“e-Participation and Open Government

Experiences of Turkish Metropolitan Municipalities”

Prof. Dr. Turksel KAYA BENSGHIR

Director of TODAİE eGovernment Center Member of UN-CEPA

tbensghir@gmail.com

Outline

Introduction

About Turkey – County Profile of ICT and eGov

Outlook to Turkish Municipality

eParticipation and Open Government Applications in Turkish Municipalities

Q&A

2 10/22/2014

About Turkey

Capital Ankara 39°55′N 32°50′E

Largest city Istanbul 41°1′N 28°57′E

Population - 2013 estimate 76,667,864 [5] (18th) - Density 100 [5]/km2 (108th) 259/sq mi Area: 780 580 km2

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Country Profile Source: Eurostat

o Being located at the crossroads of

Asia, Europe and Africa, makes

Turkey one of the most

geopolitically strategic countries

of the world.

o Turkey has a unitary republic

political system.

Prof. Dr. Turksel KAYA BENSGHIR 4

Turkey

Country Profile- ICT , 2013 Source: BTK, 2013

• Fixed Telephone 13.5 m

• Mobile Telephone 69.6 m

• Internet 32.6 m

Prof. Dr. Turksel KAYA BENSGHIR 5

Internet and Computer Usage in Turkey 2013

• In Turkey as of 2013,

– 49.9 percent of the use of computers,

– internet utilization rate is 48.9 percent.

– broadband internet access which is 46.5 per cent of households.

• On the other hand mobile subscription is high.

Internet Use in Turkey https://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/en/european-egovernment-action-plan-

2011-2015

Internet Use less than %60

Mobile Internet use %70-80

Brief e-Gov History in Turkey • World Bank (1993): Turkey: Informatics and

Economic Modernization

• Ministry of Transport (1999): TUENA – Masterplan for Turkish National Information Infrastructure

• Prime Ministry (1998-2002): KamuNET

• Turkish Informatics Assembly (May 2002)

• Prime Ministry (20012003): eTurkey Initiative

e-Europe+ (1999)

e-Transformation Turkey Project (2003)

Short Term Action Plan 2005

IS and E-Gov Strategy and Policy

• Two Action Plans prior to the Strategy 1- Short Term Action Plan (STAP) with 73 actions

(2003-2004)

2- 2005 Action Plan with 50 actions (2005)

• Information Society Strategy and Action Plan covers 2006-2010 period

-111 actions

• Information Society Strategy and Action Plan covers 2014-2018 period – 73 actions

Prof. Dr. Turksel KAYA BENSGHIR 9

e-Government Policy

• Principles: • participatory, transparent and accountable e-

government structure • interoperable and integrated electronic public

services based on sharing of information and documents within and

among the agencies

• focused on the needs and life cycles of citizens and businesses

• secure, one-stop, continuous and multi-platform service provision

Prof. Dr. Turksel KAYA BENSGHIR 10

Information Society Strategy and Action

Plan covers 2014-2018 period

• It focused on growth and employment

• Covers 8 pillars 1. ICT sector

2. Human capacity and employment

3. Cyber security

4. E-Commerce

5. Broadband

6. Social benefits

7. Innovative solutions

8. User- oriented public e-services

Prof. Dr. Turksel KAYA BENSGHIR 11

e-Government Strategy and Action Plan 2015-2019 by Ministry of Transportation and Communication +

(preparing by) TUBITAK

Considering:

– Whole of Government

– Open Government - Open Data – Big data

– Cloud Computing

Ranking of Turkish eGovernment

UN eGov Readiness Index Turkey

• 2014 71 . Rank 0.5443 • Online Services

– 0.5591 • Telecomm. Infrastructure

– 0.3605 • Human Capital

– 0.7133

Prof. Dr. Turksel KAYA BENSGHIR 14

Perceived barriers preventing use of online public services

• Lack of ability – is mentioned by a quarter (24%) of all non-users. This

barrier is most prominent in Greece, Lithuania and Turkey.

• Lack of awareness, – is more prevalent in young people. In theory, this

group should be relatively easy to convert. On a geographic basis, Greece and Turkey.

