White House.gov Blog Feed: Open Government Blog

Innovations in Open Government that are Changing DOT

Chris Vein — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 21:29:29 +0000

The Department of Transportation (DOT) has been committed to advancing the principles of a more open government since Day One of this Administration—by harnessing the skills and talents of the American people, releasing information, establishing greater collaboration among Federal agencies, and improving how efficiently the agency carries out its mission.

The release of version 2.0 of DOT’s open government plan is a great opportunity to look at some of the great work that they’ve done since the last iteration.

Increasing Agency Transparency & Accountability

Information is power, so DOT has released useful information that they hold without sacrificing accuracy, security and privacy. This year DOT released an inventory of high value data in its possession. We know that citizens are interested in the information DOT possesses because there have been more than 40,000 views of DOT data sets on data.gov. DOT has also released Recovery Act data on overall spending, and Recovery Act spending on highway-specific projects, ensuring that taxpayers know that their dollars are spent wisely.

DOT is giving the public greater access to information through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The public now has access to the Department’s staffing and organizational structure, the process for analyzing requests, and an assessment of DOT’s capacity to handle FOIA requests. By the numbers, here’s what DOT’s FOIA program has accomplished in the past year:

8% reduction of backlog of initial requests in FY2011;
22% reduction of backlog of administrative appeals in FY2011:
72-day reduction in the age of DOT’s oldest pending initial request;
119-day reduction in the age of DOT’s oldest pending administrative appeal.

Lastly, DOT is taking the lead in implementing a key element of the President’s National Action Plan for Open Government: launching a public safety community on data.gov. The site will provide access to a wide variety of safety data and will help raise the profile of safety as a national health issue. It will inform stakeholders of community safety initiatives through the coordination, consolidation, and clustering of safety datasets. DOT will lead this partnership with the Department of Labor, the National Institute of Justice and the U.S. Coast Guard to ensure integration of the relevant public safety and occupational safety datasets.

Applying Citizen Knowledge to Government Service

Releasing information—while important—is not the whole story of how open government empowers citizens. DOT has been a leader in providing opportunities for public input into the creation of DOT policies and programs. Regulation Room, one of DOT’s flagship initiatives, provides an online environment to discuss and learn about regulations proposed by Federal agencies. It expands the types of public input available to agencies in the rulemaking process, while serving as a teaching and research platform. Over the past year, Regulation Room has had

Over 24,000 unique visitors to the site;
Over 1,000 comments from users of the site;
Over 50% of visitors who said they learned more about the rulemaking process;
Over 80% of visitors who said they learned more about the positions and arguments of others;
Over 75% of visitors who said they learned more about what DOT was trying to accomplish with rulemaking on airline passenger rights.

Collaboration and Culture Change

Finally, DOT has started to embed the culture of open government into all aspects of the agency’s work because the agency—from the top down—realizes that a more efficient and effective government that works for all citizens is the result of true collaboration across all levels of the public and private sector. That’s why DOT is collaborating with Federal agencies, the private sector, and other non-government organizations in providing the public with mission-related services such as the Digital Transportation Exchange, Code for Livability, and DOT’s customer service plan.

While the job is not complete, DOT has done an enormous amount of work to change how government interacts with citizens—working to ensure that government works for citizens, and not the other way around. Read DOT’s new plan and comment. They’d love to hear from you!

Chris Vein is Deputy U.S. Chief Technology Officer

NASA’s Open Government Plan Features the International Space Apps Challenge

Deborah Diaz — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 21:40:15 +0000

This week, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) released version 2.0 of our Open Government Plan. We used this milestone to sharpen our focus on initiatives such as creating a new web architecture, employing wider use of Open Source technologies, and increasing opportunities for engaging citizens in NASA’s mission. We also developed an online version of our plan that features a directory of more than 100 participatory, collaborative and transparency activities.

Our original plan contained a whopping 147 goals, with responsibility for implementation across twenty-two organizations. Each goal sought to integrate open government into every program and project at NASA. In the past two years, we have focused on implementation, embedding participation, collaboration, and transparency into all that we do. Among other accomplishments, NASA has released the open data platform data.nasa.gov; spearheaded the Centennial Challenges, which develop innovative solutions to technical challenges through competition and cooperation; and used technology to help solve some of the world’s most challenging problems through the Random Hacks of Kindness partnership. Check out this infographic, which provides the status of all the goals associated with version 1.0 of our plan.

One exciting new initiative in the revised plan is the International Space Apps Challenge. The Challenge will take place on April 21-22, in more than 25 cities and on all seven continents. It is a key feature of the new plan and fulfills a commitment included the U.S. Open Government National Action Plan. The Apps Challenge brings collaboration and participation to a new level—quite literally, since even the Space Station is taking part!

The two-day event will be a “codeathon”-style event, bringing techy-savvy citizens, scientists, entrepreneurs, educators, and students together to help solve challenges relevant to both space exploration and social needs. To find out more information on the Apps Challenge, read NASA’s revised Open Government Plan at open.nasa.gov/plan, and visit http://spaceappschallenge.org, where you can find a number of diverse challenges that your help is needed to solve!

Deborah Diaz is Deputy Chief Information Officer at NASA

Celebrating the Release of Open Government Plans 2.0

Cass R. Sunstein and Chris Vein — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 15:45:54 +0000

We’ve come a long way since the President signed the Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government on his first full day in office. One highlight of the Open Government Initiative has been the release of agency Open Government Plans. These plans have served as roadmaps for agencies working to expand opportunities for citizen participation, make data more available and transparent, and increase collaborative decision-making.

As the President has emphasized, open government promotes a range of important goals. The first goal is to increase accountability. As Justice Louis Brandeis stated, “sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants.” As government becomes more open, both private and public institutions are more likely to be held accountable. The second goal is to provide people with information that they can readily find and use in their daily lives. Important information is being disclosed to the American public in areas that involve product recalls, infant car seats, automobile safety, health care, energy, nutrition, air pollution, obesity, crime, and much more.

This information is being used by the private sector to create apps and otherwise to inform decisions. (See our recent emphasis on smart disclosure.) The third goal is to use the dispersed knowledge of the American people. As the President has said, “Knowledge is widely dispersed in society, and public officials benefit from having access to that dispersed knowledge.” Use of that information can improve rules and policies, including those that involve open government itself. (On improving rules and policies, see our recent redesign of regulations.gov.)

Since Open Government plans were released two years ago, a great deal of work has been doneon implementation. And today, agencies are releasing updates of their plans, which include timelines for completing the initiatives in their previous plans, as well as new commitments. We’ve continued to make agency plans a priority, stating in the U.S. Open Government National Action Plan that we would work with agencies as they implement their plans. We invite you to read each plan at www.[name of agency].gov/open.

Over the past three years, agencies have taken significant steps to incorporate the principles of open and accountable government into their daily work. Of course, implementing a plan can be harder than writing it. As a next step, agencies will receive feedback from the public, open government advocates, and their colleagues across government on their revised plans over the coming week. Then, they’ll make revisions based on that feedback.

This Administration has committed itself to being the most transparent and accountable in history. And while this is an ongoing process – a marathon, not a sprint – we are proud of our record, including our most recent accomplishments: smart disclosure initiatives, the redesign of regulations.gov, the launch of ethics.gov, the Open Government Platform, and the signing of the STOCK Act. We are committed to the long-term effort.

Cass R. Sunstein is Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs

Chris Vein is Deputy U.S. Chief Technology Officer

Pioneering Innovation Through Health Data Transparency

Todd Park — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 22:10:54 +0000

As advocates across the country celebrate Sunshine Week, a time to focus on government transparency, the Department of Health and Human Services is proud of its work in spearheading greater data transparency. Signature among our work in this area is the Health Data Initiative (HDI). Founded in early 2010, the HDI is a three-pronged effort to publish brand new HHS data for public access; use tools to that make existing HHS data much more accessible; and energetically market and promote our data to innovators who can creatively use it as raw material to develop applications and services to improve health. Based on the principles of improved access to data from all sectors of health and healthcare, collaboration by a wide array of organizations, and participation by many individuals, HDI is a powerful emerging catalyst for change. Remarkable insights are being gained into some of our most vexing challenges in health care, and new windows of opportunity are opening for an incredible array of data-fueled innovations that embody American ingenuity.

The key ingredients for the success of this HHS Open Government flagship initiative include policies that have enhanced access to a rapidly growing array of data resources and have resulted in the launch of a wide array of semi-annual data releases and reviews.

