Chapter 5. Enhance transparency and participation for effective accountability in Coahuila

Over the last several years, Coahuila has built one of the most advanced transparency frameworks among Mexican states.

Through a series of reforms undertaken in recent years, Coahuila has developed one of the most advanced legal frameworks among Mexican states in transparency matters. In 2015, Coahuila was the first state to harmonise its legal framework with the General Transparency and Access to Information Law (Ley General de Transparencia y Acceso a la Información, or General Transparency Law), which, among other accomplishments, created the National Transparency System. Similarly to the National Anti-corruption System (see Chapter 1), the System aims to co-ordinate all institutions in Mexico to improve overall transparency in the country (Box 5.1).

The drive for transparency in Coahuila is led by the Institute for Access to Public Information of Coahuila (Instituto Coahuilense de Acceso a la Información Pública, or ICAI), which is the state entity empowered by the Constitution of Coahuila (the Constitution) to guarantee the fundamental right of all citizens to share, investigate, and request public information (Article 7). In particular, the Constitution gives ICAI the leadership in the following areas:

• access to public information

• culture of transparency

• personal data

• elaborating statistics, polls, surveys, and any other public opinion instrument

ICAI, which was created in 2004, is given political, legal, administrative, budgetary, and financial autonomy. Its members are appointed by Coahuila’s Congress through a majority vote (at least two-thirds of the assembly) pursuant to Coahuila’s Access to Information Law (Ley de Acceso a la Información Pública y Protección de Datos Personales para el Estado de Coahuila de Zaragoza, or Transparency Law - lastly reformed in March 2016), which also spells out its activities as well as the transparency obligations for all state entities. An Internal Regulation (Reglamento Interior) regulates ICAI’s internal organisation and functioning.

The current Transparency Law obliges public entities to make public more than 70 sets of information concerning the organisation, their relationship with other actors, and the legal framework (Articles 21-22; 25-28; 30-38; and 43-47). It also provides for a comprehensive mechanism to access information with the following features:

• no subjective limitation on those who can request information

• all state branches of government, entities, and municipalities are subject to the law

• exceptions to the rights to access to information include:

  • personal data

  • public order, crimes prosecution

  • where there is a risk to the health or security of citizens

  • when tax collection is impeded.

• exceptions apply only to those parts of requested information/document related to the latter grounds of refusal

• requests can be anonymous, oral, or written

• costs may be incurred when the requested document exceeds 20 pages

• the ICAI may be challenegd in cases of request denial or neglect

The advanced level of Coahuila’s legal framework is confirmed by several national rankings, which regularly assess different aspects of Mexican states’ attitude toward transparency and which place Coahuila among the best Mexican states based on several indicators (Table 5.1).

Given that Coahuila is currently developing policies on open government, it could better exploit the data and information currently produced by public entities by improving data socialisation and developing online visualisation tools.

A relatively recent trend undertaken by many countries to increase transparency and accountability of public institutions is to make their data available to the public and allow the use, reuse, and free distribution of datasets through the so-called open data format. The OECD has been analysing such an increasingly relevant phenomenon and has identified the potentials of the extraordinary quantity of data collected by governments, which can increase transparency and awareness but also improve performance, encourage public participation, and improve the decision making of governments and individuals (Ubaldi, 2013).

In 2013, G8 countries adopted an Open Data Charter, which represented the first international instrument designed to guide the implementation of open government data strategies. The Charter laid out five principles (G8, 2013):

1. Open data by default;

2. Optimised quality and quantity of data;

3. Data should be usable by all;

4. Releasing data for improved governance; and

5. Releasing data for innovation.

The OECD has elaborated a pilot Index on Open Government Data (OECD OURdata Index) which assesses governments’ efforts to implement open data in three dimensions based on its methodology and structured around the following principles of the G7 Open Data Charter: 1) Data availability on the national portal; 2) Data accessibility on the national portal; and 3) governments’ support to innovative re-use and stakeholder engagement. As shown in Figure 5.1, Mexico scores above the OECD average.

Figure 5.1. OECD OURdata Index: Open, Useful, Reusable Government Data, 20141

← 1. Data for the Czech Republic, Hungary, Iceland, Israel, and Luxembourg are not available.

Source: OECD (2015), Government at a Glance 2015, OECD Publishing, Paris. https://doi.org/10.1787/gov_glance-2015-en.

The OECD OURdata Index assesses governments’ efforts to implement open data in the three critical areas: openness, usefulness, and re-usability of government data. Data for the index is taken from member countries and focuses on government efforts to ensure public sector data availability and accessibility and to spur greater re-use. The Index is based on OECD methodology and the guidelines of the G8 Open Data Charter. Figure 5.1 illustrates a composite index where 0 is lowest and 1 highest.

Countries have become increasingly aware of the potential of open data to enhance integrity and tackle corruption. In particular, the OECD Recommendation on Public Integrity (OECD, 2017a) calls states to encourage transparency and stakeholders’ engagement “promoting transparency and an open government, including ensuring access to information and open data, along with timely responses to requests for information.” In 2015, the G20 adopted six Anti-corruption Open Data Principles that identify open data as a tool to prevent and tackle corruption insofar as they shed light on government activities, decisions, and expenditures. In addition, they increase accountability and allow citizens and government to better monitor the flow and use of public money within and across borders (Box 5.2).

Open government is an emerging theme in Coahuila’s political agenda and its institutions are producing an increasing amount of open data. This is reflected in Coahuila’s Transparency Law, which requires public entities to publish the information available to the public as open data and provides for specific open government obligations to increase citizen participation, transparency, and improve accountability (Article 50). Furthermore, it envisages the creation of an Open Government Secretariat in charge of promoting best practices for citizen participation, co-operating in the implementation and the evaluation of Coahuila’s digital policy in the realm of open data, and elaborating specific indicators on relevant themes. The Secretariat (Secretariado Técnico Tripartita Local de Gobierno Abierto) was created in 2015 and comprises the President of ICAI, the Minister of SEFIR, and a co-ordinator representing the civil society contact points of the five regions of the state. In August 2016, after a broad public consultation process involving all of the state’s regions, the STGA presented an open government action plan (Plan de acción de Gobierno Abierto para el Estado de Coahuila de Zaragoza 2016-2017) which set a number of commitments and a detailed timetable on the identified deliverables (STGA, 2016).

In spite of the remarkable efforts displayed so far by Coahuila in setting up the adequate legal framework and requiring public institutions to publish a significant amount of data and information, interviews during the fact-finding mission in July 2016 suggested that their actual use is limited. Despite the stated goal of the open data initiative, citizens are not the prime users of existing transparency mechanisms. This state of affairs raises doubts about the data’s effectiveness for accountability. In order to make the best out of data that are being created by public entities and elevate the experience of Coahuila as a best practice at the international level, Coahuila should not only create databases presenting data in disaggregated formats for technical analysis and evaluation as laid out in the principles of G8 Open Data Charter, but it could also make data more intelligible by presenting them in a plain, aggregated, and simplified format. Data visualisation does not only help to make public information more comprehensible, but it also stimulates the public interest in areas not commonly accessible to the public (HATVP, 2016).

In practice, in order to improve data socialisation and develop online visualisation tools, Coahuila could consider the open data projects and portals developed in other OECD countries, such the one set up by the city of Montreal in Canada (Box 5.3) to consult all of its contracts (Vue sur les contrats) as well as the ones created by the Italian government to access and monitor data on public spending data (SoldiPubblici), infrastructure projects (Opencantieri) and the 2015 Universal Exposition of Milan (Box 5.4). The latter examples could also be taken into consideration to improve existing efforts to make open data user and citizen-friendly, such as the SITODEM Portal (Sistema de Información y Transparencia de Obras para el Desarrollo Metropolitano; [http://sitodem.sefircoahuila.gob.mx/]), which presents a number of useful information items linked to the Integral System of Public Investment including the names of approved public works, their cost, the amount already spent, the responsible departments, beneficiaries and auditors. This portal, however, does not ensure that this information is made available in real time and does not provide an user-friendly visualisation of the evolution of projects and related contracts (see also Chapter 6).

In developing data visualisation tools, Coahuila should take into consideration the different levels of digital literacy across the state. The latter emerged as a significant challenge during fact-finding interviews, especially in rural areas. In consequence, tools to make information and data more friendly and understandable could be coupled with awareness-raising and capacity-building initiatives to narrow the digital divide and achieve the effective use of open data in line with the G20 Anti-Corruption Open Data Principles (Box 5.2).

In order to avoid gaps or overlaps and allow citizens and civil society to have comprehensive access to all the information and data provided by public institutions, Coahuila may wish to identify a single portal to consult and request information.

The potential of transparency as a tool to increase accountability also depends on the accessibility of the information, i.e. on how easily citizens can obtain the desired information. If, for instance, an institution discloses a significant amount information but it is not clear where it is published or how to consult a certain database, the usefulness of transparency as an accountability tool is diminished. This issue is also stressed by the G20, which acknowledges the importance of making open data “easily discoverable and accessible” and invites states to publish open data on “central portals, or in ways that can increase its accessibility, so that it can be easily discoverable and accessible for users” (G20, 2015).

In Coahuila, the significant amount of information produced by public entities can be consulted or requested through several websites:

• Coahuila Transparente (www.coahuilatransparente.gob.mx/), which centralises all the information to be published by public entities

• ICAI’s website (www.icai.org.mx:8282/ipo/), which provides links to the websites of public with the information to be disclosed according to the law as well as the link to the portal to request information

• Infomex Coahuila (www.infocoahuila.org.mx/), the website used to submit a request for information

• Coahuila Todo Transparente (www.coahuilatodotransparente.gob.mx/), Coahuila’s open data portal

• SEFIR’s website (www.sefircoahuila.gob.mx/), which also seems to function as a “database of databases” insofar as it displays the link to SITODEM, and to other databases such as the ones on public officials’ asset declarations and state budget reports.

The simultaneous existence of several platforms to access information in Coahuila does not allow potential users to unambiguously identify the main source of information in Coahuila, and this may deter them from looking into information. This is confirmed by the relatively low score of Coahuila in the Transparency Portal Indicator developed by CIDE (Table 5.1). In order to encourage people in accessing and using public information and data, Coahuila could consider using one single portal, as suggested in Chapter 6 in relation to public procurement. This would not only enable better understanding and communicability on the entry point to access all available information, but it could also allow institutions to focus their efforts on one single portal, thereby minimising the risks of gaps and overlaps, as well as saving resources needed to keep updated and relevant multiple databases and information at the same time. In designing a single and comprehensive database containing the latter features, Coahuila may consider the model adopted by Spain, which provides a comprehensive and user-friendly transparency portal with high level of usability and reusability of information in co-ordination with the Spanish central open data portal (www.datos.gob.es) (Box 5.5).

Although the legal framework of Coahuila offers tools for stakeholder participation and oversight, they have not been regularly used in the past. In order to improve their effectiveness, mechanisms could be introduced to improve awareness and enable active engagement in innovative and interactive ways.

Transparency, while a necessary condition, does not in itself guarantee oversight and effective citizen engagement. Public officials and institutions are accountable to the public not only when their activities and information are made available for public scrutiny, but also when citizens and stakeholders are able to participate in public life and actively contribute to the decision-making process.

Building on country experiences and practices, the OECD found that civic engagement enhances a government’s policy performance by working with citizens, civil society organisations, businesses, and other stakeholders to deliver improvements in policy and the quality of public services (Box 5.6). More important for the present review, stakeholders’ engagement is a meaningful tool to enable public integrity and effective accountability as stressed by the OECD Recommendation on Public Integrity, which calls upon states to grant “all stakeholders – including the private sector, civil society and individuals – access in the development and implementation of public policies” (OECD, 2017a). As stressed in Chapter 1, stakeholder engagement is also crucial to embrace a whole-of-society approach to public integrity, and therefore specific forms of participation should be designed to engage them in the development, regular update, and implementation of the public integrity system.

