Invitation for research proposals on the Open Government Partnership

The Open Government Partnership Support Unitis inviting proposals on research on thecommitments made by participating countries in theirNational Action Plans. A total ofsixgrants of EUR 2500 each will be awarded and the lead authors of the three best papers will be invited to present their work at the 2015 OGP Global Summit in Mexico. This research is supported by a grant of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Canada.

A total of 6 grants of EUR 2500 each will be awarded.

The projected timeline and deliverables are as follows:

Proposals (not exceeding 400 words) to be submitted by 5th August
Notification of selected entries by 20th August
Draft papers to be submitted by 4th September

Background

The Open Government Partnership (OGP) is a multilateral initiative that aims to secure concrete commitments from governments to promote transparency, empower citizens, fight corruption, and harness new technologies to strengthen governance. Since its launch in 2011, OGP has grown from 8 countries to 65 participating countries. All participating countries are required to co-create a National Action Plan with civil society. Action plans cover a two-year period and include commitments to advance transparency, accountability, participation and/or technological innovation. A total of 2,000 commitments have already been made in the action plans submitted till date, many of which have already been delivered. The data collected by OGP on these needs to be further analyzed to understand trends across countries and identify opportunities to deepen and inform the work of OGP and its participating countries.

Areas of research

There is a wealth of information on the National Action Plans (NAPs) to be explored, and all ideas are welcome as long as the proposed topic has the potential to inform the work of the OGP and the findings can be used for further research, action or advocacy. This is an opportunity for researchers to explore projects on OGP beyond areas that have been covered previously by others (see the annex of the OGP research agenda for topics already covered). Proposals are being requested in two broad categories:

(A) Research that makes use of existing OGP data, including the NAPs, IRMdata and theOGP Explorer. A few suggested topics are provided below, but proposals covering areas beyond those listed here will also be accepted. Data visualizations are encouraged.

Cross-thematic or cross-country analysis, covering one or more of the following:
- Specific types of open government initiatives (e.g. citizen budgets, asset disclosure, or public integrity)
- Specific modalities (e.g. legal reforms)
- Sectors affected (e.g. extractive industries, health and nutrition or public safety)
- Researchers could choose to look at specific commitments or sub-sets of commitments and analyze the types/typologies of reform undertaken, their implementation mechanisms, how they test against best practices/standards and identify opportunities for strengthening implementation of existing commitments or the ambition of future commitments.

Correlations between OGP progress in national action plans (ambition, implementation and completion of commitments) and other development indicators (for e.g. democracy, governance, human rights, quality of life, and social development indicators)

(B) Preliminary research to help OGP understand its impact in participating countries. Proposals that present a framework and concrete example of how OGP can capture its contribution both at the country and at the initiative levels are encouraged. For example:

To what extent do the OGP National Action Plans reflect the policy priorities (newsworthy, timely, public priorities) of participating countries? What methodology can we use to determine the top policy challenges a country is facing, assess their relevance to open government and evaluate the coverage of these issues in the OGP National Action Plans? Researchers can choose to do this analysis for one country, or multiple countries and illustrate their proposed methodology.

To what extent do OGP commitments have the potential to improve the space for citizen engagement (regulations, official mechanisms for citizen participation)? Do the quality and ambition of those commitments address the current state of civic space and dialogue in the country? Researchers can choose one or multiple countries, and could compare between the different action plan cycles.

Grant details

A total of 6 grants of EUR 2500 each will be awarded. Four will be awarded for proposals under category A above and two for those under category B. Entries will be chosen based on the selection criteria described below.The selected papers will be disseminated through OGP networks and published on the OGP website. A jury will select the three best papers across the two categoriesand the winners will receive fundingfor the lead author to attend and present their findings at the 2015 OGP Global Summit in Mexico.

Selection criteria

Proposals will be selected based on the criteria below

Clear description of the research question (5)
Clarity and relevance of the approach (including data sources to be used) and the extent to which it addresses the research question and overall aims (10)
Potential for informing or deepening the work of the Open Government Partnership or how the proposed research can be used for further research, action or advocacy (10)
Qualifications and experience of the researcher(s) (5)

Who should apply?

These grants are intended to support short papers (5-7 pages) basedprimarily on desk research. Any organization, individual, or group of individuals with a passion for open government and availability to deliver a proposal and complete paper within the timelines mentioned below is encouraged to apply. This could include graduate students, think tanks, non-profit research organizations, civil society organizations or any combination of these. Proposals are welcome in English and Spanish.

How to apply?

Interested parties should submit a proposal not exceeding 400 words. The proposal should include the following.

1)Research question, aims of the research, country selection and methodological approach
2)Motivation for the research – why are you interested in exploring this question in depth
3)Resources to be consulted (datasets, reports, case studies, individuals to be interviewed etc.)

Proposals should be sent to Shreya Basu Esta dirección de correo electrónico está protegida contra spambots. Usted necesita tener Javascript activado para poder verla. by 5pm GMT on or before 5^th August 2015.Please include the full name of the researcher(s), contacts details, institutional affiliation (if applicable) and CV(s) and any examples of prior work.

Timeline

The projected timeline and deliverables are as follows:

Proposals (not exceeding 400 words) to be submitted by 5^th August
Notification of selected entries by 20^th August
Draft papers to be submitted by 4^th September
Final papers (not exceeding five pages) to be submitted by 18^th September
Best papers awarded by 25^th September
Findings presented at 2015 OGP Global Summit 27^th- 29^th October

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Invitation for research proposals on the Open Government Partnership