Open Government Partnership Forum Brings Stakeholders Together

Beidh leagan Gaeilge den mhír seo ar fáil go luath.

On 22 May, Ireland’s Open Government Partnership (OGP) Secretariat hosted a multi-stakeholder forum in the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation. 48 participants from government, public bodies, and civil society attended to reflect on progress under Ireland’s Fourth Open Government National Action Plan (2023–2025) and to inform next steps.

The event featured a keynote address from Emily O’Reilly, OGP Ambassador and former Irish and European Ombudsman, highlighting the importance of transparency, participation, and trust in public institutions. Panel discussions focused on collaboration between government and civil society, including the use of data and evidence in policymaking. Martin Quigley, Director of Data and Analytics with Pobal and a member of the Open Data Governance Board, contributed to discussions on strengthening partnerships and data use.

These discussions highlighted the critical role of Open Data and transparent processes in supporting evidence-based decision-making and strengthening accountability. Attendees included organisations such as Age Action, Digital Rights Ireland, Transparency International Ireland, the Central Statistics Office, the Office of the Ombudsman, and others.

An afternoon workshop explored how open government can further build trust through transparency, participation, and accountability. Insights from the session will help shape Ireland’s future OGP commitments. Ireland’s participation in the Open Government Partnership supports the Better Public Services strategy, promoting trust and evidence-informed policymaking.

Keynote speaker Emily O’Reilly put forward the purpose of OGP to attendees, underscoring the importance of initiatives like open data in driving governance that is built around trust, transparency, and accountability:

“The strong version of Open Government is openness-as-capability: using outside knowledge, user experience, frontline evidence, local intelligence, independent scrutiny and public data to make the State better at solving problems and finding ways to harness that vital intelligence in a streamlined and coherent way.”