Examples of promising practices

• Moving beyond ‘in law’ and ‘in practice’: In an effort to build a more complete picture of open government, Involve has developed a set of indicators which aims to go beyond the ‘standard’ A2I/FOI assessment by focussing not only on the existence and implementation of legislation, but also on it’s enforcement (e.g. to what extent oversight institutions are independent and their findings acted upon), and it’s use by - and impact on - non-governmental actors such as businesses, media, civil society organisations and individuals (e.g. what communication channels are used, who benefits from greater accessibility and transparency and who remains excluded)17. Similarly TI Romania’s Report on Free Access to Public Interest Information18 and The Open Society Institute’s (OSI) Report on the Implementation of the Law on Free Access to Public Information19 go into greater detail to analyse what kind of information is released and how complete it is, whilst OSI’s report also evaluates the manner in which requesting citizens are treated.
• Promoting best practice through assessment: The Open Democracy Advice Centre’s (ODAC) Golden Key Awards (GKA) use their assessment of A2I practices in South Africa to reward best practices by public institutions which promote openness, responsiveness and information sharing. Awards are presented for the best performing institution, the best performing Information Officer, the most frequent or prominent user, and the best media engagement20. In a further example, Article 19’s Right to Information Index includes some ‘progressive’ indicators which go beyond compliance with international standards and focus on proactive measures such as the promotion of the right to freedom of information and the active dissemination of public information21.
• Comparability: Access Info’s 6 Question Campaign Request Protocol sets out detailed procedures for both making and recording requests for information in order to generate meaningful comparative data about the functioning of the right to access information in different countries22. Likewise OSI’s Survey of Access to Information Laws and Practices in 14 Countries targets a similar range of national institutions across countries and standardises a number of requests to allow for comparison23.
• Backlogs: George Washington University’s Knight Open Government Survey requests and reports on government agencies’ oldest active FOI requests, as one of the key metrics to examine FOI statistics. Exploring the causes of such backlogs can reveal systematic problems such as weak tracking systems or resource constraints which need to be addressed. This metric has been adopted by the US government, and each public agency is now required by law to report its ten oldest requests in its annual FOI report24.
• Consultation: The methodology for Article 19’s Global Right to Information Index was put out to public consultation to gain feedback based on local, national or international experience. For example, input was solicited on whether some indicators should be given more weight based on country level experience in designing effective legislation, or whether complimentary outside laws which have had some benefit on the broader right to information should be included in certain contexts25. Similarly, Access Info Cyprus undertook a consultation on their report on the Right of Access to Information in Cyprus to provide members of the public and public officials an opportunity to comment on the accuracy of the content and findings of the assessment26.

17 Open Government: Beyond Static Measures
18 Report on Free Access to Public Interest Information in Romania: Comparative Analysis 2003-2007
19 Wall of Silence. A Year Later: A Report on the Implementation of the Law on Free Access to Public Information
20 Golden Key Awards 2010
21 Global Right to Information Index
22 6 Question Campaign: Request Protocol
23 Transparency and Silence: A Survey of Access to Information Laws and Practices in 14 Countries
24 The Knight Open Government Survey 2011
25 Global Right to Information Index
26 The Right of Access to Information in Cyprus