Keeping public officials fit. Does Mexico’s access to information and data protection state level regulator authorities provide the right training?

Abstract

The purpose of this work is to provide empirical evidence as to how state level Freedom of Information or Access to Information and data protection regulator bodies in Mexico carry out their training tasks. We use different theoretical assumptions, particularly those that refer to the idea of “training in the public sector” regarding two aspects that allow to account, at least in part, about the referred training practices: first, the pedagogical model they declared to use; and second, the evaluations regarding trained public officials. FOI/ATI and regulator bodies in Mexico have a legal obligation to train and carry out professional development for public officials. This responsibility associated, with performance management—along with other purposes—and to guarantee the human right to information and data privacy for individuals, is in the hands of public officials that must have not only knowledge and skills but also values and attitudes regarding this fundamental right. These public authorities have several challenges to comply with ATI and data privacy laws; some relate to responding public information requests—that is, in a timely and adequate manner—or publishing the information mandate by law. ATI regulator bodies mitigate these multi-casual issues through training or development courses. Currently, public officials are trained to comply with the law and its implementation in the best possible way. Our main finding is that the local regulator bodies overall comply with their legal training mandate. That is, they do have and carry out training programs, although in an unprofessional and potentially deficient manner.