Questions/Answers

Governance and innovation plans have at their core the objective of transforming the Basque administration and adapting it to the demands of society at a time when digitalization is transforming the world. Public innovation is the basic strategy of the successive governance and innovation plans of the Basque Government. This innovative strategy has had a transversal character throughout the organization, as the entire organization has participated on the basis of communities of practice, forums, design thinking dynamics, etc. … but innovation in the Basque administration is also open to civil society, which has participated in the co-design of public policies through initiatives such as Basque Country's participation in the Open Government Partnership. The subject of the Governance and Innovation Plans is the citizenry, since the ultimate objective is to provide quality public services with efficiency and transparency. In order to achieve this goal, a double transformation has been essential: organizational and technological. The Strategic Plan for Governance, Public Innovation and Digital Government (PEGIPGD 2030) has its backbone the SDGs of the 2030 Agenda by delivering sustainable, inclusive and equitable public services for all people everywhere, leaving no one behind.

The initiative shows the effort of the Basque Government to deliver inclusive and equitable services for all promotes innovative ways to increase access to quality and affordable public services. The initiative puts the focus on citizen needs in public service design and delivery rather than on technology solutions. Equity, integration and diversity sits at the heart of delivering people centric services from the Basque Government. That is why the initiative is presented in Category 1: Fostering innovation to deliver inclusive and equitable services.

Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) requires strong political institutions and processes. SDG 16 (“Promote just, peaceful and inclusive societies”) explicitly acknowledges this need and prescribes “effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.” These requirements go well beyond the performance-oriented notion of good governance and hint to democratic standards. Digital transformation which adopts innovative approaches and applications of existing and frontier technologies is a key element to ensure the goal and its successful implementation in the Basque Country. Citizen participation will be a central part to contribute to the implementation.

The governance and public innovation plans that the Basque Government has been executing have at their core the objective of transforming and digitizing the administration and adapting it to the demands of society in times when digitization is transforming the world. Innovation in the Basque administration is also open to civil society that has participated since 2018 in the co-design of public policies through the participation of the Basque Country in the OGP. It is therefore a bet with years of experience and strongly established, with commitments acquired with international organizations such as the OAS and the OGP.

Territorial mobility is part of the daily life of any citizen in the Basque Country (which has an area of 7,200km2). We live in proximity. The life and political participation of Basque citizens takes place in confined spaces. This circumstance requires innovation and constant transformation of the administrations. In 2021, this innovation for better governance implies the use of technologies putting citizens at the center. This is the basis on which to establish an open government model that wants to incorporate the experience, knowledge and proposals of citizens in public action and the provision of equitable public services.

The Governance and Innovation Plan includes challenges in equality of women and men. The diagnosis in relation to the equality of women and men in the Basque Government, carried out for the preparation of the Plan for the Equality of Women and Men in the General Administration and its Autonomous Bodies (2014), points the main challenges to tackle gender inequality. One relevant project that will be implemented will be the gender equality Laboratory, based on a network application, is to provide ex officio evidence of the performance of actions in the field of equality.

Basque society has evolved remarkably in recent decades, undergoing a profound transformation. The factors that have contributed to this transformation are numerous and very diverse. It is worth mentioning, without seeking to be exhaustive: globalization, economic crises, the 4.0 technological revolution, the disaffection of citizenship towards politics and the enormous changes that have taken place in the scheme of values and priorities of citizenship. The needs of people, the aspirations of citizens and the challenges we face as a society are no longer what they were. In a complex political community, such as the Basque one (politically plural, socially diverse and institutionally articulated at various levels, with their respective areas of autonomy), public governance must be, fundamentally, relational, participatory and inclusive. Only in this way can it be effective and respond satisfactorily to the demands of the public. An active, informed, participative citizenry that demands responsibilities and that requires an open, accessible, effective and efficient public administration, and competent, diligent public officials with high ethical standards.

As a result of the experience of the previosu governance and innovation plans, the key aspects for successful implementation have been identified. The essential elements that have been taken into account are as follows: -Leadership: both at the management level and the public employee responsible for operational axes and objectives. -Transversal vision: corporate, horizontal and interrelational vision of the objectives. -Commitment of all departments, autonomous bodies and public entities of private law. -Orientation and alignment with citizens: the plan must be centered on citizenship. -Coherence: adopt organizational, structural and change management decisions consistent with the evolution of the scenarios. - Citizen experience: It is essential for design of public services.