Additionally, HHS is upgrading its technology capabilities to improve the release of new datasets, and is modifying existing tools to support the growing community of data users. To engage the developer community, HHS has publicized data and improved health data transparency through health data bootcamps, a dozen code-a-thons, and 20 health data developer challenges and competitions held across the country. Talent and skills from across all aspects of business, government, and academia are emerging to put health data to work.

And what are the results? The unprecedented availability of free, easily accessible, and valuable data about health and health care represents an incentive for innovators developing businesses in technology and information services. Already, a wide array of innovative information tools and health care services are emerging. For example, HDI data resources are enabling the development of consumer smart phone applications that deliver personalized information about health issues and vital health services. These tools are also enabling powerful knowledge engines that provide user-specific information through personal electronic devices to support health practitioners and consumers as they make critical decisions about care. In essence, HDI has become a conceptual and technological centerpiece of an emerging health data ecosystem. Now, local, regional, and state governments are also taking major steps to make their health-related data more accessible, understandable, and usable.

Looking forward, we will continue to improve the breadth, depth, granularity, and timeliness of the data we are making available, guided by user feedback. We will enhance our collaboration and partnership with key stakeholders, and broaden efforts through the Health Data Consortium, a new public-private partnership to advance open health data and its use. We will increase our efforts to unlock the creative potential of data to improve health and health care for all Americans through greater knowledge and understanding. Learn more about our efforts in the weeks to come as we prepare for our celebration of health data at the Health Data Initiative Forum III – the Health Datapalooza.

Todd Park is Chief Technology Officer at the Department of Health and Human Services. On March 9, President Obama announced that he will be the next US Chief Technology Officer, based in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, starting March 16. In that role, he will continue his work with health IT and take on a number of new challenges aimed at harnessing technology for the American people.

Effective Aid Is Transparent and Accountable Aid

Rajiv Shah — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 18:03:53 +0000

For over five decades, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has saved lives and improved human welfare around the world. As a leader in global development, our Agency has amassed a wealth of knowledge that we believe is important to share publicly. By making our data, programs and evaluations easily accessible, we’re helping to create a global commons that grounds development practice in evidence and shares knowledge to inform significantly new approaches in development.

President Obama, Secretary Clinton and I take transparency and accountability in foreign aid seriously, and we’re working hard to ensure that we effectively communicate our efforts to the American people, our stakeholders and our partners at home and abroad.

As we celebrate Sunshine Week, here are just a few examples of USAID’s commitment to implementing the principles of transparency, participation and collaboration that were outlined in the Administration’s Open Government Initiative.

Foreign Assistance Dashboard: Working with the U.S. Department of State, we launched an easy-to-use dashboard that anyone in the world can use to track how American foreign aid dollars are spent. The dashboard doesn’t just apply to USAID. Soon, every U.S. Government agency that distributes foreign aid will be incorporated into the Dashboard.
Open Government Partnership: Last year, the President and Secretary Clinton launched the Open Government Partnership, a multilateral initiative that secures concrete commitments from countries around the world to promote transparency and fight corruption. The U.S. National Action Plan includes a commitment to making our foreign aid transparent and updating the information on a regular basis.

In one recent example of the power of open data and government, USAID launched the FWD campaign to raise awareness across America about the destructive combination of famine, war and drought that led to the recent food crisis in the Horn of Africa. Through interactive maps and tool kits, we are providing people with the latest information about the situation and giving them a powerful way to respond. The campaign represents our efforts across the Agency to strengthen open communication and partnership with a range of partners, including universities, companies and communities of faith.

International Aid Transparency Initiative: In November, Secretary Clinton and I travelled to the Fourth High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Busan, South Korea, where she announced that the U.S. had become a signatory to the International Aid Transparency Initiative. This commits us to publish up-to-date data in a common format so that citizens of any country can better track the aid dollars that flow in and out of their countries.
Rigorous New Evaluation Policy: Through our ambitious set of reforms called USAID Forward, we have introduced a world-class evaluation policy that the American Evaluation Association called a model for the federal government. Under this policy, we are ensuring performance evaluations are completed for every major project and conducted by independent third parties.

By January 2013, we aim to complete 250 high quality evaluations. And we will release the results of all our evaluations within three months of their completion (see our current evaluation showcase).

USAID’s Annual Letter: On March 9, USAID released its second annual letter to directly communicate our Agency’s work with the millions of Americans who care about our mission—overcoming poverty, hunger, illness and injustice around the world. The letter also shares our thinking behind some of the strategic choices we have made to advance America’s key diplomatic and national security priorities. You can print and download a copy of the 2012 annual letter.
Freedom of Information Act: As part of our renewed commitment to the principles embodied by the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), we implemented an aggressive strategy to process FOIA requests. In just the past fiscal year, we’ve reduced the Agency’s backlog from previous years by 51 percent—a rate that far surpasses the annual reduction goal of 10 percent.

As you can see, we’ve made tremendous progress in ensuring that our information, programs and results are easily accessible and transparent. By setting a high standard across the Agency, we can improve the effectiveness and efficiency of our efforts, delivering meaningful results for the American people and the communities we serve.

Rajiv Shah is Administrator of USAID

Managing Government Records: The Backbone of Open Government

David S. Ferriero — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 21:30:15 +0000

As part of Sunshine Week, I want to take the opportunity to update you on one of the commitments made by the President as part of our Open Government Partnership National Action Plan. On November 28, 2011, President Obama issued a Presidential Memorandum entitled “Managing Government Records” to begin an Executive Branch-wide effort to reform records management policies and practices. This is the first time since the Truman Administration that this level of White House attention has been focused on the records of our country, and I am taking it very seriously.

As the President writes in the Memorandum, “Improving records management will improve performance and promote openness and accountability by better documenting agency actions and decisions.” He continues, “When records are well managed, agencies can use them to assess the impact of programs, to reduce redundant efforts, to save money, and to share knowledge within and across their organizations. In these ways, proper records management is the backbone of open Government.”

Effective records management goes hand-in-hand with the statutory requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and serves as the foundation for the broader Open Government goals articulated by the President on his first day in office—to make our service to the American people more transparent, participatory, and collaborative.

The National Archives is currently working with Federal agencies, public interest groups, professional organizations, vendors, and citizens, as well as our talented staff, to gather information on how to improve Government-wide records management.

If you are interested in participating in this information gathering effort, please join our IdeaScale community or attend our Public Meeting on the Memorandum on Tuesday, 27 March, at 10:00 a.m. at the William G. McGowan Theater in the National Archives building on Constitution Avenue in Washington, DC. You can follow this issue at our records management blog, Records Express.

Finally, in late July, the Director of OMB and I will issue a Records Management Directive that will instruct agency heads to take specific steps to reform and improve records management policies and practices within their agency. This is an historic moment in the history of our Government and we at the National Archives are proud to be playing a role in this effort.

David S. Ferriero is Archivist of the United States

Let the Sunshine In

Cass Sunstein, Chris Vein — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 15:52:20 +0000

This week is Sunshine Week, a joint project of the American Society of News Editors and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. Held in mid-March, Sunshine Week is a national initiative to promote discussion about the importance of open government and freedom of information.

The theme of this year’s Sunshine Week is “Put Sunshine in Your Government,” and so now is an appropriate time to reflect on the Obama Administration’s strong commitment to open government over the past three years, and more particularly to provide an update on implementation of the U.S. National Action Plan on Open Government.

President Obama unveiled the National Plan in September 2011, as part of the United States’ commitment as a founding member of the Open Government Partnership – a global effort to promote more transparent, effective, and accountable governance in countries around the world.

