Open Government Partnership Launch - The Twitter Buzz
A WordCloud of the Twitter Buzz on the day of the #OpenGovNI Launch

Open Government Partnership Launch - The Twitter Buzz

12 November 2014

Last week, the Building Change Trust and a range of Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector representatives came together alongside politicians, academics and speakers from across the UK and Ireland to discuss the benefits of a more open and participative government.

It was the first high profile event of its kind to push forward with the establishment of an open government campaign, with the Building Change Trust seeing it as a ‘win-win’ situation for society.

Using the hashtag #opengovni attendees and other interested parties took to Twitter to express their opinion on the possibility of establishing more Open Government Partnership (OGP) commitments in Northern Ireland.

We expected feedback to be generated from this event, and we weren’t disappointed!

Open Policy, Open Data 

Finance Minister Simon Hamilton MLA backed the Open Government Partnership's global effort to improve access to government. Speaking at the event the Minister said: “Commitment to the Open Government Partnership from over 60 countries means that open government is now accepted as an integral part of public service delivery. 

"I view an open government as a key underpinning principle of my public sector reform agenda. My Department has demonstrated its support for open government already in the areas of open policy making and open data.

"My reform agenda seeks to address the challenges we face through identifying and enabling new ways of working.

"Only by transforming our approach can we continue to provide the high level of public service our citizens have come to expect and Open Government can certainly assist us in that aim".

He took to Twitter to announce his participation and support for the event: 

Joining the Debate 

And he wasn’t the only one to get involved. Here are just a few of the comments we received before, during and after the event: 

‏@PeterOsborne_ : Well done @ChangeTrust @Paul_BCT @Nigel_BCT for organising such a positive launch of #OpenGovNI network. You can still sign up. Tweet #ImIn

‏@Lisamcelherron : Minister is up for improving the budget process to have pre-consultation. He's not sure about participatory budgeting though #opengovni 

@StratagemNI : Finance Minister @SimonHamilton @ChangeTrust talks about benefits of open gov and possibility of more budget transparency #OpenGovNI 

@alaninbelfast: #OpenGovNI@SimonHamilton explains as a devolved region, NI can't join Open Gov Partnership @opengovpart which makes benchmarking difficult

‏@TimJHughes : @mickfealty@dmcbfs Need a core group of people driving it forward, & reaching out to others to have open conversation about #OpenGovNI

‏@Nigel_BCT : @OpenGovUK@Paul_BCT the 1st is 2 make commitment that #OpengovNI is part of the institutional reform agenda and agreement in current talks

‏@demsoclive:  Great idea to do research to compare consultation before and after to see how much impact citizens are having #OpenGovNI 

‏@Wiseabap : Open Gov techies need to build a bridge to non- techies says Anne Colgan - trust and relationships are key #opengovni

@demsoclive : Anne Colgan of Irish OGP forum speaking about experience gained from Irish process to be passed on to #OpenGovNI 

‏@Wiseabap : I think @Y_Influencers should get formally involved in #OpenGovNI discussions - energy, creativity and vision 

We even had parody accounts getting involved in the discussion: 

@Jim_Wails : Disappointed to learn of FoI requests being answered occasionally. Needs addressed #OpenGovNI

To keep the debate alive, have your say at #opengovni. 

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