Expert Advisory Panel and Officials Group
MEETING MINUTES
Date / time: Thursday August 24, 10am-12:30pm
Venue: Ministry of Education, Bowen Street
Expert Advisory Panel attendees: Dr Miriam Lips, Fuimaono Tuiasau, Suzanne Snively
Officials Group participants: Department of Internal Affairs, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Parliamentary Counsel Office, State Services Commission, Statistics New Zealand, Te Puni Kōkiri, and the Treasury.
Independent Reviewer: Keitha Booth
Agenda & Topics
1. Welcome Expert Advisory Panel
Apologies noted from Deborah Mahuta-Coyle. Introduction to Catherine Williams, acting Deputy Commissioner Integrity, Ethics and Standards.
2. Feedback on the strategic refresh of OGP
The Open Government Partnership launched a strategic refresh of the Partnership during its Global Summit in Paris in December 2016
Two themes within the refresh were discussed:
- Thematic approaches to commitments, and
- The implementation of a multi-donor trust fund.
The OECD’s draft recommendation for open government was mentioned as it includes a draft framework for open government.
3. Welcome Officials Group and introductions
Introduction to new members from:
- Department of Internal Affairs
- Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade
- Parliamentary Counsel Office
- State Services Commission, and
- Statistics New Zealand
Introduction to Keitha Booth, Independent Reviewer for the Open Government Partnership’s Independent Review Mechanism, for New Zealand’s National Action Plan: 2016-18.
Lillian Grace’s resignation from the Expert Advisory Panel was noted.
4. Independent reporting
Keitha Booth discussed the mandate provided by the Open Government Partnership as an Independent Reviewer. An outline of her approach to gathering evidence was provided alongside a selection of feedback she has received so far from civil society. Starred commitments or commitments completed in a National Action Plan which the Independent Reviewer deems to be transformative in nature were discussed. The Expert Advisory Panel noted the Reviewer would need to consider whether the definition of ‘transformative’ reflected global or country-specific expectations.
5. Quarterly reporting on progress
Progress updates were provided.
- Commitment 1: Open Budget
- Milestone 1 has been completed with the report published online in July.
- Open source budget data has been progressed through alignment with Statistics New Zealand’s open data standards.
- Commitment-1-JunetoAugust.pdf
- Commitment 2: Improving official information practices
- A suite of consistent measures about OIA performance has been designed, and data has been collected from agencies. The statistics will be published on 5 September 2017.
- Commitment-2-JunetoAugust.pdf
- Commitment 3: Improving open data access and principles
- A paper proposing that New Zealand adopt the International Open Data Charter was considered by the Cabinet Economic Growth and Infrastructure Committee on 16 August 2017. This followed public consultation on adopting the Charter, and consultation with key government agencies on the paper.
- Commitment-3-JunetoAugust.pdf
- Commitment 4: Tracking progress and outcomes of open government data release
- The Open Government Data Action Plan 2017-20 has been published on www.data.govt.nz.
- Conducted an online survey to establish a benchmark for open data maturity in government agencies.
- Commitment-4-JunetoAugust.pdf
- Commitment 5: Ongoing engagement for OGP
- Three main findings from the review of the Government Online Engagement Services (GOES) pilot are being considered by the Department of Internal Affairs. These findings include ensuring that there is one key place for government online consultation to be conducted, the need for a range of tools, and the need for consistent standards and practices.
- Consultation on the draft mid-term self-assessment has ended. Feedback from civil society organisations noted progress on the current commitments, but also provided outlines of themes and commitments of interest for the next plan.
- Commitment-5-JunetoAugust.pdf
- Commitment 6: Improving access to legislation
- The Legislation Bill was introduced on 20 June 2017 and is waiting for its first reading (note that the first reading will not happen until a new Parliament is formed after the election).
- Piloting the drafting template with agencies has almost been completed, which will have impacts on the technological solution used and any business impact on agencies.
- Commitment-6-JunetoAugust.pdf
- Commitment 7: Improving policy practices
- Commitment 7 has been completed with the launch of the Policy methods toolbox on 22 August 2017.
- Commitment-7-JunetoAugust.pdf
6. Officials Group – reflection on mid-term assessment and reporting
Officials suggested that in instances where multiple agencies contributed to the mid-term assessment there was an opportunity to streamline processes.
24 August 2017 - Joint Expert Advisory Panel and Officials Group meeting: minutes