The Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM) is a key means by which all stakeholders can track OGP progress in participating countries. The IRM produces annual independent progress reports for each country participating in OGP. The progress reports assess governments on the development and implementation of OGP action plans, progress in fulfilling open government principles, and make technical recommendations for improvements. These reports are intended to stimulate dialogue and promote accountability between member governments and citizens. In addition to publishing reports, the IRM also releases all of its data in open data format.

Governance and Structure

As an independent body, the IRM is guided by, but not directly accountable to, the Steering Committee of the Open Government Partnership. An International Experts Panel (IEP) directly oversees the IRM. This panel is made up of a steering committee of second-year members, while the newest cohort of IEP members play a role more focused on quality control. All IEP members are renowned experts in transparency, participation, and accountability, and play the principal role of guiding development and implementation of the IRM research method and ensuring the highest quality of reports. More information and the most up-to-date list of membership is available here.

Scope of the IRM

Consistent with the IRM Concept Note,  the independent progress reports will assess implementation of the commitments adopted by OGP participating governments in their country action plans, including an assessment of the following areas:

• The extent to which the action plan and its commitments reflect, in a country-specific way, the OGP values of transparency, accountability, and civic participation, as articulated in the OGP Declaration of Principles and the Articles of Governance.
• Wherever relevant, IRM reports may reflect actions or measures relevant to the country’s participation in OGP that were not originally reflected in the action plan.
• The degree to which OGP governments are following OGP process requirements and guidance in the development and implementation of their plans, in keeping with the Articles of Governance - Addendum C.
• Progress made on the articulation and implementation of each commitment and the plan as a whole, according to milestones laid out by the government in its action plan.
• Technical recommendations regarding how countries can improve implementation of each commitment and the plan as a whole, as well as how to better realize the values and principles of OGP, with specific reference to the OGP Articles of Governance and the OGP Declaration of Principles. Recommendations are to cover all of the preceding bullets under scope.
• From 2014 onwards, the IRM will document steps to improve country performance on OGP eligibility criteria as part of their action plans. The OGP Support Unit’s annual review of eligibility criteria will remain the primary authority for determining and discussing OGP country performance on eligibility criteria. The IRM reports will have a more limited discussion of the context surrounding progress or regress on specific criteria at the country level each year, based on citizen feedback.  Reports shall also include a section for follow-up on recommendations issued in previous reports. This follow-up process will also be carried out in accordance with the principles set out in this document.
• Please see "FAQs" in the attached documents for additional details and information. All governance documents are contained in the IRM Proposal.

IRM National Researchers

These independent experts author the IRM progress reports monitoring implementation of each country’s OGP action plan.  The list of researchers is available here and is updated periodically.  

IRM Products

The IRM releases:

• annual independent progress reports for each country participating in OGP;
• underlying data for those reports, in open formats and in the OGP Explorer;
• papers, analyses, and syntheses of the cross-cutting themes and findings.