Promoting proactive transparency during COVID-19 in Mexico
Developed in March 2020, the [1] – also called as the “COVID-19 microsite” – processes, systematizes, publishes and disseminates information about the pandemic. With one of the aims being to generate reassurance among the public during the health crisis, the platform makes visible the strategies, actions and measures that are part of the public health policy adopted by the Federal Government in Mexico.
The platform also allows visitors to consult statistics related to access to information (ATI) requests about COVID-19 and the types of information that are frequently requested. This way, public authorities can identify the kind of information that they need to publish proactively, while anticipating the responses they need to provide. As of 15 May 2021, as many as 43,556 requests had been analyzed. The information is updated every 15 days to generate the following statistics: a) top 5 requests by categories; b) status of responses to requests; c) type of response provided by the obligated entities (public authorities that are under obligation to respond the requests); d) top 10 obligated entities with the highest number of requests; and e) historical behaviour of the ATI requests per day. By making available information on the performance of the authorities, as well as the measures and strategies implemented for the management of health crisis, the platform has also stimulated the accountability among public authorities.
Visitors can also access the open data section, where the complete database containing the ATI requests can be downloaded and repurposed for analysis and other uses. The platform also incorporates national and local transparency portals that concentrate useful information on COVID-19. As of 2021, portals of 14 state-level oversight agencies have been integrated into the platform: Morelos, Nuevo León, Quintana Roo, Oaxaca, Estado de Mexico, Veracruz, Jalisco, Guanajuato, Zacatecas, Guerrero, Durango, Chiapas and Puebla.
[1] https://micrositios.inai.org.mx/gobiernoabierto/?page_id=6775