• Lack of trust – is modest at 11%; yet that is the one that grabs the

attention.

eu-egovernment-report-2014 http://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/en/news/eu-egovernment-report-2014-shows-usability-online-public-services-improving-not-fast

• It was found that: – European governments are not consistently

opening up public organizations, data and processes;

– Service delivery is neither user-driven nor open and transparent;

– User autonomy over personal data needs to be improved;

– Public organizations provide generic information, but refrain from publishing performance insights.

Look at the Turkish Municipality

There are five types of municipalities in Turkey

• Metropolitan municipality – – with a population in excess of 750.000

• Province capital municipality- İl – a population less than 750.000

• District municipality- ilçe – In provinces with a metropolitan municipality, the district municipality

is partially a subordinate of the metropolitan municipality. In other provinces all district centers serve in the district center and are independent of the province capital municipality.

• Town municipality-Belde – There are no town (Turkish: belde) municipalities in provinces with a

metropolitan municipality. Because the former town municipalities as well as the villages were merged to district center municipalities. But in other provinces town (small settlements) municipalities continue to exist.

The number of municipalities in Turkey http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Turkish_local_government_reorganisation

• Majority of the population live in settlements with municipalities.

• The number of municipalities in Turkey was 2947 in 2009. It changed considerably in 2013.

• In 2013, most of the small town (Turkish: belde) municipalities, were merged to district (Turkish: ilçe) municipalities by the act no 6360 [2] .

• In 2014 the number sharply decreased to 1394.

metropolitan municipalities • There are 81 provinces

in Turkey (Turkish: il).

• Among the 81 provincial centers, 30 of them are called metropolitan municipalities[

• (Turkish: büyükşehir belediyeleri).

• The three most populous cities in Turkey, namely; İstanbul, Ankara and

• İzmir

Historical Synopsis of the Turkish Municipal Sistem

• The Law on Villages was accepted in 1924. • An universal municipal law 1580 was prepared in 1930. • The municipal law No. 1580, to remain in force for 75 years. • This service-based nature of Turkish municipalism can be

better seen by referring to the functions allocated to the municipalities.

• The law allocates 76 different duties to the municipalities in areas such as urban infrastructure, basic urban services, town planning and controls, the provision and the control of clean food, health and some religious services, cultural activities, housing and social aid facilities etc.

In 1990s the new municipality Approach

• The new municipality defined by the movement would be: democratic and participatory; productive; fund-raiser; advisor; organizer; and unionist.

Main Challenging and Problems on Local Government in Turkey

• Effectiveness and Efficiencies

• Democratic deficiencies despite decentralization

• Municipal councils: problem of representation

• Citizens: Problem of participation

In the New Municipal Act -5393 ( Date of Passage 03.07.2005) there are various regulations relating to participation in Local management

• 13 article It’s said:

– ARTICLE 13- «Everyone is a fellow-citizen of the county which he lives in. The fellow-citizens shall be entitled to participate in the decisions and services of the municipality, to acquire knowledge about the municipal activities and to benefit from the aids of the municipal administration. It is a basic principle to extend aid without hurting human feelings.

– The municipality shall perform necessary activities to improve the social and cultural relations between the fellow-citizens and to preserve cultural values. While performing these activities, it shall take measures to enable participation of the universities, proficiency groups in the status of public institution, trade unions, non-governmental organizations and experts.

–

Participation Mechanisms

participation mechanisms-1 Local Agenda 21

• The LA 21 program – based on community participation, involvement of local stakeholders, establishment of local partnerships, and decentralization of local decision-making processes – has provided a unique opportunity for the enhancement of local democracy and for practical implementations of the concept of good governance in Turkey.

• The strength of the LA 21 program is its methodology and approach in getting stakeholders to collaborate to improve service delivery and increase democratization

participation mechanisms-2

• « City council « –Kent konseyleri

– The people can take place in City Council as a listener or have right to give a proposal.

– City council meetings are open to the public and decision summaries have to be announced to the public.

• «Specialized committees«- İhtisas komiteleri

participation mechanisms-3

• Municipalities’s strategic plans

– are also a good participation opportunity for internal (municipal staff) and external stakeholders (citizens, NGO, firms etc).

– population of over 50 thousand, the municipalities have to make strategic plans.

participation mechanisms-4

Voluntary participation in municipal service

• ARTICLE 77-In order to enable public

participation in the services and to increase the efficiency and to carry out the activities in the most economic manner, the Municipality shall prepare programs for the volunteers who are willing to contribute health, training, sports, environmental, cultural and social services, formation of libraries, parks etc. and other services rendered to the old people, women and children, disabled, poor people.

