The Open Budget Survey (OBS) is the world’s only independent, comparative, and objective research instrument for this purpose; this instrument was used for this assessment. Of the 120 countries assessed by the OBS in 2021, the vast majority (94), Jamaica included, failed to reach the minimum threshold for adequate budget transparency, public participation, and oversight. This report assesses how well the Government of Jamaica (GOJ) facilitates public access to budget information, and how many formal opportunities are provided for the public to participate in the national budget process

Across the world, as in Jamaica, the pandemic challenged governments’ capacity to manage resources effectively and equitably. With fiscal resources moving around on such a massive scale, civil society partners across 120 countries, including the Caribbean Policy Research Institute (CAPRI) in Jamaica, worked with the International Budget Partnership (IBP) to take a closer look at how governments managed their initial COVID-19 fiscal policy responses. Our goal was not just to assess how governments fared, but to generate lessons on how they can respond better, both to the ongoing COVID-19 situation as it continues to unfold, and to future such crises. 

In 2019, for the first time the Government of Jamaica was (GOJ) assessed for how much it facilitates public access to budget information, and how many formal opportunities it provides for the public to participate in the national budget process. The Open Budget Survey (OBS,) the world’s only independent, comparative, and objective research instrument for this purpose, was used to do the assessment. The OBS also examined the role of Jamaica’s budget oversight institutions, such as the Parliament and Auditor General’s Department (AGD), in the budget process. Based on these indicators, the OBS provided an assessment of Jamaican citizens’ ability to engage the budget process and provide relevant feedback to the GOJ about budget decisions.

It is widely accepted that citizen security and public safety are the main challenges threatening Jamaica’s growth and
development. With support from the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) CAPRI thus undertook the
Transforming Citizen Security a Yaad project (CSAY). Through this project, which ran from May 2017 to March 2020,
CAPRI produced four reports, on pertinent issues related to citizen security, and a draft crime scorecard. Each report
was launched with a live-streamed public forum that brought together relevant key stakeholders, and where the public was
directly engaged. A number of highlevel key stakeholders participated in the creation of the crime scorecard, with the next
expected step to collaborate with a relevant government agency, and perhaps another civil society organization,
to operationalize it, so it can fulfill its tremendous potential as a tool of improving the state’s accountability to
its citizens.

The reports covered police reform, the efficacy of anti-violence interventions, the relationship between scamming, gangs, and
violence, and an in-depth analysis of Jamaica’s contemporary gang dynamics. These were four critical issues that, expert
stakeholders agreed, would benefit from up-to-date, evidence based research and analysis, to move the debate, thinking, and
policy forward.

It is widely accepted that citizen security and public safety are the principal challenges threatening Jamaica’s growth and development. With support from the UK’s Department for International Development(DFID) CAPRI undertook the Transforming Citizen Security a Yaad project, and produced four reports on pertinent issues related to citizen security. The reports covered police reform, the efficacy of anti-violence interventions, the relationship between scamming, gangs, and violence, and an in-depth analysis of Jamaica’s contemporary gang dynamics. These were four critical issues that, expert stakeholders agreed, would benefit from up-to-date, evidence based research and analysis, to move the debate, thinking, and policy forward.

Jamaica’s open data programme has advanced further than most of its counterparts in the Caribbean, placing it at the top of most regional rankings. In recent years there have been legislative developments (data protection legislation tabled; open data policy in development), infrastructural developments (portal), as well as capacity building through data training programmes. Despite recent developments, the country has experienced very limited impact from its open data programme thus far. Several issues relating to data quality, the reactive nature of data release within government, issues with the access to information request process, and a lack of focus on answering specific questions with open data, are significant barriers to its re-use and impact in Jamaica. Many of the current challenges stem from the absence of an open data policy which provides guidance, and standardizes data collection, distribution, and quality, across government agencies.

This report assesses Jamaica’s current open data programme, and identifies those shortcomings to be remedied, as well as opportunities where value could be added. The following recommendations are made to improve the effectiveness of the current programme, and to extract significant and measurable value from open data.

This report is part of a project undertaken in collaboration with the Embassy of the U.S. in Jamaica, titled "Dialogues Between Democracies". This project, which consisted of a series of events and the present research, examined the benefits and challenges of the bilateral relations between the United States and Jamaica. Focusing on the themes of Security, Health & Prosperity, Democratic Governance and Social Inclusion, "Dialogues Between Democracies" celebrated the achivements of a strong partnership, whilst providing evidence-based recommendations to strengthen this partnership, presented in this report.