A little over five months later, we have already made important progress on many initiatives and thus followed through on a number of commitments in the National Action Plan. To name a few:

Regulations.gov. To expand public participation in the development of regulations, Regulations.gov recently launched a major redesign, including innovative new search tools, social media connections, and better access to regulatory data. The result is a significantly improved website that will help members of the public to engage with agencies and ultimately to improve the content of rules.
Records Management. The backbone of a transparent and accountable government is strong records management. For this reason, the President signed and issued a presidential memorandum in November 2011 that directs agencies to improve their records management processes, especially with respect to digital records. OMB and NARA are currently working on a joint Records Management Directive to implement the President’s directions.
Smart Disclosure. The Administration is giving consumers access to key information to help them to make wiser choices. In many cases, smart disclosure enables people to track the nature and effects of their own past decisions, thus enabling them to make better choices in the future. In other cases, smart disclosure gives people easy access to their own records. For example, the White House’s new Green Button ensures that consumers have timely access to their own energy data, in consumer-friendly and computer-friendly formats; the relevant information has the potential to help consumers save a great deal of money. In addition, the Department of Veterans Affairs recently gave a boost to job-seekers by giving them access to their military records online, while IRS is developing an application to enable taxpayers to send securely a verified digital copy of prior year tax information to authorized third parties.
“We the People.” “We the People” is an online tool that allows Americans to petition the White House on a range of issues. Five months after its launch, we have seen strong participation from the public. More than 31,000 petitions have been created, 2.4 million petition signatures have been logged, 68 petitions have received an official response, and 28 more are in the works.
Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. Continuing the United States’ leadership in the global effort against corruption, and to ensure that American taxpayers are receiving every dollar due for the extraction of publicly owned resources, the Administration committed to joining the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (“EITI”). In October, the White House announced that Department of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar would be the Senior Administration official responsible for oversight of implementation of EITI. The Department of Interior is currently working with civil society and industry on implementation, and is encouraging public involvement on next steps.
Foreign Assistance. The Administration is working to institutionalize government-wide reporting requirements on foreign aid, directing agencies that administer such aid to provide more detailed information. Consistent with this push to increase USG transparency, and in support of the international aid transparency effort, Secretary Clinton recently announced that the United States would join the International Aid Transparency Initiative, publishing data in an open, up-to-date, and internationally compatible format.
Innovation. Through a centralized government platform, the United States built Data.gov to support an unprecedented amount of government data and applications. Working with others, we have deposited the first of several sets of open source code as we build a new version of Data.gov called the Open Government Platform, which will be available to all countries around the world. In addition, the United States is expanding the number of Data.gov “communities” on our domestic site that connect data related to particular subject matters with users and producers of that data. For example, education.data.gov was recently launched – serving as a central guide for education data resources, including applications for the classroom.
Freedom of Information Act. To continue to improve FOIA administration, modifications have been made to the GSA contract schedules, to afford agencies the ability to respond in a timely fashion. Moreover, the Office of Personnel Management just last week established a new job series, Government Information Management, 0306, encompassing work in the administration of FOIA and the Privacy Act, in order to elevate the importance of the work performed by those in the Federal Government who are responsible for realizing the President’s vision of an open and transparent government. To enhance the public’s ability to locate all the material that is being made available, DOJ recently added a search tool to FOIA.Gov that surveys information across government websites so that requesters can search and find information before making a FOIA request.

We have made significant progress on other initiatives as well, and as we implement these and other initiatives, the Administration will continue to work closely with the public and civil society organizations.

Our efforts are ongoing. Just last week, the White House launched ethics.gov, fulfilling a promise to create a centralized database of lobbying reports, ethics records, and campaign finance filings in a searchable, sortable, and downloadable format.

We are working hard to achieve our open government goals, every day, and we look forward to continuing to work together to make these goals a reality.

Cass Sunstein is the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs

Chris Vein is Deputy Chief Technology Officer for Government Innovation for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy

An Open Innovation Toolbox

Chris Vein — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 18:08:57 +0000

The Obama Administration’s innovation agenda is aimed at finding, testing, and scaling new ideas that change the way government conducts business and delivers services through engagement with the American people. An innovative government incorporates an entrepreneurial mindset into its daily work – taking risks, building lean organizations, and developing innovative products and services faster than the rest of the world.

On his last day in office, then-U.S. Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra released the Open Innovator’s Practitioner’s Toolbox. It contains 20 of the best disruptive innovation practices conceived and built by entrepreneurs across government. They provide a rich set of guiding principles that any Federal, state, and local government can use to support rapid innovation supporting economic growth and job creation.

Rocket fuel for Innovation

A key component of open innovation is the identification and publication of machine-readable government data. By releasing such data, we can build new ways of understanding, using, and visualizing the delivery and impact of government functions.

These government data become the rocket fuel necessary for innovators to do what they do best – innovate. One example of the power of open data is the Community Health Data Initiative, which released a wealth of data on health care and determinants of health performance to the public, free of charge and without any intellectual property constraint, in an accessible, standardized, structured, downloadable format. Using these data, the Department of Health and Human Services built an insurance finder application that not only allows citizens to see what public- and private-sector insurance options are available in their area but also gives the public a better understanding of the quality of care that is delivered. Another example of this approach is Blue Button, a collaborative effort between the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Health and Human Services, which allows individuals to access and download information from their My HealtheVet personal health record into a simple text file or PDF that can be read, printed, or saved on any computer. It gives people complete control of this information to share with healthcare providers, caregivers, and other trusted individuals.

Role of Government as Impatient Convener

But the government does more than release data. Another way that the government helps innovators is to step back and allow the private sector to do what it does best – create jobs and opportunities for citizens. In this role, the government acts as an impatient convener – bringing together a range of experts to develop consensus-based standards that enable innovation. One such example is the Vets Job Bank. As part of the Administration’s commitment to improve access to employment opportunities for returning service members and veterans, the Vets Job Bank provides veterans with a central source for finding hundreds of thousands of private-sector openings. Government didn’t create the Bank, but it brought together the public- and private-sector leaders required to develop the rough consensus, code, and search capabilities that enable it to work.

Challenging Others to be Co-creators of Solutions

Enabled by the COMPETES Act, the use of challenges and prizes has become a valuable tool for involving entrepreneurs, innovators, and the curious public in solving some of the most vexing problems facing America. Oftentimes through only a small monetary incentive, the public and private sector taps into the Nation’s top talent, potentially leading to game-changing and innovative solutions to the challenging problems we face. One recent example is the Race to the Rooftop for Solar Power sponsored by the Department of Energy. Local and regional teams competed by identifying best practices to make installing solar energy cheaper and less cumbersome. At the end of the challenge, 22 of 46 applicants from 17 states were selected to share in $12 million of awards.

Leadership

Through the leadership of the President, Aneesh Chopra, and countless others, government has been opened to innovators and entrepreneurs who have implemented a new vision of what can be accomplished. The result is a dynamic network of public servants, private-sector leaders, and social entrepreneurs pooling their knowledge and resources to address our most pressing challenges. One approach has been to develop entrepreneurs-in-residence pilot projects at, for example, the Food and Drug Administration, where entrepreneurs from outside of government have been working with staff on a focused approach to design a new pathway for approval of medical devices.

Need Your Help

It is gratifying to look back at how far the Federal government has come in a few short years. The Federal government now embraces the contributions that innovators and entrepreneurs give to our country. The result is a dynamic network of public servants, private-sector leaders, and social entrepreneurs pooling their knowledge and resources to address our most pressing challenges. But to truly scale this approach, we need your help. Are you up to the challenge? We want to hear from you. Please send your ideas for how we can innovate even more to opengov@ostp.gov. And stay tuned for future blog posts, as we provide new opportunities for your participation and collaboration in this worldwide movement of open innovation.

Chris Vein is Deputy U.S. Chief Technology Officer for Government Innovation

Unconferences, Hack-A-Thons, and a Code for Livability

Chris Vein — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 15:57:06 +0000

This past weekend saw three amazing open government events take place in both Washington, DC and New York City.

On Saturday, the Transportation Camp held its annual “unconference” in Washington, DC. An unconference is a more open version of a traditional conference, allowing participants the opportunity to help shape the structure and format of the day’s events. This year’s Transportation Camp, which was organized by OpenPlans, Mobility Lab, and Greater Greater Washington, hosted several hundred citizens, students, developers, businesses, and local and Federal government employees. Discussion focused on ways to engage citizens in decisions affecting transportation issues – including ways to better use bike shares open data. In addition, citizens and city officials brainstormed on ways to increase access to public transportation for all users, including those with limited mobility. And developers leveraged city and Federal datasets—ssome via the Federal platform Data.gov—inin addition to data provided by businesses like Capital Bike Share, to create platforms and services that help citizens make more informed decisions related to their commute.

Meanwhile in New York, CleanWeb Hack-a-thon developers, designers and business professionals worked to build applications that tackle energy, waste, water, and other sustainability issues by leveraging web and mobile technologies. Attendees built more than 15 applications over the weekend, many using data from the newly launched Green Button challenge.

