OECD calls on Lithuania to make government more open
The government of Lithuania should further citizen engagement; take steps to benefit from digital government and strengthen the capacity of its centre for co-ordination and leadership on open government reforms, the OECD has said in a report.
Lithuania, which restored its independence from the former Soviet Union in 1990, has since undergone significant political, economic, social and administrative reforms paving the way for EU accession and NATO membership in 2004, and the adoption of the Euro earlier this year.
While Lithuania has “transitioned towards a modern public administration”, the OECD says in its public governance review of the country titled Fostering Open and Inclusive Policy Making, that there is still room for improvement.
Lithuania, which was ranked 39th out of 175 in Transparency International’s latest corruption perception index, should make anti-corruption programmes more effective; enhance the openness and inclusiveness of policy-making and service delivery; and strengthen government-citizen relations, the OECD says.
To achieve this, its government should strengthen the strategic use of performance data; enhance the capacity to use and communicate performance data; and focus on the role of the centre of government to facilitate exchange and dialogue with citizens and other stakeholders.
It should also develop a common vision of open government across state and non-state actors, strengthen links with strategic country priorities and exchange ideas both within the country and internationally as part of its Open Government Partnership (OGP) membership.
OGP is a global project aimed at helping its 66 member states to make their governments more open, accountable, and responsive to citizens.
Lithuania should, according to the review published on 4 August, increase “the visibility of existing open government good practices and institutional champions.”
To further strengthen citizens’ engagement, the review recommends “elaborating a common methodology to foster citizens’ engagement and a common toolkit to assist with implementation; systematically reporting on the outcomes of consultation processes disseminating open government principles and practices; and promoting a culture of civic engagement and supporting the development of the voluntary sector.”
It also calls on Lithuania to build a more coherent approach to digital government agenda-setting; develop stronger monitoring, impact measurement and communication of digital government initiatives; expand the use of digital technologies to promote openness, transparency and accountability and to help fight corruption; and to articulate and communicate the political importance of ‘getting digital government right’.”
About Winnie Agbonlahor
Winnie is news editor of Global Government Forum. She previously reported for Civil Service World - the trade magazine for senior UK government officials. Originally from Germany, Winnie first came to the UK in 2006 to study a BA in Journalism & Russian at the University of Sheffield. She is bilingual in English and German, and, after spending an academic year abroad in Russia and reporting for the Moscow Times, Winnie also speaks Russian fluently.
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