The main obstacles identified for the implementation of the initiative are the cultural change necessary to introduce the citizenship approach in public services, involving them in some way in the design, execution, and evaluation of public services in general and innovation projects. In addition, it is difficult to consolidate and expand professional collaborative spaces for shared learning, collaborative work and network organization and innovation. To overcome these obstacle, training and top leadership commitment have been the key elements.

The commitment to public governance based on public innovation and digitalization in the Basque Country is aligned with the European Commission's White Paper on Governance which identifies five principles on which to base the functioning of the administration  Efficiency  Coherence in public management  Transparency  Accountability  Citizen participation ... from this point on, good governance is understood as governance that generates public value.

This initiative is inspired by the "European Government Quality Index" (EQI) that measures the quality of government in the exercise of public power, taking as a reference 17 indicators grouped into three concepts: -Impartiality: that the government defends an impartial treatment to all and all citizens regardless of their characteristics or personal connections, -Corruption: that there is no abuse of public office for private benefit, and -Quality: that public services are perceived as high quality.

The use of technologies has been and is essential for the provision of public services today, using from blockchain technology to artificial intelligence. In any case, the central element of the initiative has been and will be the design of public services based on the experience of citizens. Technology is not the central element of this initiative.

The initiative has been extended to all public administrations in the Basque Country after joining the OGP network in 2018. The administrations of the Basque Country have developed digital government plans, open government and participatory accountability strategies. And they are doing it in a connected way, participating in networks such as the Organization of United Regions (ORU / FOGAR), the United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) network, and the International Observatory of Participatory Democracy (OIDP). Our first objective is to better coordinate digital government and open government policies and their impact on sectoral policies, from the closest levels of management, to the policies and projects developed by the Basque Government. The objective is to co-design public services together with citizens.

There is great potential for transfer, especially in Latin American countries with which there are previous relationships and participation in networks with the OAS or the OGP.

The main economic resources dedicated to the initiative were those included in the annual budget for the development of digital administration, around 10 million euros per year. Likewise, support training was offered to public personnel for the necessary cultural change.

The initiative is economically sustainable since the investment made improves the quality of public services offered to the citizens of the Basque Country. Regarding institutional sustainability, it is endorsed by the trajectory of years past as well as by active participation in networks such as the OGP or the OAS.

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The initiative has been evaluated internally: https://www.euskadi.eus/contenidos/informacion/pegip_2020_evaluacion/es_def/adjuntos/informe_evaluacion_final_pegip2020.pdf And externally: https://www.ogp.euskadi.eus/contenidos/proyecto/plan_accionogp/es_def/adjuntos/Resultados_OGP_Evaluacion_Plan_Accion.pdf

The evaluation carried out is based on the established indicators, as well as on a report prepared by the “independent Report Mechanism” that includes the main conclusions.

The “independent Report Mechanism” report was very positive, although it included the main improvements identified: -Greater participation of civil society and organized society. -Increase the diversity of people who participate. -Promote greater representation of the different sectors of society. -Define and establish from the beginning the objectives and commitments of each participating agent. -Greater dedication and involvement in assigned activities. -Make a special mention of the necessary improvement in the communication strategy.

This initiative is part of the Basque Government's Public Policy Planning, which has been consolidated as an adequate instrument to order and coordinate the actions that the Public Administrations must implement. Planning, to the extent that it orders a set of initiatives that share predefined objectives, enables the coherence and interaction of such initiatives to achieve the established objectives and reinforce their alignment with the Government Program. All government departments and agencies and involved in the development of this initiative included in the term planning. Once the priority areas for government action have been defined, the strategic plans that make up the most relevant nucleus of the commitments made to Basque society have been identified.

Collaboration and networking is essential for the implementation of the initiative. For this, it is essential to better coordinate digital government and open government policies and their impact on the Basque Country. To move forward successfully, it has been necessary to collaborate with the rest of the administrations of the Basque Country; the Town Halls, (Bilbao, Donostia-San Sebastián, Vitoria-Gasteiz) and the three Provincial Councils that work in the three territories of Álava, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa. It has also been necessary to collaborate with the main actors of civil society. The goal is to co-design, together with the public. In addition, the Basque Government has joined international collaboration networks such as the United Regions Organization (ORU / FOGAR), the United Cities and Local Governments network (UCLG), the International Observatory of Participatory Democracy (OIDP), and from in 2018 as part of the International Alliance for Open Government.

The improvements that will be implemented in the initiative are summarized below: The participation of civil society and organized society will be increased. The diversity of people who participate will be increased. The objectives and commitments of each agent will be defined and established at the outset. The improvement of communication to citizens will be promoted.