Building on the theme of sustainability, the Partnership for Sustainable Communities, which includes the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the US Department of Transportation (DOT), and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), held the first Code for Livability in Washington, DC, on Sunday. The Partnership, with support from the White House Open Government Initiative and the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), convened web developers, the technology community, and a broad range of stakeholders representing housing, transportation, and the environment, to work on solutions that bring environmental sustainability to the forefront of peoples’ everyday lives.

This unique code-a-thon started with a lively discussion on the issues facing agencies that are working to create more sustainable communities. By generating the data to help planners build sustainable communities; enhancing existing sustainability applications with additional data; and building new sustainability applications that help individuals, businesses, and governments make more educated choices on livability, employment, and leisure, the day’s attendees collaborated with policymakers as never before on the issues that we all care about.

As the Administration’s Open Government movement moves into its third year, these events illustrate the potential for change when data are made transparent, citizens participate in turning those data into valuable tools, and public and private partners collaborate to scale innovative tools that they create nationwide.

Chris Vein is Deputy Chief Technology Officer for Government Innovation

Celebrating Our Veterans With “Apps for Heroes”

Aneesh Chopra and Peter Levin — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 14:21:50 +0000

Last Wednesday, we joined Dr. Jill Biden at the Code for America headquarters, a non-profit startup that has attracted dozens of civic-minded software developers spending a year building new products and services – powered, in part, by open government data – to improve the lives of everyday Americans.

Dr. Biden celebrated the convening efforts of Code and 10 apps developed by the private sector to improve the employment prospects for our Nation’s heroes – from apps that help veterans build new skills or a professional network, to a personalized list of open job postings. We observed the results of LinkedIn’s “Veterans Hackday” – two of the 44 apps built over a weekend; a collaboration between two tech companies that had never worked together before – Jibe and KMS Software – to deliver an almost-paperless approach to qualify for eligible tax credits; and the impressive work of a veteran entrepreneur, Fidelis, focused on the military to civilian transition.

We saw these and other “Apps for Heroes” because Code for America made a commitment last August in response to the President’s call to action. We joined Code on this mission and engaged a broader voluntary collaborative of tech firms already active in the employment and training online market. They didn’t ask us for money. Rather, we brainstormed how government data, if released in a people-and-computer-friendly format, could serve as “rocket fuel” for their apps.

And then we went to work.

Inspired by President Obama’s Open Government Initiative and guided by the U.S. National Action Plan, we identified at least three areas where we might open up data that had previously been either in an inaccessible format, organized in a fragmented way, or largely unknown to the developer community:

Military Service Information: Veterans today collect a form – the DD-214 – that captures their military “resume”; while it can be electronically accessed, the data within the form is protected and in a form that isn’t accessible for a computer to read. Building on the momentum of VA’s initiative, Dr. Levin expanded their “Blue Button” service - which enables a veteran to safely and securely download their personal health data in computer-friendly form - to include a veteran’s service history, training, and credentials. Launched just in the beginning of December, over 60,000 veterans have already downloaded a “Blue Button” file that can be shared with the products and service as they see fit, like the apps for heroes we saw last week.
Military Skills Translator: The Department of Labor actively supports a non-profit, the O*Net center, to maintain a growing portfolio of tools and data sets that are freely available to developers or anyone for that matter. The problem was that very few of the developers we engaged over the past several months were even aware of this resource. When we showed them what we had they immediately went to work on “translating” military experience into skills that are relevant for their existing products and services.
Job Postings from Employers Seeking Veterans: President Obama launched the“Veterans Job Bank” last November, which provides access to hundreds of thousands of job postings from employers actively committed to hiring veterans. Built on an open standard, the “JobPosting” schema – endorsed by a coalition of search engines (Google, Microsoft, Yahoo) through the schema.org community – empowers any employer to ensure its job postings are discoverable by the Job Bank. The big idea is that instead of requiring every employer to update a centralized database, we can dynamically “search” for veteran-committed jobs. Its faster, cheaper, and more reliable way to connect employers to talent. The Job Bank itself is accessible at the National Resource Directory and its search widget, built in an effort to support developers has offered an API that delivers search results straight to the app.

Finally, I thought to share the power of Open Innovation @ Internet speed. At a Summer Jobs + event last Tuesday, Twilio CEO, Jeff Lawson challenged the Twilio developer community to build an “App for Heroes.” In about an hour – from concept to go-live – developer Tony Webster built HeroJobs.org, a text messaging app that sends job alerts to veterans every morning based on their preferences, experience, and zip code.

We were humbled and honored that so many innovative firms volunteered their time and effort to incorporate these – and other open government data sets – as an important ingredient for their innovate employment or training support service. Our visit inspired us to push even harder to release government data, celebrate its use, and to engage our veterans directly to ensure they have the support they need in this important life transition.

Aneesh Chopra is U.S. Chief Technology Officer and Peter Levin is Chief Technology Officer and Senior Advisor to the Secretary, Department of Veterans Affairs

Seeking Your Input on the U.S. Open Government National Action Plan

Aneesh Chopra — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 22:14:46 +0000

On September 20, 2011, on the margins of the U.N. General Assembly, the President announced the U.S. Open Government National Action Plan. The Plan was developed through a process that involved extensive consultations with external stakeholders, including a broad range of civil society groups and members of the private sector, to gather ideas on open government. As we continue our work to implement the National Action Plan, we want your help. Specifically, we’d like your input and recommendations on how to improve and help facilitate public participation – your participation – in government.

The United States committed to undertake 26 Open Government initiatives in the National Action Plan, and we are working to implement each of them now. For example, the White House recently announced that Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar will be the senior U.S. official to lead implementation of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, an effort to ensure that taxpayers receive every dollar due for extraction of our natural resources. A major milestone was also reached in the development of an open government platform that will enable governments around the world to stand up their own open government data sites. And just last week, the President fulfilled a commitment made in the National Action Plan to begin a government-wide effort to reform and modernize records management policies and practices.

We are now requesting your assistance with one of the initiatives in the U.S. National Action Plan designed to promote public participation:

Develop Best Practices and Metrics for Public Participation. We will identify best practices for public participation in government and suggest metrics that will allow agencies to assess progress toward the goal of becoming more participatory. This effort will highlight those agencies that have incorporated the most useful and robust forms of public participation in order to encourage other agencies to learn from their examples.”

Given the focus of this initiative, we thought it would be most appropriate to invite you to provide input and ideas on best practices and metrics for public participation, including but not limited to suggestions and recommendations that address the following questions:

What are the appropriate measures for tracking and evaluating participation efforts in agency Open Government Plans?
What should be the minimum standard of good participation?
How should participation activities be compared across agencies with different programs, amounts of regulatory activity, budgets, staff sizes, etc.?
What are the most effective forms of technology and web tools to encourage public participation, engage with the private sector/non-profit and academic communities, and provide the public with greater and more meaningful opportunities to influence agencies’ plans?
What are possible mechanisms for agencies to increase the level of diversity of viewpoints and backgrounds brought to bear in their activities and decisions?
What are the most effective strategies for ensuring that participation is well-informed?
What are some examples of success stories involving strong public participation, as well as less-than-successful efforts, and what lessons can be drawn from them?

Please send your thoughts to us at opengov@ostp.gov or use the web form provided, by January 3, 2012. We will consider your ideas and input as we continue to implement the U.S. National Action Plan and develop this best practices guidance on public participation.

Thank you.

Data.gov Goes Global

Steven VanRoekel, Aneesh Chopra — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 14:29:15 +0000

Last week, President Obama’s unprecedented efforts to advance open and transparent Government reached an important milestone. As part of a joint effort by the United States and India to build an open government platform, the U.S. team has deposited open source code– an important benchmark in developing the Open Government Platform that will enable governments around the world to stand up their own open government data sites.

Last week’s announcement is part of a broader effort to make government more transparent, participatory, and collaborative. In September, the United States was one of eight founding governments of the Open Government Partnership,a new multilateral initiative that secures concrete commitments from governments to promote transparency, empower citizens, fight corruption, and harness new technologies to strengthen governance.The President also unveiled the U.S. National Action Plan on Open Government, which detailed steps the United States will take to help meet the initiative’s goals.

The plan specifically called for an effort under the U.S.-India Strategic Dialogue to produce “Data.gov-in-a-Box” -- an open source version of the United States’ Data.gov data portal and India’s India.gov.in document portal. The U.S. and India are working together to produce an open source version available for implementation by countries globally, encouraging governments around the word to stand up open data sites that promote transparency, improve citizen engagement, and engage application developers in continuously improving these efforts. Technical teams from the U.S. and Indian governments have been working together since August of this year, with a planned launch of the open source product (which is now called the Open Government Platform (OGPL) to reflect its broad scope) in early 2012.

