About the Dataset on Public Communication

Welcome to the OECD dataset on Public Communication, which contains the results of the 2020 OECD Centre of Government Survey on Understanding Public Communication. The database provides practitioners, policy makers, academics and civil society with an initial overview of public communication structures and practices in Centres of Government (CoGs)¹ across OECD member and non-member countries. A similar survey was shared with Ministries of Health to provide a sectoral perspective, but is not included in this database.

The database is made available free of charge. However, data is protected by copyright and we kindly request that you cite the OECD as the source when using this information (OECD Survey on Understanding Public Communication, 2020). To help us track use of this database, we would appreciate receiving electronic copies of papers citing the database at: coms4og@oecd.org.

About this questionnaire

The content of the database was collected using an online questionnaire with its respective glossary. The 2020 OECD survey was conducted by the Open and Innovative Government Division of the OECD Directorate for Public Governance. It aimed to build an understanding of how public communication is used across centres of government in OECD member and non-member countries. More specifically, it focused on the contribution of communication for improved governance, policy-making and service design and delivery, as well as increased public trust and country resilience to mis- and disinformation.

The 2020 dataset provides information on the following topics:

1. strategy and planning
2. audience and channels
3. campaigns
4. media engagement
5. digital communication
6. internal communication
7. crisis communication
8. evaluation
9. disinformation and media ecosystems
10. cross-cutting questions.

***Disclaimer: The current database only comprises a selection of questions from the 2020 OECD Centre of Government Survey on Understanding Public Communication. The selection contains only those questions published in the OECD Government at a Glance 2021 edition.***

The 2020 database comprises centres of government in 27 OECD member countries, plus Brazil, Costa Rica² and Romania. Respondents were predominantly senior public communication officials within the entity at the centre of government steering whole-of-government communications. The data refers mostly to central/federal governments excluding the subnational level. The content of the database draws heavily upon self-reporting from governments representing the country’s own assessment of current practices and procedures. An additional survey was shared with Ministries of Health from which the OECD received responses from 24 member and non-member countries³.

Survey responses were collected between February 2020 and July 2020. While the survey requested countries to answer regarding the practices and status quo in 2019, some responses may reflect the priorities of countries in 2020, given that the COVID-19 crisis unfolded in parallel to the data collection process. Whenever applicable, the OECD Secretariat noted these instances and nuanced their implications to the survey findings in the OECD International Report on Public Communication.

The OECD has conducted extensive quality control of the responses to ensure consistency and reliability. During this process, the OECD followed up with each country for additional information, clarifications and examples with particular attention to federal countries to better contextualise existing practices. The Secretariat subsequently validated the key survey findings with responding countries during a series of in-person and online events (including the first meeting of the EGPC on 30 September 2020, as well as regional events for Latin America and the Caribbean and MENA on 17 November 2020). Respondents were asked for a final validation of their responses in January and February 2021 following the changes requested by some countries to their submissions. In case of remarks or questions related to the answers in the database, please contact: Paulina López Ramos.

The findings of the 2020 Survey provided the evidence base for the report: “OECD Report on Public Communication: the Global Context and the Way Forward”.

Related Documents

• 2020 OECD Survey on Understanding Public Communication in Centres of Government
• 2020 OECD Survey on Understanding Public Communication in Centres of Government - Glossary
• 2020 OECD Survey on Understanding Public Communication in Ministries of Health
• OECD (2021) Report on Public Communication: the Global Context and the way forward
• OECD (2020) Transparency, communication and trust: The role of public communication in responding to the wave of disinformation about the new Coronavirus
• OECD (2020) Building resilience to the Covid-19 pandemic: the role of centres of government
• OECD (2017) Recommendation of the Council on Open Government

¹Centre of government is defined as the support structure serving the highest level of the executive branch of government (presidents, prime ministers and their equivalents).
²At the time of data collection Costa Rica was not an OECD member.
³The results and key findings from these entities can be consulted in the OECD Report on Public Communication: The Global Context and the way forward.