Weekly Briefing: How to open up government

Top Stories

Join the Apolitical Summer Camp: Digital Transformation for Policymakers. In a weekly bite-sized activity or article, we’ll walk you through what ‘digital’ really means, the changing nature of the field and ways you can help drive your department's digital transformation. (Apolitical)

It's time to humanise procurement. In a plain-spoken Q&A, expert David Kershaw discusses where contracting is going wrong, which skills are needed to do it differently and how a new era of transparency and user-centred design is helping to rewrite the rules of procurement. (Apolitical)

We need to fix our bureaucracies to make open government a reality. The revolutionary idea that citizens should have access to public agencies’ spending, data and documents is gaining traction as a way to boost trust in government. Here’s how we should start changing the culture. (Natalia Domagala, UK Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)

The secret to financing the SDGs? Sustainable procurement, Peru has found. The world faces a $3 trillion shortfall to meet the SDGs. Peru, meanwhile, is mobilising $600 million annually by bringing environmental and social performance requirements into government contracting. (Carlo Angeles, the City of Lima)

Energy, Environment and Economic Opportunity

A London borough convened a citizens’ assembly to decide how it should confront climate change. Randomly selected locals listen to briefings, ask questions and debate the issues, then recommend action. The hope is that the assembly will not only impact the environment, but citizens’ faith in democracy. (The Guardian)

Ethiopia planted more than 350 million trees in 12 hours, setting a new world record. Some public offices were shut down to allow civil servants to take part in the project, which aims to counter the effects of climate change and deforestation in the drought-prone country. (BBC)

Evolving Cities

New York wants to improve residents’ mental health by offering free talk therapy on public benches. It’s based on a Zimbabwean program where grandmothers offer an ear to people who are suffering but unable to seek professional help. A study found it to be an effective measure to cure depression. (The New York Times)

An English city has built some of the most energy-efficient homes seen in the UK – as social housing. They provide secure tenancies at fixed rents and meet the strict German Passivhaus standards, which means residents will see a 70% reduction in fuel bills. (The Guardian)

Technology Frontiers

US cities want to boost turnout by letting citizens vote on their phones. Only about 12-15% of US citizens vote in the primaries. Cities from Provo, Utah to Denver, Colorado hope that a new blockchain-based app will make voting easier, and therefore more attractive. (CityLab)

In India, even toddlers learn to code. Programming centres across the country teach children how to build games and apps. The goal is to introduce them to logical thinking, problem solving and other cognitive skills — and prepare them for a job market dominated by computer science. (World Economic Forum)

And finally

NASA is spicing up space. The Española chile pepper will become the first fruit cultivated in space, it announced. The idea is to boost astronauts' nutrition and give their meals more variety: “Just like here on Earth, we can’t live on the same thing,” said one scientist. (NASA)

(Picture credit: Unsplash)