The module -- paired with the software for the Open Government Platform website being developed by India -- will enable governments around the world to launch their own open government sites and increase transparency and accountability. In the meantime, the U.S.-India team will continue to improve and integrate the modules of the Open Government Platform for the planned launch early next year.

Steven VanRoekel is the Federal Chief Information Officer

Aneesh Chopra is the Federal Chief Technology Officer

A Milestone for Expediting Air Traffic Modernization

Aneesh Chopra — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 14:44:56 +0000

Yesterday, the President’s Chief Performance Officer Jeff Zients unveiled the Federal Infrastructure Projects Dashboard, an open government initiative that tracks the progress of high priority infrastructure projects as they are expedited through their regulatory review and permitting processes.

In October I highlighted the importance one of these projects, a Next Generation Air Transportation System, or NextGen, pilot project in Houston. NextGen is a comprehensive modernization of our Nation’s air traffic infrastructure, with the potential to save time and money for air travelers while delivering environmental benefits for communities on the ground.

On the new dashboard, you can find details about the efforts to redesign the airspace and flight paths in the Houston Metroplex. The project is poised to enter its detailed design phase, and thanks to the dashboard you can now follow its progress with information from the project leader who is accountable for getting it done.

The team has also included a summary explaining the benefits associated with completion of this project – including estimated annual fuel savings in the Houston airports alone of between 2.5 to 6.9 million gallons and carbon emissions reductions of 26,000 to 71,000 metric tons. And it will happen a full year ahead of schedule because of the Administration’s commitment to expediting reviews. But don’t just take my word on the benefits. See for yourself in a video that illustrates the savings that these new high efficiency air routes will deliver by using the power of GPS satellites and equipment that is already installed on airliners.

With benefits like these, scaling up the results from the Houston pilot project around the country will allow us to more rapidly attain NextGen’s enormous potential value for our Nation and economy. By embracing the power of open government, you can hold our feet to the fire in accelerating this important infrastructure project.

Aneesh Chopra is US Chief Technology Officer

By the Numbers: 475 Million

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 23:10:11 +0000

The National Archives and Record Administration has collected, on average, 475 million pages of records a year for each of the last 10 years. Thanks to new technology, both the volume and diversity of material being archived has increased, but Federal agencies aren't keeping up with this heavier load.

Making these records available and accessible to the public is an important step toward giving people clear and accurate information about the decisions and actions of the Federal Government. That, however, is largely dependent on taking advantage of these technology advances and making information available electronically, instead of relying on paper-based archives.

Today, President Obama signed a Presidential Memorandum that will do exactly that. His memorandum instructs Federal agencies move into a digital-based record keeping system, and which will save money, promote accountability, and increase government transparency.

Recommitting Ourselves to Making Government More Effective

Chris Vein and Remington Gregg — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 19:30:26 +0000

Last week, President Obama stood with other heads of state to endorse the principles of the Open Government Partnership and launch the U.S. Open Government National Action Plan.

We are proud of the work done so far to make our government more efficient and effective, and to illustrate the breadth of work done so far, many agencies posted blogs on their achievements of the last two and a half years. In particular, the Department of Transportation, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Department of the Treasury, Department of Commerce, Department of Agriculture, and General Services Administration are recommitting themselves to the principles of open government.

More still, agencies are doubling down and announcing new and innovative initiatives in addition to the commitments that are already in their Open Government Plans. For example, the Department of Justice plans to convene an Interagency Technology Working Group to focus on expanding the use of technology in the core elements of FOIA administration. And, the Department of Housing and Urban Development will establish an Innovation Lab that will benefit HUD through the incubation of novel and unique ideas that improve interactions with customers, increase mission efficiency and efficacy, and reduce duplication of effort.

Agencies continue to play a lead role in making our government more open. One initiative in our Plan commits to working to modernize the management of government records. To that end, the Archivist of the United States David Ferriero will convene a meeting of international archivists to discuss the role they play in a more open government. And, NASA will launch the International Space Apps Challenge to help improve public services and promote innovation through collaboration.

The Plan that we unveiled last week, and the initiatives that agencies are continuing to implement, are part of a larger effort to fulfill the President’s commitment to make our government more “open and competent.” In some ways, the hard work is just beginning, but we look forward to the work ahead.

Chris Vein is the US Deputy Chief Technology Officer for Government Innovation

Remington Gregg is Advisor for Open Government

Open Government Action Plan for Innovators

Aneesh Chopra — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 14:13:58 +0000

On Tuesday, President Obama joined 40 Heads of State on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly to unveil the U.S. National Action Plan on Open Government, an ambitious effort to promote accountability, empower people with information they “can readily find and use”, and ensure public officials tap into the expertise and wisdom of the American people when setting policy.

Consistent with the goals of harnessing the creativity of the American people, a national plan for the United States has been designed in consultation with a wide range of civil society groups, academics, business leaders, and the general public. This plan will support our Nation’s job creators, especially in industries investing in productivity-enhancing digital infrastructure. In the healthcare sector alone, a recently published McKinsey study estimated a possible $1-300 billion annual productivity gain. Here are three highlights on how the national plan can catalyze innovation and entrepreneurship:

“Doubling Down” on Data.gov Communities: Over the past two years, the Administration has published an unprecedented amount of information in “computer-friendly” formats (over 390,000 data sets) freely available for developers without intellectual property constraint. To spur use, we’ve posted over 100 challenges, prizes or contests ranging from the First Lady’s “Apps for Healthy Kids” to the Vice President’s “Apps Against Abuse” – inviting students, hobbyists and professionals alike to demonstrate our capacity to solve the seemingly unsolvable through innovation.
- In 2011, we've worked to catalyze a growing movement of entrepreneurs and innovators harnessing open data to build sustainable new products or services through the launch of Data.gov “communities” in areas like health and energy. The plan calls on us to double the number of communities this year by expanding into education, R&D, and public safety. More importantly, we will focus like a hawk on connecting innovators to relevant data and unapologetically celebrate those products and services making a difference in the lives of everyday Americans.
“Smart Disclosure”: An important ingredient in driving productivity growth, especially in national priority areas like health, energy, and education, is the ability to measure outcomes. Since June 2010, the Administration has been promoting the use of disclosure as a low-cost, high-impact regulatory tool. For example, healthcare.gov provides access to health insurance market information that had previously been difficult to find – including denial rates and other relevant measures for an individual when searching for insurance options that best meet personal needs.
- To build on this work, the plan calls out recently issued guidance to Federal agencies on “smart disclosure”. While we are broadly supporting agencies and departments over the next year to ensure the timely release of complex information in standardized, machine-readable formats, we are particularly focused on catalyzing new products and services in areas that spur productivity growth – value-based payments in healthcare, higher education and energy use.
“Government as a Platform”: The infrastructure of the open data movement itself is evolving. While we are proud of the public reception to open government applications like data.gov, challenge.gov, the redesigned federalregister.gov and so forth, we are inspired by the limitless potential for governments within the U.S. and around the world to develop new and exciting tools that reflect openness as a core value in governance.
- To seed this movement, the plan calls on the Administration, in partnership with the Government of India, to release “Data.gov-in-a-Box” as an open source version of the United States’ Data.gov portal and India’s “India.gov.in” document portal. In the coming months, we will contribute the core set of applications that facilitate access to open government data, the mechanisms to extend such applications by any third party developer, and to inspire the public and private sector to engage in a “Race to the Top” to facilitate the use of open data in new products and services.

The U.S. National Action Plan includes plenty of other important initiatives to support the relationship between job creators and the government, including a commitment to publish guidelines on how to access scientific data produced through unclassified federal research funding, the ability to tap into their expertise on relevant public policy deliberations through an “ExpertNet” platform, and a global “Apps” competition drawing a global cadre of scientists and concerned citizens to harness open data to solve global challenges including weather impacts and the depletion of ocean resources.

We remain inspired by the growing number of open innovators and are confident this plan will accelerate this trend and increase the probability we invent our way out of some of the most pressing challenges that confront us.

Aneesh Chopra is US Chief Technology Officer

President Obama on Open Government: "The Essence of Democracy"

Tue, 20 Sep 2011 22:23:04 +0000

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This week, President Obama is in New York City for the United Nations General Assembly to meet with partners and address a range of issues with the international community, including open government.

