On October 28, 2015, the global forum of the Open Government Partnership (OGP) initiative kicked off in Mexico City, United States of Mexico. An Armenian delegation is participating in the forum, headed by First Deputy Minister-Chief of Government Staff Gurgen Doumanyan, the governemnt’s press office reports.

The forum summed up the results of the 2nd Annual OGP International Awards for 2015, which kicked off in March, 2015. This year’s theme is “Improving public services using the principles of open governance.” Bids had been received from 35 out of 66 member States. Note that the applications are assessed by a 23-member-strong independent international jury.

This year Armenia participated for the first time in the competition and won a top award among the countries of the Asian-South Pacific region. The ceremony was attended by President of the United States of Mexico Enrique Peña Nieto, who handed in the honorary award.

Armenia came up with the “Creation and introduction of community management and development-oriented information systems in regional administrations” initiative. A program referred to as “Smart community” (Smart Municipality) was presented to the jury. The program is meant to increase efficiency in the activities of Armenia’s local self-governance authorities and improve public services based on the principles open governance.