NT in partnership with Civil Society Organisations is developing an online budget data portal. The creation of the portal is in line with NT’s continued commitment to transparency and participatory reforms. NT publishes extensive budgetary information on its website, however it has been observed that the use of this data is not as extensive as it could be. The intention of the online portal project is to provide the data in a more user-friendly format and present a readily comprehensible overview of how public resources are generated and used. The portal is to be developed in an incremental and modularised approach to allow for continuous engagements with stakeholders. The user‐friendly format of the data should enable more effective analysis and research, thereby supporting involvement by civil society and the public in the budget process.
South Africa is a founding member of the multilateral initiative Open Government Partnership (OGP) that “aims to secure concrete commitments from governments to promote transparency, empower citizens, fight corruption, and harness new technologies to strengthen governance".
A project planning phase was undertaken to scope the project. Thereafter, an open tender process was undertaken to secure a service provider to support the implementation of the project. In keeping with the partnership approach, Civil Society Organisations observed the procurement process. The tender was awarded to Open Up. The official project commencement date was 4th August 2017. Stage one (of four) of the project is currently under way. During stage one there will be a series of Data Quests designed to understand user needs in order to inform the development of the portal.