In 2016, I co-founded the Open Governance Mobile App which was an initiative of buildNepal Technologies. We envisioned revolutionizing civic participation and engagement in local governance via utilization of technology. This mobile app aimed to promote transparency, accountability, and public awareness in alignment with the Local Resource Mobilization directive of the Nepal Government.
Key Features:
- Community-Government Collaboration: Enhance communication channels between the community and local authorities, fostering a collaborative approach to governance.
- Comprehensive Information Access: Deliver essential information, including public notices, budget allocations, and other general details that were crucial for neighborhood citizens.
- Detailed Budget Breakdown: Ward-wise and category-wise budget breakdown for every project under the local government’s Redbook for the current fiscal year.
- Decision Tracking: Update and notification to the citizens on the decisions made by the local government to promote transparency.
- Dedicated Public Notices Section: A dedicated public notice section that could keep citizens well-informed about important announcements and updates from the local government.
- Complaints Platform: Users could post complaints, to ensure a direct channel with relevant authorities to ensure efficient issues resolution
- Inquiries and Feedback Mechanism: inquiries and feedback could be made directly to the municipality that promotes open dialogue.
- Capitalize on low hanging fruit to identify a ballpark value added activity to beta test. Override the digital divide with additional clickthroughs from DevOps. Nanotechnology immersion along the information highway will close the loop on focusing solely on the bottom line.
Implementation and Impact:
The Open Governance Mobile App was initially adopted by Tarakeshwor Municipality in 2016. This strategic move aimed at strengthening transparency, accountability, and public awareness, effectively minimizing corruption with use of technology. At the moment we have collaborated with Tarakeshwor Municipality leading to the successful deployment and piloting of the “Open Tarakeshwor” mobile app.
The “Open Tarakeshwor” App:
The “Open Tarakeshwor” app was a vital step in informing the public about municipal decisions, service processes, data and statistics, relevant acts, economic transactions, and other crucial information in relation to the local governance. The app’s use and adaptation demonstrated its effectiveness in promoting best practices in local development, accountability, and transparency.
Our inclusive approach targeted every citizen that had access to mobile phones including farmers, entrepreneurs, teachers, women, youth, everyone who had owned a smartphone. This has contributed significantly to the promotion of open data-based open governance, democratic practices, and open lifestyles.
The Open Governance Mobile App and its subsequent adaptations was a foundation for the concept of open governance principles in Nepal fostering community engagement, and utilizing technology for democratization of digital society.
