Skopje, March 11th, 2019
Today, the Minister of Information Society and Administration, Damjan Manchevski, and the Minister Without Portfolio Responsible for Communications, Accountability and Transparency, Robert Popovski, held a meeting with the Deputy-Director of Open Government Partnership Support Unit in Washington D.C., Jo Powell.
At the meeting, Minister Manchevski focused on activites performed within open data as fundamental precondition for cooperation between institutuions and citizens.
“At present, 190 data sets are available from over 40 institutions. This is a mere begining, and the number of data is constantly increasing. Institutions are becoming aware of the importance of opening data, and businesses, civil society organizations, media intensify their use of available data”, underlined Minister Manchevski.
Minister Popovski introduced the set of measures that the Government of the Republic of Macedonia implements to develop the “Open Government” concept.
“The greatest challenge was to open institutions. We made information on Government operation available to citizens, and we create a criteria system for every government to come. Representatives of civil society organizations in the Republic of North Macedonia are involved in the development of strategies, amendments to laws and monitoring of implementation thereof, with a view to attain a more successful and comprehensive process”.
As Powell stressed, the Government is a leader in the region in terms of Open Government Partnership. According to him, the Action Plan adopted last year covers specific measures and therefore, there is an oportunity to enhance cooperation and support that OGP would secure for North Macedonia.
“This is the first visit of OGP High Representatives to the county, since the establishment of OGP in 2011. We would be glad if North Macedonia’s success serves as inspiration and if you are a leader for other countries in the region”, stressed Powell.
The Deputy-Director Jo Powell and his delegation are on visiting the Republic of North Macedonia as part of the Global Open Government Partnership Week. Therefore, MISA also organizes a public event discussing the topic “Where We Stand and Futrher Steps Within the Open Government Partnership“, to be held on March 12th, 2019 in the MPs’ Club.
Ministry of Information Society and Administration