Prior to CoST: Public infrastructure in context
Argentina and the Province of Buenos Aires specifically have been working towards greater transparency and accountability in government in recent years through a variety of measures.
In 2016, the Strategic Plan for the Modernisation of Public Administration was passed which led to the creation of the Open Data Portal in the same year which publicises data from across government departments on various projects. In 2018 Open Province was established, which specifically targets transparency in Buenos Aires by drawing together different transparency initiatives.
One of the main challenges which exists in promoting increased transparency in Buenos Aires is a lack of online information. As much of the data held by the Province is paper based, accountability measures are difficult to implement and government departments find themselves duplicating efforts.
However, with the online platforms recently put in place, the Province aims to reach international standards in infrastructure transparency and sees CoST membership as key to achieving this. The Province of Buenos Aires is CoST’s first affiliate member, and the second sub-national government to join the initiative after Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly, Ghana who joined in early 2019.
CoST Buenos Aires: How it all began
In 2016, the City of Buenos Aires created BA Obras, a platform allowing residents to monitor over eight hundred ongoing public work projects in the city. In 2017 the Province of Buenos Aries decided to replicate BA Obras on a provincial scale, an ongoing project, this platform will be called the Portal of Open Works in Buenos Aires.
After reviewing the characteristics of CoST affiliate membership, Buenos Aires decided to adopt certain aspects of the CoST approach as part of this membership category. Incorporating CoST data standards into the Portal of Open Works formed a fundamental part of the application, which the Province will use to ensure that information on the portal is easily accessed by citizens.
While expanding the data portal to the whole of the Province will be a challenging task given the lack of online data available, CoST can support Buenos Aires by drawing on its experience developing similar tools in Honduras, Ukraine, Thailand and Malawi. When completed, the portal will hold information on over 3,000 public work projects, a huge step towards more transparent and accountable infrastructure transparency.
The team responsible for the application saw the implementation of CoST standards as crucial to the success of the portal and its ability to strengthen transparency in infrastructure. The CoST application was conducted by Emmanuel Ferrario, the Undersecretary of Planning, Coordination and Evaluation of Management. The office of the Chief of Cabinet of Ministers was also responsible for developing the application, with support from the Ministry of Infrastructure, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Education. These departments all carry out projects which will be included in the Portal of Open Works in Buenos Aires.
On 8 May 2019, the Province of Buenos Aires announced its CoST membership at Argentina Abierta, the leading event celebrating open government in Argentina. Argentina Abierta attracts over 1500 attendees annually and hosts open government advocates from across civil society, the media and government, and so was an excellent platform from which to announce the initiative.
Next steps
The Province of Buenos Aires has been conducting training sessions with government teams on open-data policy and best practice, and these sessions will continue with a focus on disclosing infrastructure data. They will also continue to hold recurring meetings between civil society organisations and government to discuss transparency and open government in the Province.
On a more direct level, the Governor of Buenos Aires has weekly meetings with citizens during which issues relating to infrastructure continually arise. As the Portal of Open Works in Buenos Aires is developed, the information published online will become central to informing these meetings.
The Portal of Open Works will ultimately develop into a channel for citizens, civil society organisations, the media and the private sector, bringing these stakeholders together and helping to develop a multi-sectoral approach to infrastructure in Buenos Aires.