touch with contact at stopsecretcontracts.org
>> 
>> Please do share far and wide! 
>> 
>> All the best,
>> 
>> Theodora
>> 
>> -- 
>> Theodora Middleton
>>  Press Officer  |  skype: theodora.middleton
>>  The Open Knowledge Foundation
>>  Empowering through Open Knowledge
>>  http://okfn.org/  |  @okfn  |  OKF on Facebook  |  Blog  |  Newsletter
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> 
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Theodora Middleton
>  Press Officer  |  skype: theodora.middleton
>  The Open Knowledge Foundation
>  Empowering through Open Knowledge
>  http://okfn.org/  |  @okfn  |  OKF on Facebook  |  Blog  |  Newsletter
> 
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> 
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Theodora Middleton
> Press Officer  |  skype: theodora.middleton
> The Open Knowledge Foundation
> Empowering through Open Knowledge
> http://okfn.org/  |  @okfn  |  OKF on Facebook  |  Blog  |  Newsletter

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