Creating online environmnet for Voluntary participation: Voluntary Council

In Turkey, at the the local government , there is a problem in participation stems from these reasons:

• Lack of participation mechanism

• Unwilling /abstention and lack of awareness of citizens for participating

• Lack of local referendum in 1982 Constitution

• There is a limited regulation for local referendum in 5393 the Municipal Act (2005)

It seems modern of participation instruments can be solutition for participation problems

Traditional

• to participate the elections

• to join in political parties as a members

Modern

• Internet tools • City councils • Public meetings • Recall • Round table discussions • Polls • Petitions • Planing circles • Future workshops • Voluentering

Local Referendum Local Agenda 21

eParticipation and Open Government Applications in Turkish

Municipality

Regulations & Major Initiatives to Enhance eParticipation in Turkey

• 4982 Right to Information Act

• 5108 Public Financial Management and Control Law (2003)

• E- Government Portal

• IS Strategy 2014-2018

• Increasing the use of ICT tools –Social media, web applications etc.

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eParticipation to Public Policy Process in Turkey

• Until 2014 July, there is no comprehensive strategy participation to public policy process strategy and policy yet.

• But we can see some steps in draft IS strategic plans.

– In Draft Information Society Strategic Plan 2014-2018,

• Action 69-eParticipation to public policy process will be provided. – eParticipation Program will be prepared.

– Legal infrastructure for participation will be enhanced.

– BİMER – Public Relation platform will be improved covering eParticipation applications.

– Public organizations will be promoted to prepare their own eParticipation plans.

– eParticipation readiness indicators will be defined

Open Data - Open Government in Turkey

• Until 2014 July, there is no comprehensive open goverment strategy and policy yet. But we can see some steps for open government and open data in new strategic plans.

• In Draft Information Society Strategic Plan 2014-2018,

– Action 51

• Open access to Cultural and Scientific data will be provided.

– Action 68

• Sharing public data with third parties – legal and technical infrastructure will be prepared.

– open data catalog will be created.

– Awarness programs related to open data will be organized for public organizations.

– The legal and administrative barriers to data sharing will be removed.

eParticipation Applications in Turkish Metropolitian Municipality

eParticipation Information

Examples

e-Gov Gate (türkiye.gov.tr)

18 milion registered users, 134 institutions and

1000 e-services

Human Rights Violations Applications

(City Council Decisions Query)

İSTANBUL Metropolitian Municipality

Ankara Metropolitian Municipality

eParticipation Consultation

Examples

Prime Ministry- Communication Center -BIMER

• Right to Information Act and the Law on the Right of Petition regarding use of the application may be made to BIMER .

• Using the Law on the Right of Petition under all kinds of requests, complaints, notices, comments and suggestions can be made using BIMER over all communication options.

eParticipation Active Participation Examples

Asking the citizens the name of the Ship

Mayors in Social Media interacting with citizens

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BAĞCILAR Municipality

MUNICIPALITY

INTERACTIVE ASSEMBLY

PORTAL

Turkey’s the First Interactive

Assembly

Interactive Assembly Portal in which mayor replies

to all questions directly

Live video streaming

The Bağcılar mayor

replies all questions

that citizens post on

Twitter through

Interactive Assembly

Portal on every

Tuesday.

The tab ‘Frenquently

Asked Questions’ gives

citizens opportunity to

look at the mayor’s

answers at anytime.

Beyaz Masa –online PR Service

Suryey of Citizens Satisfaction

Publishing of Municipality Council Decisions

• Citizens can learn any time municipality council decisions via web sites

Municipality Commission Decisions can be seen on web applications

Problems for eParticipation

• Lack of awareness

• Lack of eSkills –ability

• Lack of trust

• Lack of access to ICT tools

• Not willing to participate to management

• Not willing to share the decision making power

• ...

Key Factors for of eParticipation and Open Government

• Political stability • Adequate legal frame work, • Trust in government, • Government structure (centralized or decentralized) • Build skills among civil servants and establish a supportive political and

administrative culture • Develop effective evaluation tools.

– Evaluating the quality of open and inclusive policy making processes and their impacts is a new frontier for most governments.

• Countries need to pool their efforts to develop appropriate evaluation frameworks, tools and training

• ...

THANK YOU

FOR YOUR ATTENTION