1. © Copyright IBM Corporation 2009 Advanced Learning Institute December 2009 Obama Administration: A Status Update on Its Open Government Initiative John Kamensky, Senior Fellow John.Kamensky@us.ibm.com 202-515-4102

2. © Copyright IBM Corporation 2009 2 Overview  Obama’s Transparent and Open Government Policy  White House Themes  Open data  Open idea generation  Open spending  Open platforms  Elements of OMB Directive  Resources “My Administration is committed to creating an unprecedented level of openness in Government... Openness will strengthen our democracy and promote efficiency and effectiveness in Government.”

3. © Copyright IBM Corporation 2009 3 Obama’s Transparency and Open Government Memo  Government should be transparent. -Agencies should use technology to put information about their operations and decisions online -Agencies should solicit feedback to identify info of greatest use to public  Government should be participatory -Agencies should offer increased opportunities to participate in policymaking  Government should be collaborative -Agencies should engage Americans in the work of their agencies -Agencies should solicit feedback to assess and improve collaboration

4. © Copyright IBM Corporation 2009 4 Evolution of White House Implementation Efforts  Internal White House Leadership -Directive implementation -Range of players  Experimentation -Open for Questions  Initial Deadline: May 21st -Feedback from federal MAX Community -Feedback from Advocacy Groups  Citizen Feedback Efforts, post-May 21 st -White House Website, Blog -Phase I - Brainstorm -Phase II - Blog -Phase III - Wiki  December 8 th OMB Guidance

5. © Copyright IBM Corporation 2009 5 Open Data Initiatives Data.Gov

6. © Copyright IBM Corporation 2009 6 Open Idea Generation, Policy-Input Initiatives External  Quadrennial Homeland Security Review  CDC Flu Video  EPA Regulation Website Redesign Internal  Veterans Affairs’ Innovation Contest  OMB’s SAVE Award  HHS’s code-a-thon to fix National Health Information Network  TSA’s Idea Factory  State Department Communities of Practice

7. © Copyright IBM Corporation 2009 7 Open Spending Initiatives  USASpending.Gov  Recovery.Gov  Federal IT Spending Dashboard

8. © Copyright IBM Corporation 2009 8 Open Government Platform Initiatives  Apps.Gov  Create Communities of Practice  Create Innovation Labs

9. © Copyright IBM Corporation 2009 9 OMB Guidance: Open Government Directive  Publish Government Information Online -Presumption of openness, publish in open format  Improve Quality of Government Information -Quality of federal spending data, long term strategy  Create, Institutionalize Culture of Open Gov -Agencies create Open Gov plans -OMB creates Open Gov Dashboard -Cross-agency working group, best practices  Create Enabling Policy Framework -ID policy barriers, revise

10. © Copyright IBM Corporation 2009 10 Key OMB Activities  Establish working group on transparency, accountability, participation, collaboration by 1/22/10  Issue guidance on information quality of federal spending data by 2/6/10  Create an Open Government Dashboard by 2/6/10  Issue guidance on use of incentives to improve Open Gov by 3/8/10  Issue guidance on federal spending transparency by 4/7/10  Complete review of OMB policies to identify impediments, and propose revisions by 4/7/10

11. © Copyright IBM Corporation 2009 11 Key Agency Activities  Publish at least 3 “high value” data sets by 1/22/10  Designate senior official accountable for quality of spending info by 1/22/10  Create Open Government Webpage by 2/6/10  Publish an Open Government Plan by 4/7/10  Reduce backlog of FOIA requests by 10 percent by 12/8/10

12. © Copyright IBM Corporation 2009 12 Elements of Agency Open Government Plans  Must reflect “extensive” input of agency leaders, employees, public, experts, and include timelines for action  Components: -Transparency – inventory agency hi-value info; detail compliance with existing efforts (e.g., Data.gov) -Participation – links to existing participatory processes; develop new feedback mechanisms -Collaboration – use of tech platforms, incentives -Flagship Initiative – undertake at least one; explain how it improves agency operations.

13. © Copyright IBM Corporation 2009 13 Resources  White House Open Gov Site -http://www.whitehouse.gov/openhttp://www.whitehouse.gov/open  GSA Intergovernmental Solutions Newsletter -“Engaging Citizens in Government” (Fall 2009) -http://www.usaservices.gov/pdf _docs/EngagingCitizens.pdfhttp://www.usaservices.gov/pdf _docs/EngagingCitizens.pdf -“Transparency and Open Government” (Spring 2009) -http://www.usaservices.gov/events_ news/documents/Transparency.pdfhttp://www.usaservices.gov/events_ news/documents/Transparency.pdf  “Strengthening Our Nation’s Democracy” Report -http://www.americaspeaks.org/index.cf m?fuseaction=Page.ViewPage&PageID =925http://www.americaspeaks.org/index.cf m?fuseaction=Page.ViewPage&PageID =925  IBM Center Report “Public Deliberation: A Manager’s Guide to Citizen Engagement” -http://www.businessofgovernment.org/p ublications/grant_reports/details/index.a sp?GID=239http://www.businessofgovernment.org/p ublications/grant_reports/details/index.a sp?GID=239