E-government and transparency
Chairs: Agustí Cerrillo
And open and transparent government paradigm in middle Spanish municipalities: the case of Quart de Poblet
Joaquín Martín Cubas, Laura Juan y Juan Medina Cobo
The open government initiative was about creating a dialogue, between the citizen, the Administration and the political representatives.
The issue of the digital divide has been addressed with a digital literacy programme. A programme that, beyond just literacy, it was aimed at social inclusion.
Open government is transparency, but not just transparency: it is a new organizational model.
Participation in the new open government initiative was inspired by Irekia, the open government platform of the Basque government.
Transparency for the sake of transparency? Or to achieve an open government? An opportunity for innovation in the governance of the university
Gemma Geis Carreras, Annaïs Varo Barranco, Daniel Cantalosella Font
The application of the new Catalan Law on Transparency made the University of Girona decide that they would implement an open government initiative in the university.
The project includes not only knowledge diffusion and accountability, but also opening up platforms and channels for participation.
The new portal also features the electronic seat of the University of Girona, which includes electronic voting features.
Transparen cities, intelligent procurement. Analysis of the impact of ICTs in procurement transparency in municipalities
Jordi Romeu Granados, Gregorio Juárez Rodríguez, Carmen Pineda Nebot
Theoretical framework: public procurement, transparency in public procurement, smart cities.
Analysis of different municipalities and their use of public procurement. 22 indicators that build the ITCA index, including the profile of the public contractor, the ITA 2014 from Transparency International and what applies by the Spanish Transparency Law 19/2013.
Findings say that more transparency in procurement highly correlates with transparency in general, an aim for innovation and work towards a smart city paradigm, etc.
Discussion
Q: what is the cost of such initiatives? Juan Medina: It depends. On the one hand, some infrastructures are expensive. But, on the other hand, changing the way the Administration works and, most especially, changing the attitudes of the public representatives is almost costless. And the impact may be much higher than putting up costly projects without change of attitudes.
Jordi Romeu: there is a problem in measuring open government and it is that measuring usually ends at the output level, and almost never reaches the outcome level.
