Increasing Transparency and Community Participation through the Open Government Partnership in Bojonegoro Regency

Abstract

Open government is not just the obligation of government and right of a citizen. It does require not only transparency and participation but also synergy and collaboration of many parties. Collaboration among Academician, Businessmen, Government and Community (ABGC) has been carried out in Bojonegoro Regency through the application of the Open Government Partnership (OGP). As a part of the implementation of open regional government, open government is carried out through intensive communication between the local government and the community. To embody the achievement of the Open Government Partnership, Bojonegoro Regency prepares OGP Action Plan annually. The five main focuses of the OGP action plan are data revolution, strengthening the accountability of village government, increasing transparency of the regional budget system, strengthening the transparency of contract documents for procurement of goods/services, and improvement of the quality of public services. The open governance provides benefits to the communities as they have closer communication with the local government. The absence of partition between the government and the community supporting e-government has encouraged the community’s participation in conveying complaints, suggestions, criticisms, and proposals to the government through various means. The management mechanism dealing with complaints and responses submitted to the local government, supported by regulations which become the legal umbrella for openness, makes Bojonegoro become the OGP pilot regency which is equal to other fourteen countries in Asia, Europe, America, and Africa.