Portal:Transparency

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TRANSPARENCY THE EYES OF eGOVERNMENT

Why eTransparency? eTransparency means the use of ICTs (information and communication technologies) eg EDIFACT to make public sector decisions and actions more open to scrutiny. It runs from just providing basic information about government up to enabling public control over civil servants, read the following case study Case:Virtual Customs Office. In reality, the application of transparency apparatus in eGovernment has help to tackle a lot in some countries over the issue of corruption and corruptive practices. In these countries, most governmental businesses are done online in order to bring about transparency. See Models of e-tranparency [1] and read the following Case:Cross road bank Belgium

Did you know...

• Proponents of EGovernment suggest that it eGovernmentis a tool to increase transparency and decrease corruption. But in any case EGovernment cannot achieve this without implementing appropriate channels for public feedback.
• Public feedback mechanisms (PFM) are a subset of two-way interactions between citizens/ businesses and governments that are channeled to a direct point of contact, this being both internally and externally traceable. The main idea of this is to make governments accountable for the information and services they provide. PFMs fall into two broad categories:
  • They are either seperate portals to file complaints or grievances OR are integrated with a government service delivered online. Citizens and businesses should know who to contact, how long they should approximately wait for a response, and be able to track the progress.
  • PFMs tied to a government are far more straight forward to implement because they require coordination with one or two agencies. Seperate portals to file grievances are more difficult to enforce because they require greater coordination between different ministries.
• In any event, efforts to launch PFMs will require both technology and political will to push forth a certain degree of institutional reform. Public feedback mechanisms lend to a greater transparency and accountability, which naturally translate into a more well-run, established and trusted government.

Relevant Theory

Transparency in the Market and the Boardroom

The case for transparent markets is simple. Efficiency requires information. Efficient pricing, for example, requires that buyers know what they are buyng and sellers know what they are selling, that is knowledge of EProcurement. "Buying a pig in a poke" is simply a colorful way of expressing the idea that a nontransparent transaction has occurred. Transparency is especially important in capital markets Securities regulation in the United States rests on the assumption that mandatory disclosure of accurate financial information will lead to investor confidence and facilitate efficient financial markets. Without transparency....Read further*[2] Legal Theory Lexicon

Transparency in Government

The consequentialist case for transparency in government usually rests on the idea that opaque processes are likely to facilitate corruption or capture. Corruption is more likely because secret decisionmaking facilitates rent-seeking (soliciting bribes) by public officials.Read further*[3] Legal Theory Lexicon

Transparent Judicial Procedures

Civil litigation and criminal trials provide a final context in which transparency is an important value. When we think about the transparency of judicial procedures, there are two different groups for whom the process may be transparent or opaque. The first group is comprised of litigants (plaintiffs/defendants in civil litigation and defendants in criminal litigation). The second group consists of the public at large. Most legal systems place a higher value on transparency to participants than on transparency to the public. While it is not unusual for a hearing to be closed to the public, it is very unusual for a judicial proceeding to exclude the parties themselves. But there are important exceptions to this rule. Deliberations by both judges and juries are usually opaque. Thus, even the defendant in a criminal case is not allowed to observe the deliberations of the jury. A similar rule applies to judicial deliberations, but transparency in EGovernment will address this issue. For example, the conferences of an appellate court (e.g. the United States Supreme Court) are conducted in the strictest secrecy, as are the communications between among judges and between judges and their clerks. In these contexts, the thought is that open deliberations would actually distort the decision making process, leading to worse rather than better decisions.*[4] Legal Theory Lexicon

Important people and Institutions

Organizations and individual proponents of transparency:

• [5]The webpage of Transparency International: the global coalition against corruption

• [6] Ann Florini a proponent of transparency

• [7] European Commission Transparency Initiative

• [8] United Nations Transparency and Accountability Initiative

• [9] Kristin M. Lord - author of the book "The Perils And Promise of Global Transparency: Why the Information Revolution May Not Lead to Security, eDemocracy, or Peace, 2006" plus "Power and Conflict in the Age of Transparency, 2000"

Other wiki-portals that are connected to transparency:

• [10] Pricacy

• [11] Security

• [12] EDemocracy

Examples, Practice & Cases

Promoting Transparency through eGovernment by Internews/ Global Issues

Over the past five years, with the rise of information technologies, there has been increasing focus on eGovernment—putting government services and information online—for both developed and developing countries. Facing pressure from outside donors to reduce corruption, and motivated to cut costs while promoting citizen participation, even some of the least developed nations of the world are beginning to explore eGovernment. Read further*[13]

• [14]A eGovernment for Transparency/A power-point report from Transparency International

• [15]eGovernment - Transparency in action

eGovernment To Enhance Transparency by Yusrin Junaidi

Bandar Seri Begawan – "Today's global workforce enjoys unprecedented access to information, tools that allow intra-organisational collaboration and sharing. We should expect new and innovative uses for sharing information, reducing transaction cost and enhancing transparency in government process through one e-Government initiative." This was highlighted in a speech by the Minister of Communications, Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Kerna Dato Seri Setia Hj Awang Abu Bakar bin Hj Apong at the opening ceremony of the 2nd Annual EGovernment Congress: "From Government Online to Service transformation." Read further*[16]

• [17] Transparency and microfinance

• [18] Transparency in America: Implications for the Conduct of Foreign Policy