2 Priority areas

In developing the action plan, the government has facilitated an open process where all relevant actors have been given the opportunity to provide input on priority areas. The action plan is the result of co-creation between civil society organizations and relevant ministries.

2.1 The Government’s priority areas

In spring 2022, the Government addressed the question of which areas it wanted to give priority to in a new Open Government Partnership (OGP) Action Plan.

The Government proposed seven areas:

• More openness in public procurement
• Anti-corruption
• Active access to information
• Trust in public administration
• Integrity and openness in public administration
• Climate and environment
• Reuse of public data

The Government emphasised the importance of preparing an action plan that can create real changes for citizens. The plan is therefore based on topics where Norway has potential for improvement, and which are also politically prioritised.

The Government has based its choice of topics in the plan on reports from the OECD, Transparency International (TI) and the OGP’s own auditing body, IRM1 and the OGP Council, all of which have pointed out various areas in which Norway could do better.

In the past, the government has published plans that cover a two-year period for the Open Government Partnership. The government believes it is appropriate to develop a plan for the four-year period 2023 – 2027, as several of the proposed measures may require time to develop and implement.

2.2 Input from public administration and civil society – co-creation

The government’s proposed priority areas were shared with the stakeholder forum for the OGP work in Norway in June 2022. The stakeholder forum consists of participants from civil society, the OGP council2 and relevant ministries. Already before the meeting, both public administration and civil society actors submitted proposals and suggested commitments.

The agreed priorities were thereafter presented for consultation, to allow the public to state their opinion. In addition to responses to the consultation, additional suggestions were made during the next meeting of the stakeholder forum, in September 2022.

Priority areas and commitments have thereby been developed through a co-creation process, in close collaboration between government and representatives of civil society. In some cases, proposals have not been followed up, such as when it comes to beneficial ownership. Some proposals have been put forward by the public administration without input from civil society, such as the enforcement of privacy statements on public websites and enforcement of the regulations for universal design of ICT solutions.

2.3 Priorities for the period 2024–2027

Based on the 25 or so proposals for commitments, the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development (KDD) drew up a list of topics that seemed particularly relevant for continued work. Emphasis was placed on areas where points for improvement have been identified, for example where Norway does less well in international rankings, or where the government is not satisfied with status. Emphasis was also placed on following up recommendations from the report from OGP’s audit body, IRM (Independent Reporting Mechanism).

The Fifth Action Plan therefore includes the following areas that meet both the Government’s and civil society’s priorities:

• Public procurement
• Universal design and digital inclusion
• Openness in public administration – archives/journalling, e-access
• Anti-corruption
• Better access to criminal case documents

In June 2023, the plan was sent to the stakeholders’ forum and the OGP Council and posted on the OGP website for comment.