Articles

In the summer of 2017, the Technical Commission on Good Governance Practices (CTPBG) of the Latin American and Caribbean Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (OLACEFS) conducted the first evaluation of the Index of Availability of Information to Citizens on the Institutional Management of Supreme Audit Institutions (IDIGI‑EFS). In this evaluation, the website of the Office of the Comptroller of Puerto Rico (OCPR) obtained a score of 45, which placed it at a low level.

The purpose of this first evaluation was:

• that the SAIs have a comparative analysis of the state of the availability of information on the scope of control, management, and results of oversight, as a contribution to the accountability of the SAIs to citizens and to the building of good governance practices in the face of the challenge of overseeing the SDGs;
• that, based on the results obtained, institutional mechanisms be activated to improve their levels of information availability to citizens and other stakeholders, that they design and implement strategies to improve their results, and that they share this experience with other organizations;
• and, that citizens, civil organizations, and other stakeholders learn about the information available from the SAIs and its usefulness for the exercise of social control over public management based on the standards and results obtained by the SAIs in the process of implementing the provisions of the XXIV General Assembly of OLACEFS of 2014.

After that first evaluation, the OCPR has been evaluated on four occasions. The following graph shows the scores obtained.

What changed?

The recognition of our limitations and the desire to face the challenge brought about by the IDIGI-EFS evaluation allowed us to embark on a path to innovate and break existing barriers. The Comptroller determined that the OCPR would participate in the activity "Support in the Development of Sustainability Plans and Measurement of the Index of Availability of Information (IDIGI)-EFS 2023". This allowed us to make a deep analysis of the causes that affect the IDIGI-EFS score for continuous improvement and to maintain the optimal level. This was achieved through:

• the active participation of senior management.
• the diversity of capabilities of the members of the support team.
• the definition of roles and responsibilities to keep the information up to date.
• the awareness of the importance of having information available.
• the adoption of a sustainability plan to maintain the score.
• the pursuit of innovation by the support team.
• the commitment to expand the information that is available to citizens.

Congratulations! We thank the members of the support team and all the areas of the OCPR that provide data and information to keep the website up to date.

See: IDIGI-EFS 2023 Results