Note: All submissions must be in English in order to be considered
A. THE TEAM
The following information is required to capture a basic understanding of your organization, those responsible for the implementation of your initiative, and any partnerships that have helped you to meet your goals.
INITIATIVE NAME (required)
Provide the name of the initiative that your team is submitting for consideration of the 2016 Open Government Awards. If the initiative is operating under one or more alternate name(s), provide the name that is most commonly recognized.
__________________________________________________
Is this initiative included in, resulted from, or enabled by a commitment in your country’s OGP National Action Plan? If yes, state the year of the Action Plan and commitment number. If no, in 100 words or less explain what role OGP played or is likely to play in the initiative.
*Note: Initiatives that do not have a clear link to the OGP process, platform or Action Plan will not be considered by judges.
☐ Yes ☐ No
__________________________________________________
POINT OF CONTACT (required)
Provide the name, title, age, phone number(s), and email address(es) of a single point of contact for the purposes of communicating with your team. This person should be the individual responsible for overseeing the application requirements.
Note that this year OGA will honor a youth-led initiative. Is this a youth-led initiative (people under the age of 30)? If yes, please provide their name, title, age and email address.
☐ Yes ☐ No
TYPE OF PARTNERSHIP (required)
In 300 words or less, describe the nature of your government’s involvement with this initiative. For example, mention whether the initiative was designed, implemented and/or scaled up in partnership with the government, or catalyzed by government action.
OTHER PARTNERSHIPS (optional)
If you are partnering with one or more other government agencies, private sector entities, media etc., please list each partner. In 150 words or less, provide a brief narrative of the partnership and the role each partner plays in your initiative.
B. THE INITIATIVE
The Open Government Partnership (OGP) is prepared to celebrate a range of successful applicants for the Open Government Awards. This year’s theme is “making transparency count.” To qualify for recognition, we need to understand the various elements of success of your initiative and its sustainability over time. Please answer the following questions:
INITIATIVE DESIGN (required)
In 250 words or less, describe your initiative’s goals, target population and the intended impact. Tell the judges why your proposed strategies were considered effective and/or innovative given the challenges and opportunities in your country.
INITIATIVE IMPACT (required)
In 450 words or less, explain the actual impact of the initiative. Describe how transparency in government held data/information led to one or more of the examples of impact stated below, and why this is important in your country context. If there are any statistics, media reports or external validation that prove the impact of your initiative, please describe them in detail.
- Citizens were able to make more informed choices and decisions about their day-to-day life
- Citizens were able to participate more actively and directly in public policy matters
- Citizens were able to benefit from improved performance and/or better services from policymakers and service providers
- Citizens were able to exercise greater oversight of the activities of policymakers and/or service providers and hold them accountable
INITIATIVE SUSTAINABILITY (required)
In 200 words or less, please describe any plans for scaling up or sustaining the initiative. Base your description of the strategy on the information provided in the previous sections, such as how you intend to leverage your current success and increase your reach or capacity. Address any threats or operational challenges to your initiative and describe how you manage those risks on a regular basis.
VALIDATION OF CLAIMS (required)
The OGA 2016 award will specifically recognize and honor partnerships between government and civil society. Please secure and upload evidence or supportive material of your work with government. If the initiative did not have a direct government partner, please upload a letter from one of your funders.
You are only allowed to upload one file. If you have multiple documents, please zip them into a single file first. The file types that are allowed to be uploaded have an extension of .ZIP, .PDF, .DOC, .DOCX, .XLS or .XLSX
C. THE PITCH
The following information allows each applicant to make their strongest (and final) case for consideration.
BEST CASE (required)
In 150 words or less, please present your best argument for why your initiative has achieved meaningful impact? What elements of the initiative make it different and better than others that have been tried and tested? Be creative and concise.
PHOTO or FILM SUBMISSION (photos highly recommended)
OGP does not offer a venue for applicants to meet our judges during the application process. In order to provide the opportunity for making a personal connection, you are encouraged to upload 1-5 photos of your project or a short film to complement your application. Use the photos or film to help tell a story about your project: what is it, how has it been effective and who has it touched?
Photos should follow these guidelines:
- High-resolution
- File formats: jpg, png
Insert your story here (100 words):
Film submissions should follow these guidelines:
- Maximum length of 2-3 minutes
Here are general suggestions for delivering a high-quality film pitch:
A good film is one that really draws on the video images to tell its story. A film composed of “talking heads” and infographics is very often a story better told in a different format. Good films can be shot on i-phone or even over Skype but require someone with a bit of technical background to ensure that the lighting and sound are well done and that there is a tight edit. If you don’t have experience shooting films this might not be the right option for you.