One of the best things that happens being part of the OKFN Sweden team is, to get lots of information about open data, openness, to get inspired by great community members and to be part of global movement that promotes openness. Open Government is key to have more accountable and transparent governments. Openness means the best use of public money. I would like to talk about a recent campaign that OKFN launched. I am well aware of lots of people being angry to corruption, fraud and unaccountable governments. Now, you can do more than being angry.
One of the issues that limits citizens ability to have transparent, open and accountable government is secret contracts. A new campaign has just started by OKFN to stop secret contracts. OKFN has announced it with a press release By definition, public contracts means these should be public by default and classified only when strictly necessary. Citizens should be able to see that public money is properly spent, and not pocketed by politicians and businessmen. If you are not sure how much it is important to have “open” contracts, please have a look at these figures:
- Europe loses an estimated €120 billion to corruption every year
- It is estimated that $20 billion dollars is lost to fraud and corruption in the defence sector every year.
- Africa ‘s around a quarter of its GDP is lost to corruption: around $148 billion .
If you care about open government please sign the petition. For more information please go to http://stopsecretcontracts.org/
Please Tweet on #SecretContracts
Organizations who would like to support the campaign should contact: contact@stopsecretcontracts.org and/or can reach OKFN Sweden