Implement ‘open government’ in daily lives: Audrey Tang

Audrey Tang (??), a minister without portfolio responsible for digital policies, encouraged the public on Friday to implement the idea of "open government" in their daily lives by participating in public affairs in their community.

No matter if it is a meeting as small as one about apartment management, people could apply the concept of open government by accessing information they need to understand how the community operates and understanding the interests at stake, Tang said during the Open Government Partnership Global Summit in Paris.

Through that process, bottom-up democratic participation will be possible, and when people realize that the issue they care about cannot be solved at the community-level, they will reach further up the government, creating an open government practice.

Open government suggests that citizens have the right to get information on the government to allow for more policy transparency and effective public oversight.

In the latest development of open government, Tang explained, more focus lies in involving people from all walks of life who are not interested in public affairs to pay attention to different issues.

The practice of open government would help forge trust between the government and the people, said Tang, who was invited to give a short speech at the summit even though Taiwan is not a member of the assembly.

"Some say that open government is a way for the government to regain trust from the people, but I think that trust is two-way," she said.

"The level of trust people have in the government will be the same as the other way around. The government should first show how much it is willing to trust its people for the public to catch up (with trusting the government)," according to Tang.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel