EP#129 Part Two: Being Citizen Centric

In this weeks episode, we bring you part two of our interview with the CEO of the Open Government Partnership (OGP), Sanjay Pradhan.

The current war in Ukraine, Sanjay explains, is providing a window of opportunity for democracies to ban together and challenge authoritarianism.

"I believe in galvanising action, I believe in galvanising coalitions ...to get to the root of the problem. One route is a stronger Western alliance, or a democratic alliance as you said, but another route must be to really empower citizens and make real reforms " - Sanjay Pradhan

Sanjay chats with CEO and Founder of contentgroup, David Pembroke, about the importance of holding social media platforms accountable. He shares his thoughts on the use and misuse of information and how information can be used to polarise citizens.

The pair touch on why citizens need a voice in policy and how comms can be used as a positive medium for citizen engagement. Being citizen centric involves a three way communication consisting of government to citizens, citizens to government and governments to respond and provide feedback directly to the citizens.

Finally, Sanjay and David discuss Open Government Week coming up between the 16th and 20th of May. The event is a giant festival for open government across the globe. Inviting government, civil society and other reformers, the event harvests an opportunity to start co-creating reforms that can really make a difference. For more information head to: https://www.opengovpartnership.org/events/open-gov-week-2022/

Discussed in this episode:

• The war in Ukraine's impact on democracy
• The importance of government communications
• Putting citizens back in the heart of government

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