The Mexican Government has confirmed that it is seriously considering joining CoST in early 2014. Julián Alfonso Olivas Ugalde, Secretary of Public Administration (see right flanked by Christiaan Poortman and Petter Matthews), made the announcement at a panel debate on ‘Transparency and Accountability in Public Infrastructure’ at the Open Government Partnership Summit.

Also on the Panel were Chris Vein, Chief Innovation Officer for Global Information and Communications Technology Development at the World Bank, Christiaan Poortman, Chair of the CoST Board and Claire Schouten, Programme Director at Integrity Action. The debate was chaired by Petter Matthews, Executive Director, CoST International Secretariat.

Over 1000 delegates from across the world came together at OGP’s Summit in London. Opened by Prime Minister David Cameron, the two day Summit focused on transparency and openness, and drew participants from 60 countries.

CoST’s John Hawkins also took part in the Joined Up Data workshop alongside representatives from GIFT, Open Contracting, EITI and IATA and at the Launch of the Open Government Guide. Published by the Transparency and Accountability Initiative the Guide includes a chapter on construction.

Please go to our storify page for more on CoST at the OGP Summit.