At the U.N. General Assembly last year, President Obama called on nations to make, "specific commitments to promote transparency, to fight corruption, to energize civic engagement, and to leverage new technologies so we can strengthen the foundations of freedom in our own countries." Today, the President outlined the progress that has already been made in response to his call to action:

And now we see governments around the world meeting this challenge, including many represented here today. Countries from Mexico to Turkey to Liberia have passed laws guaranteeing citizens the right to information. From Chile to Kenya to the Philippines, civil society groups are giving citizens new tools to report corruption. From Tanzania to Indonesia -- and as I saw firsthand during my visit to India -- rural villages are organizing and making their voices heard, and getting the public services that they need. Governments from Brazil to South Africa are putting more information online, helping people hold public officials accountable for how they spend taxpayer dollars.

Here in the United States, we’ve worked to make government more open and responsive than ever before. We’ve been promoting greater disclosure of government information, empowering citizens with new ways to participate in their democracy. We are releasing more data in usable forms on health and safety and the environment, because information is power, and helping people make informed decisions and entrepreneurs turn data into new products, they create new jobs. We’re also soliciting the best ideas from our people in how to make government work better. And around the world, we’re standing up for freedom to access information, including a free and open Internet.

President Barack Obama participates in the Open Government Partnership event at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York, N.Y., Sept. 20, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Samantha Appleton)

The United States and seven other founding nations of the Open Government Partnership are delivering concrete open government plans to continue their commitment to make their governments more open, transparent, and accountable to their citizens. President Obama described initiatives from the U.S. Open Government Plan:

Among our commitments, we’re launching a new online tool -- called “We the People” -- to allow Americans to directly petition the White House, and we’ll share that technology so any government in the world can enable its citizens to do the same. We’ve develop new tools -- called “smart disclosures” -- so that the data we make public can help people make health care choices, help small businesses innovate, and help scientists achieve new breakthroughs.

We’ll work to reform and expand protections for whistleblowers who expose government waste, fraud and abuse. And we’re continuing our leadership of the global effort against corruption, by building on legislation that now requires oil, gas, and mining companies to disclose the payments that foreign governments demand of them.

Today, I can announce that the United States will join the global initiative in which these industries, governments and civil society, all work together for greater transparency so that taxpayers receive every dollar they’re due from the extraction of natural resources.

The President also looked forward to how the international open government initiative will expand in the future:

And today is just the beginning of a partnership that will only grow -- as Secretary Clinton leads our effort on behalf of the United States, as these nearly 40 nations develop their own commitments, as we share and learn from each other and build the next generation of tools to empower our citizens and serve them better.

So that’s the purpose of open government. And I believe that’s the essence of democracy. That’s the commitment to which we’re committing ourselves here today.

The United States Releases its Open Government National Action Plan

Aneesh Chopra and Cass Sunstein — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 11:30:00 +0000

“In all parts of the world, we see the promise of innovation to make government more open and accountable. And now, we must build on that progress. And when we gather back here next year, we should bring specific commitments to promote transparency; to fight corruption; to energize civic engagement; to leverage new technologies so that we strengthen the foundations of freedom in our own countries, while living up to the ideals that can light the world.”

--President Barack Obama, September 23, 2010

On September 23, 2010, President Obama challenged the members of the United Nations General Assembly to work together to make all governments more open and accountable to their people. To meet that challenge, in July 2011, the United States and Brazil announced the creation of the Open Government Partnership (OGP) – a global initiative that supports efforts to promote more transparent, effective, and accountable institutions globally. The OGP effort builds directly on steps President Obama has taken since the first full day of his Administration to strengthen democracy and promote a more efficient and effective government through greater openness.

And today, as part the OGP effort, the U.S. and other members of the OGP Steering Committee are coming together in New York to welcome new members to the partnership and to unveil Open Government National Action Plans. As we developed a U.S. National Action Plan (“National Plan”), the Federal Government engaged in extensive consultations with external stakeholders, including a broad range of civil society groups and members of the private sector. We solicited input from the Administration’s own Open Government Working Group, comprised of senior-level representatives from executive branch departments and agencies. White House policymakers also engaged the public via a series of blog posts, requesting ideas about how to focus Open Government efforts on increasing public integrity, more effectively managing public resources, and improving public services.

Among the highlights of the Plan:

“We the People.” The White House announced the launch of the “We the People” petition platform to give Americans a direct line to voice their concerns to the Administration via online petitions. In addition, the Administration plans to publish the source code of the new “We the People” petition platform so that it is available to any government around the world that seeks to solicit and respond to the concerns of the public.
Whistleblower Protection. Recently, Congress nearly enacted whistleblower legislation that would eliminate loopholes in existing protections, provide protections for employees in the intelligence community, and create pilot programs to explore potential structural reforms in the remedial process. The Administration will continue to work with Congress to enact this legislation. But if Congress remains deadlocked, the Administration will explore options for utilizing executive branch authority to strengthen and expand whistleblower protections.
Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. The U.S. is committing to implementing the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). EITI requires governments to publicly disclose their revenues from oil, gas, and mining assets, and for companies to make parallel disclosures regarding payments. By signing onto the global standard that EITI sets, the U.S. Government can help ensure that American taxpayers are receiving every dollar due for the extraction of these valuable public resources.

Other initiatives include: expanding the use of technology to achieve greater efficiencies in Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) administration; overhaul the public participation interface on regulations.gov to help the public find, follow, and participate in Federal rulemakings; and launching ExpertNet, a platform to communicate with citizens who have expertise on a pertinent topic. There are a lot of exciting initiatives in our Plan – too many to recount in this post – but you can view the full plan here .

At the President’s State of the Union Address in January 2011, he said that the American people deserve a government that is “open and competent.” Building on the efforts inaugurated by the Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government, and the President’s continued leadership, we look forward to the work ahead.

An Update on the Open Government U.S. National Action Plan

Aneesh Chopra and Cass Sunstein — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 12:00:00 +0000

The Open Government Plan of the United States will formally launch on September 20, on the margins of the U.N. General Assembly in New York City. We are busy finalizing our National Action Plan but wanted to take the opportunity to thank you for all of the comments that we received during our public consultation. All of the responsive comments that we received can be found here.

In the meantime, we hope that you’ll stay tuned to all of the upcoming events next Tuesday in New York, including the signing of the Open Government Declaration, which will be live streamed at www.whitehouse.gov/live.

Aneesh Chopra is the U.S. Chief Technology Officer and Cass Sunstein is the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs

A Status Report on the Administration’s Commitment to Open Government

Steven Croley — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 18:00:02 +0000

President Obama has made open government a high priority. Greater openness renders our government more efficient and effective. It strengthens our democracy. It improves our citizens’ lives.

To these ends, the Administration has taken many substantial steps to promote increased participation and collaboration in government, and to make government more transparent. For example, federal agencies have increased transparency through redoubled efforts to disclose more information under the Freedom of Information Act. They have implemented ambitious Open Government Plans, and made voluminous data newly available to the public. The Administration has also made spending information more transparent, and taken steps to disclose previously sensitive government information.

Of course, creating a more open government requires sustained effort. How best to harness new technologies in the service of open government, to strike the proper balance between transparency and the protection of national security and personal privacy, to change agency culture so that openness becomes the new normal–such issues require long-term commitment.

But it is useful to take stock of the Administration’s accomplishments along the way. Accordingly, today the White House is releasing The Obama Administration’s Commitment to Open Government: A Status Report (pdf). This status report highlights the breadth of the Administration’s commitment to open government, documents the substantial progress made on many of the Administration’s open government initiatives, and anticipates continued progress. Although not an exhaustive compilation of our open government efforts, this report provides a compelling picture of how far the Administration has already come towards forging a more open government.

Read the report below:

Open Government Status Report

View more documents from White House

Steven Croley is Special Assistant to the President and Senior Counsel to the President

The Open Government Partnership and Development of the U.S. Open Government Plan

Aneesh Chopra and Cass Sunstein — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 21:27:14 +0000

The Open Government Plan of the United States will be formally launched in September on the margins of the U.N. General Assembly in New York City. As we continue our work on the plan, we want to thank you for your help and participation. Last week, on this blog, we posed several questions asking for your ideas about how we can focus open government efforts on improving public services and increasing public integrity. We are grateful for the helpful responses we have received, and we will be publishing all responsive submissions online in the next few weeks.

