The Cabildo of Lanzarote has renovated its Transparency Portal and has launched a platform that allows access to all the information on the budgets of the different entities that make up the first island corporation and the list of expenses and payments by area.
These two transparency tools, which will be fully operational from this Thursday and which have been made possible thanks to a total investment of 75,818 euros, have been presented by the Councilor for Open Government of the island corporation, Jorge Peñas, who highlighted the importance of citizens having "adequate access to the information on which government matters are based", as well as "the duty of politicians and officials to explain their policies, decisions and actions to the public."
"Informing, consulting and involving citizens are the pillars of all good government, the appropriate means of promoting openness and a good investment to improve the development of public policies," said Peñas, showing his commitment to continue working "to promote transparency and accountability in the institution, as well as to facilitate the participation of citizens in the design and implementation of public policies."
And, as the island councilor has stated, "Open Government not only refers to transparency and access to information, but also implies involving citizens more in the public affairs that interest them."
"We must lay the foundations for a commitment between the different administrations and civil society, to advance on the path of transparency through the use of ICT, in order to raise awareness of a Lanzarote society that is more equitable and inclusive," added Jorge Peñas.
The new Budget Visualization Portal
With regard to the new Budget Visualization Portal (presupuestos.cabildodelanzarote.com) that was presented this Wednesday, the accounts of both the Cabildo of Lanzarote and different organizations that are part of the first island corporation, such as the Security and Emergency Consortium, the Water Consortium, the Island Water Council and the Lanzarote Tax Network, can be consulted.
In addition to having access to the latest approved budgets and a history of them, citizens can find out what the main budget items are and the initial forecast and current status of their execution with a breakdown of income and expenses, all in a graphic and intuitive way.
"At this time the data is being updated, with the data up to 2021 already entered and the data for the first quarter of 2022 being uploaded," said the Councilor for Open Government, who detailed that one of the most important aspects is that the list of expenses and payments by area and beneficiary can be viewed. "This is a breakdown of all the suppliers and invoices paid distributed by areas," he added, explaining that "you can search for a specific company or self-employed person and see instantly how much they have invoiced the Cabildo."
Improvements to the Transparency Portal
As for the Transparency Portal, which can be accessed through transparencia.cabildodelanzarote.com, it has been renovated with the introduction of various improvements from the Open Government area.
"To date, the information was stored in folders and now, in addition to allowing access to a greater amount of data, they will be able to do so in a more intuitive way through a graphical interface that facilitates navigation and visualization," said Jorge Peñas.
In addition, the Corporation adds that some functionalities have been improved, "such as the search engine, the insertion of data update dates and the obtaining of statistical data on the use of the platform."
On this website, you can find information about the corporation and its members, and you can learn about their professional careers, as well as their declarations of assets and remuneration.
In addition, you can consult data on public works that are in the award and execution phase, as well as on contracts, public services and aid and subsidies, among others.