Coahuila adopted a specific Law on Civic Participation in 2001 (Ley de Participación Ciudadana para el Estado de Coahuila de Zaragoza), which aims to support Coahuila’s citizens’ right to participate in public life and to promote policies for community development. In this sense, it provides for a number of different tools for civic participation and consultation (Articles 4-5), namely:

• plebiscite (plebiscito)

• referendum (referendo)

• popular initiative (iniciativa popular)

• popular consultation (consulta popular)

• community collaboration (colaboración comunitaria)

• public hearing (audiencia pública)

• citizen Participation Councils (Consejos de Participación Ciudadana)

• community Participation Councils (Consejos de Participación Comunitaria)

In practice, the latter tools are only used rarely, as evidenced by Montemayor (2016) who, after presenting requests to information to all relevant institutions in Coahuila, found that in the last years 149 public hearings have been organised (2004-2016), while 12 legislative proposals were presented in front of the Congress (2004-2015) and 7 to the Executive (2012-2016, out of 181). On the other hand, various initiatives have been taken by institutions in Coahuila to engage citizens, youth, universities and NGOs, mostly consisting of monitoring or social audit activities (Table 5.2).

Although the latter initiatives reveal significant efforts to stimulate stakeholder oversight in public life, the minimal use of institutional tools for civic participation clearly points to a low level of citizen participation in the public life of Coahuila, which in turn signals the scarce use of stakeholder engagement mechanisms to encourage accountability. Considering the increasing use of web portals to consult and access information (Figure 5.2), Coahuila could consider leveraging ICTs to promote the engagement of society as done by Colombia (Box 5.7), as well as improving the understanding of available tools by devoting a specific section of its future single portal to explain and describe them following the example provided by Spain (Box 5.8).

Figure 5.2. Visits to Coahuila’s online transparency portals

Source: Montemayor (2016) and SEFIR.

Coahuila could make its transparency framework more responsive to society by introducing mechanisms to improve stakeholder engagement through a demand-drive approach based on dialogue, consultation, and on data collaboration and interoperability.

The institutional and legal framework of Coahuila on transparency has evolved significantly in the last years, creating the basis for a transparent public system. However, the typologies of relevant information and the usability and availability of data change over time according to the evolving socio-economic context and technological developments. Furthermore, public institutions are not always aware of which data interests the public, nor how such data could be used for the public interest. In consequence, the significance of transparency frameworks and platforms depends very much on their dynamism and capacity to evolve along technology developments and social needs.

Institutions in Coahuila are well aware of the need to keep the legal framework up-to-date: indeed, the Transparency Law, first enacted in 2003, has been amended several times since (in 2008, 2012, 2014, 2015, and 2016). Over these years, for instance, the categories of general information to be disclosed by all public entities increased from 19 to 101 (Montemayor, 2016). Similarly, some websites and portals have created sections to receive comments or make proposals, as it is the case for ICAI’s website forum (Foro) and the section “Citizen Observer” in the “Coahuilatodotrasparente” portal. However, the former contains only a few outdated comments and the latter only presents pictures and videos uploaded by users with comments describing misconduct by public authorities or problems in public buildings.

Considering the importance in involving stakeholders in determining the most relevant and priority data for the promotion of public integrity (HATVP, 2016), Coahuila could introduce further mechanisms to allow stakeholders to contribute effectively in building a dynamic transparency framework and environment. On the one hand, relevant institutions and social actors could gather periodically to identify typologies of information which could potentially enhance the transparency and accountability of public institutions. Considering the inclusiveness and diversity of actors represented in the Open Government Secretariat, this could take place in such context. After that, ICAI – which has the legal mandate to submit legislative proposals in the realm of transparency pursuant to Article 59(7) of the Constitution of Coahuila – could submit a draft to the Congress of Coahuila to amend or introduce obligations set by the existing legal framework. On the other hand, Coahuila could consider creating a simple and user-friendly platform to submit ideas on transparency as done in Colombia, and could take better advantage of its open data platform, allowing users to enrich it with new datasets following the examples of France and Finland (Box 5.9). In order to encourage data co-creation and collaboration as well as to enable data re-use that produces value (Ubaldi, 2013), Coahuila should also ensure the availability, quality, and interoperability of public datasets, the latter being essential prerequisites for open data to “play a key role to dismantle corruption networks” (Open Data Charter, 2016).