In response to our inquiries, some people have asked for additional information about the Open Government Partnership and the Open Government Plan, and on how they fit into the Administration’s domestic Open Government Initiative. We provide some more detail here.

The White House’s Open Government Initiative is a domestic effort, launched on the President’s first full day in office, to work toward an “unprecedented level of openness in government.” Over the past two years, responding to the President’s Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government, Federal agencies have done a great deal to make information about how government works more accessible to the public, to solicit citizens’ participation in government decision-making, and to collaborate with all sectors of the economy on new and innovative solutions.

The Open Government Partnership will strengthen the momentum towards more open and accountable government that we see emerging around the globe. By participating in the Open Government Partnership, the U.S. will build on the foundation that we have established through the Open Government Initiative, and identify next steps toward promoting the President’s commitment to transparency, participation, and accountability in government.

As we continue to develop our plan, we would like to ask for your help again. We noted in the last blog post that countries participating in the Open Government Partnership have pledged to tackle one or more of five key challenges that face governments today. Today, we are asking for your thoughts and ideas related to two of these key challenges – more effectively managing public resources and increasing corporate accountability:

Managing and properly archiving government records using new technologies not only makes government more efficient but also preserves vital records for the future. What issues should the government take into consideration as it contemplates a records management system in an electronic environment? What would be the appropriate next steps?
The President’s January 18, 2011, Memorandum on Regulatory Compliancedirected Administration officials to create a platform to make compliance and enforcement “data available online in searchable form, including on centralized platforms,” and ordered that Administration officials “shall work to explore how best to generate and share enforcement and compliance information across the Government.” What existing tools can best help the government do this?
What are the best practices used by other countries that effectively and fairly promote corporate accountability? What lessons can be drawn for the U.S.?

Please send us your thoughts to opengov@ostp.gov. All responsive submissions that we receive will be posted online in the future. Please do not include any personally identifiable information other than your name or the name of your organization in the body of your response. We will carefully consider your ideas and input as we develop our National Plan. Thank you.

Aneesh Chopra is the U.S. Chief Technology Officer and Cass Sunstein is the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs

The Changing Role of Federal Chief Information Officers

Steven VanRoekel — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 22:22:20 +0000

Today, the Office of Management and Budget issued a memorandum (PDF) that lays out key responsibilities and authorities for Agency Chief Information Officers (CIOs). These authorities will enable CIOs to reduce the number of wasteful duplicative systems, simplify services for the American people, and deliver more effective information technology [IT] to support their agency’s mission.

This memo builds on the work the Administration has done under the 25 Point Plan to Reform Federal IT Management, now in its eighth month of implementation. These reforms were developed to remedy what had become routine in Washington: IT projects running over budget, falling behind schedule, or failing to deliver promised functionality, hampering agency missions and wasting taxpayer dollars.

This situation is no longer commonplace. If you take a look at the achievements every CIO has already accomplished under the reform plan, they have fundamentally changed the way the federal government manages information technology. The memorandum will help CIOs deliver on key areas to drive results and yield an even greater impact.

Under the new memorandum there are four key areas for all CIOs to focus on: Governance, Commodity IT, Program Management, and Information Security. With responsibilities for these four areas, Agency CIOs will be held accountable for lowering operational costs, terminating and turning around troubled projects, and delivering meaningful functionality at a faster rate while enhancing the security of information systems.

In my time in both the private and public sectors, I know the importance of giving CIOs the tools necessary to drive change and to hold them accountable for results. For example, when I arrived at the Federal Communications Commission from the private sector, I set an ambitious goal of reducing IT operating costs and by aligning the agency’s strategic objectives with our IT investments and terminating things that were not working we delivered substantial results.

In the next year, the Administration will ask agencies to report through the President’s Management Council and the Chief Information Officer Council on implementation of this memo, to ensure that CIOs are positioned to achieve success and are delivering on their responsibilities. As the IT Reform plan continues to be implemented we will see more results from this fundamental shift in IT policy, permanently removing the barriers that have prevented consistent execution across the Federal government for so long.

Steven VanRoekel is the US Chief Information Officer.

Open Government and the National Plan

Aneesh Chopra and Cass Sunstein — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 20:08:15 +0000

Over the last two and a half years, President Obama has demonstrated a strong commitment to making government information more accessible to the public and to involving citizens in decisions that affect their lives. The resulting commitment to “Open Government” has spurred a wide range of initiatives. Most recently, the United States has worked with many other nations to create an Open Government Partnership that will promote that commitment around the world.

Since taking office, the President has directed his Administration to take significant steps to make the federal government more efficient and effective through three guiding principles: transparency, participation, and collaboration. In his January 2009 Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government, the President instructed the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to issue an Open Government Directive requiring agencies to release data to the American people that they “can readily find and use.” With the help of the public, agencies produced detailed Open Government Plans to take specific steps and to establish long-term goals to achieve greater openness and transparency. These plans are located on agency home pages at [agency domain].gov/open. With direct input from the American people, agency plans continue to evolve and improve.

As agencies developed their Open Government Plans, we also made unprecedented amounts of information available to the public, in part through a centralized government platform, data.gov. This platform now provides the public with access to hundreds of thousands of agency data sets on a broad range of issues -- from crime, air quality, and budgetary matters, to automobile safety seats, airline performance, weather patterns, and product recalls.

The Administration’s Open Government efforts are now taking on an international flavor with the multi-national Open Government Partnership, which Secretary Clinton recently announced. As Secretary Clinton stated, “We believe this new global effort to improve governance, accelerate economic growth, and empower citizens worldwide is exactly what we should all be doing together in the 21st century.”

Over time, countries participating in the Open Government Partnership have pledged to release a Country Action Plan that tackles one or more of five key challenges that face governments today, such as improving public services, increasing public integrity, more effectively managing public resources, creating safer communities, and increasing corporate accountability.

In this spirit, the United States will produce a plan that builds on existing initiatives and practices. The plan will be released when the Open Government Partnership is formally launched on the margins of the U.N. General Assembly in New York City in September.

As part of the Open Government Initiative, we have benefited from knowledgeable and constructive input from external stakeholders with strong commitments to the principles of open government. The list is long and continues to grow.

We have initiated consultations about the Open Government Plan, beginning with a number of meetings with key external stakeholders, and our consultation is now moving to a new phase in which we seek ideas through this platform, in response to specific questions that we raise through a series of blog posts. We will have a final meeting with stakeholders as we finalize our plan.

Today, we are asking for your thoughts on ideas related to two of the key challenges – improving public services and increasing public integrity:

How can regulations.gov, one of the primary mechanisms for government transparency and public participation, be made more useful to the public rulemaking process?
OMB is beginning the process of reviewing and potentially updating its Federal Web Policy. What policy updates should be included in this revision to make Federal websites more user-friendly and pertinent to the needs of the public?
How can we build on the success of Data.Gov and encourage the use of democratized data to build new consumer-oriented products and services?

Please think about these questions and send your thoughts to opengov@ostp.gov. We will post a summary of your submissions online in the future. Your ideas will be carefully considered as we produce our National Plan and continue to engage with you over the next month in future posts on this blog.

Aneesh Chopra is the U.S. Chief Technology Officer and Cass Sunstein is the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs

Spurring International Momentum for Open Government

Aneesh Chopra and Cass Sunstein — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 18:12:12 +0000

Today, the United States and Brazil announced the creation of the Open Government Partnership (OGP) – a global initiative that supports efforts to promote more transparent, effective, and accountable institutions globally. In the spirit of multi-stakeholder collaboration, this initiative is governed by a steering committee that includes governments and civil society groups from around the world.

This effort builds directly on steps President Obama has taken since the first day of his Administration to strengthen democracy and promote a more efficient and effective government through greater openness.

Since the release of the President’s Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government, Federal agencies have done much to make information about how government works more accessible to the public, to solicit citizens’ participation in government decision-making, and to collaborate with all sectors of the economy on new and innovative solutions. We have launched websites such as Recovery.gov, ITDashboard.gov, and USAspending.gov to ensure the effective use of taxpayer dollars; released useful data through the centralized portal, data.gov; and opened new opportunities for the public to engage in solving our most pressing problems through Challenge.gov and online communities focused on health, energy, and the law.

