Reshaping transparency in administrative decision-making
The potential for strengthening transparency in government decision-making by making the resulting decisions publicly available for everyone in a machine-readable way is still largely untapped due to a combination of legal, technical, and behavioral constraints. The CITaDOG project aims to address these various constraints, focusing on "single-case" decisions. These are decisions specific to a case or a person, such as granting or rejecting a permit application that authorizes certain actions.
Making large amounts of government documents publicly available online in a machine-readable way can contribute to open government by enabling digital analysis and search of government decisions.
“Modern open government legislation is pushing governments to disclose single-case decisions to everyone. The aim of the CITaDOG project is to assess to what extent this public disclosure can strengthen transparency in administrative decision-making and can empower citizens to act as watchdogs in decision-making procedures” says Prof. Johan Wolswinkel, principal investigator.
CITaDOG is an abbreviation of ‘Case-Inclusive Transparency for a Digital and Open Government’, the full title of the research project. The project involves a multidisciplinary consortium, led by Professor Johan Wolswinkel, consisting of experts in public law, public administration, social psychology, and computer science and social partners representing government and citizen perspectives.
Watch this brief introduction to the project:
Find out more about the project and project consortium here.
The CITaDOG project is funded by Tilburg University’s Digital Sciences for Society program.
Get ready for the digital future
The Digital Sciences for Society program invests in impactful research, education and collaboration aimed at seizing the opportunities and dealing with the challenges of digitalization for science and society.