Coahuila could improve oversight over the transparency commitments of its institutions by developing an easily accessible index measuring compliance and implementation of state- and municipal-level institutions.

Stakeholders’ engagement to improve transparency and the public interest does not only take place through direct consultative processes and mechanisms, but can also be exercised by means of public mechanisms that help to oversee and monitor public institutions’ commitment to openness and transparency. The value of developing benchmarks and indicators on the level of implementation, as stressed by the OECD Recommendation (OECD, 2017a) in relation to public integrity systems, can be transferred to the realm of transparency, where the frequent updates and developments highlighted in the previous section require a responsive approach from public entities.

A useful tool which could be deployed by Coahuila to favour stakeholder monitoring is to introduce a transparency index providing easily accessible evidence and visualisation of improvements made in implementing the relevant framework and, at the same time, point out good practices as well as weak areas and institutions where further efforts are most needed. This could be particularly effective in the Mexican context, where rankings receive high visibility and therefore provide incentives to administrators to improve over the years. On the other hand, considering the legalist approach which often emerged during the fact-finding mission’s interviews, such an index should be carefully designed in order not to lead to a formal “check-the-box” activity disregarding the level of actual implementation and creating a mere compliance exercise.

In Coahuila, ICAI is in charge of measuring compliance of public entities with transparency obligations and making public the corresponding results pursuant to Articles 18 and 34(7) of the Transparency Law. Although ICAI carries out such task on a trimestral basis, accessing the corresponding results is not straightforward as one may find them only after searching the subfolders of ICAI’s transparency obligations page (información pública de oficio) [www.icai.org.mx/]. Furthermore, such information is provided through power point presentations without any possibility to use data or to do customised comparison between institutions and across time. Coahuila could therefore leverage the data which are already being collected and improve their socialization by creating a transparency index, which should be made widely public and easily accessible to the public. Furthermore, it should provide visualisation tools and customisation options as well as include indicators not only related to compliance with the Transparency Law but also its implementation and effectiveness. In this context, Coahuila could consider the example provided by Transparency International Slovakia, which regularly develops Open Local Government indexes (Otvorená samospráva) assessing the level of transparency in Slovakian regions and municipalities. Although the latter consider transparency in a broad sense, they represent a valuable reference for Coahuila in so far as they deal with subnational entities (including municipalities), they consider several indicators and provide graphs and visualisation tools to understand, assess, and compare scores in a clear, customisable and interactive way (Box 5.10).

Leveraging information and data for more accountable institutions

• Given that Coahuila is currently developing policies on open government, it could better exploit the data and information currently produced by public entities by improving data socialisation and developing online visualisation tools.

• In order to avoid gaps or overlaps and allow citizens and civil society to have comprehensive access to all the information and data provided by public institutions, Coahuila may wish to identify a single portal to consult and request information.

Improving stakeholders’ engagement to promote transparency and the public interest

• Although the legal framework of Coahuila offers tools for stakeholder participation and oversight, they have not been regularly used in the past. In order to improve their effectiveness, mechanisms could be introduced to improve awareness and enable active engagement in innovative and interactive ways.

• Coahuila could make its transparency framework more responsive to society by introducing mechanisms to improve stakeholder engagement through a demand-drive approach based on dialogue, consultation, and on data collaboration and interoperability.

• Coahuila could improve oversight over the transparency commitments of its institutions by developing an easily accessible index measuring compliance and implementation of state- and municipal-level institutions.