The Open Government Partnership seeks to galvanize international momentum on issues of open government. President Obama spoke about the importance of open government at the UN General Assembly in 2010, and challenged leaders to return with specific commitments to promote transparency, empower citizens, fight corruption, and harness new technologies to strengthen governance. This is a new vehicle for supporting governments as they take these important steps.

Our action plan for the Open Government Partnership will continue and build upon the Open Government efforts first launched by the President’s Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government, and we look forward to your input and ideas as we develop our action plan going forward.

Aneesh Chopra is the U.S. Chief Technology Officer

Cass Sunstein is Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs

COMPETES Act Births Innovation Initiative for Health IT

Tom Kalil — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 22:31:20 +0000

Today, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) announced the Investing in Innovations (i2) initiative – an exciting new $5 million program to spur health IT innovations through prizes, challenges, and other mechanisms to improve the health care of all Americans.

The core of this bold initiative will be a series of prize competitions – up to 15 each year – that will accelerate innovation and adoption of health IT for improved clinical outcomes and efficient care delivery. For example, a prize competition under i2 might challenge software developers to build new tools for the seamless exchange of health information among hospitals, clinics, and physicians with tailored privacy settings or to create new “blue button” apps that enable patients to download and reuse their clinical information.

This bold initiative leverages the new prize authority in the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 to execute on the President’s call for agencies to increase their use of prizes and challenges to spur innovation and solve tough problems. The ONC Investing in Innovations initiative is a harbinger of a new paradigm in which – under the America COMPETES Act – prize competitions become a strategic tool in every agency’s innovation portfolio.

The i2 initiative builds on the success of prize competitions under the Department of Health and Human Services Community Health Data Initiative and the SMART Apps for Health challenge that closed last week. SMART (Substitutable Medical Apps, Reusable Technologies) is one of several research projects supported by ONC through their SHARP R&D initiative and is focused on the notion that an open platform could transform the health IT market by reducing the distribution costs for entrepreneurs.

With just a modest $5,000 prize and a 90-day competition, the SMART Apps for Health challenge attracted over 300 supporters and 15 quality submissions, garnered a wide level of attention,and attracted a wide field of innovators, with what promises to be a significant catalyst for spurring a breakthrough, innovative health IT platform. Contestants ranged from established companies to clinical researchers, to individual innovators. The creative submissions included specialized tools that enable clinical decision support through diagnostic applications, clinical dashboards that link EMRs with immunization registry and syndromic surveillance data, and multi-use applications that support clinical workflow and medical record annotation.

A star panel of judges is currently in a spirited debate as to which of the compelling submissions will go home with the prize. But on June 22^nd, I’m convinced the real winners will be the care delivery system as the stories of what is possible attract new talent and ideas to bear on the future of health IT. We look forward to engaging this fast-growing community through the Investing in Innovation initiative in the months to come.

Tom Kalil is Deputy Director for Policy at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy

Open Government Plans' Anniversary is a Testament to Hard Work at Agencies

Chris Vein — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 18:06:50 +0000

One year ago today, in response to the President’s Open Government Initiative, agencies released their open government plans. It is hard to overstate the importance of these plans because they serve as a roadmap for how agencies intend to embed a culture of open government into how they carry out their day-to-day missions.

Over the past year, agencies have been hard at work implementing these plans and the results have been truly impressive. For example, agencies are:

Releasing data. For years, agencies have collected data in support of their particular missions. But before the ubiquitous use of technology, data often sat in filing cabinets and agency basements. Now, agencies such as the Social Security Administration have data inventory plans for releasing high-value data. As of March 2011, data.gov has more than 379,000 data sets of useful information.
Convening citizen developers. Whether you call them geeks or techies , some of the greatest innovations in government have been the result of citizen developers who simply want to do their part to make our government work better. From the Department of Health and Human Services’ Community Data Health Initiative to “Transportation Camps”—“un-meetings aimed at solving transportation problems—throughout the United States, citizens are using their talents to help make government data that are simply lying around actually work for the American people.
Sponsoring Prizes and Challenges. One of the most important events in Open Government in 2010 was passage of the America COMPETES Act reauthorization, which provided important legal authorities to Federal agencies wishing to sponsor challenges and prizes. The government’s new challenge.gov portal is helping agencies and departments do just that and, as of March 2011, has helped highlight more than 75 prizes and challenges.
Putting Entrepreneurs to Work! Open government has strengthened the United States’ reputation for being the most innovative and entrepreneurial country in the world. Many open government plans have laid out procedures for releasing high-value datasets that can spur new opportunities for economic growth. For example, Brightscope—a provider of 401K-related financial intelligence—has taken the Department of Labor’s data about employee fees being paid for their retirement plans and built a successful information business, giving jobs to more than 30 employees in the last year. Similarly, the Small Business Administration’s revamped Open Government website provides a wealth of new information to help catalyze economic opportunity for small business.

These are just a few of the initiatives that open government plans have helped to launch in the past year. According to an independent assessment, there are more than 350 ongoing open government initiatives operating across the Federal government! And several agencies, such as the Environmental Protection Agency, are continually updating their open government webpages with revised plans, quarterly reports, Data.gov news, and other tools to track progress and receive feedback.

While there is always more to be done, we are proud of the important work that agencies have done and are doing to change the culture of government to one that encourages transparency and facilitates innovation. We are committed to maintaining and building upon this momentum to make our Nation stronger and to make the lives of Americans better.

Chris Vein is the Deputy U.S. Chief Technology Officer for Government Innovation

Access to Capital: Fueling Business Growth and Job Creation

Aneesh Chopra — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 13:24:07 +0000

Ed. Note: As part of the Startup America: Reducing Barriers Roundtable series, National Economic Council Director Gene Sperling and U.S. Small Business Administrator Karen Mills will take your questions and suggestions about what processes and regulations we need to adjust to foster a more nurturing environment for entrepreneurship and innovation. Watch and participate today at 12:00pm EDT on whitehouse.gov/live.

I had the pleasure yesterday of sitting down with nearly 100 leading entrepreneurs, investors, underwriters, academics, and fund managers—including Chuck Newhall, the legendary co-Founder of one of the Nation’s most prestigious venture capital firms, New Enterprise Associates—at the Treasury Department’s Access to Capital Conference. The event was one of a number of creative forums the Administration has held to generate new, actionable ideas to ensure that small businesses have the resources to achieve high growth.

The event built on President Obama’s January launch of Startup America, an initiative to celebrate, inspire, and accelerate high-growth American entrepreneurship that includes a number of commitments to expand access to capital for entrepreneurs. Capital, invested by the private sector, is what helps entrepreneurs realize their dreams and turn ideas into startups, and it’s what turns small businesses into fast-growing companies that create jobs and fuel sustainable economic growth.

At yesterday’s conference, we took an important step forward in that mission with an open and honest dialogue about how best to cultivate investment and growth. And we made real progress.

One thing we heard is that small businesses are still struggling to access capital. In the past two years, financing has been tough for all companies, but it has been particularly tough for startups that lack existing collateral or cash flows for loans. Small businesses create 64 percent of new jobs in the economy, and the nation needs these companies to keep adding good-paying jobs to maintain a sustainable, long-term recovery.

We also heard diverging views on market conditions. The ability of a small, advanced manufacturing firm in the Midwest to raise funds can be quite different from that of a software start-up in Silicon Valley. While people representing certain regions didn’t feel like there is a dearth of capital, people from other areas were clear that this is a challenging time for many of their local start-ups to raise sufficient capital. It is important to identify and bridge these market gaps and encourage investors seeking long-term, “hidden value” investment opportunities that exist in all parts of the country.

In addition to fostering dialogue around the evolving market dynamics of small business and entrepreneurial finance, the conference helped generate a number of policy-related suggestions for the Administration, regulatory agencies, and Congress. Building on President Obama’s proposal to make permanent the 100 percent capital gains tax exemption for investment in small businesses, entrepreneurs and investors suggested ways to maximize the adoption of this tax incentive and proposed other tax and regulatory “tweaks” that could improve capital access for small businesses. One participant proposed a task force on the topic to consider best approaches to attaching these small changes to existing laws. We are committed to exploring these types of policy improvements—ones that show promise of driving more private capital into worthy start-ups and high-growth firms. Please share your ideas on how to reduce barriers here.

We also heard about some inspiring examples of innovative financing, from the earliest stages with incubators and angel clubs to the later stages with private placement platforms. These advances, including digital platforms and new funding networks, remind us of the importance of having nimble regulations that encourage, not stifle, innovation.

Finally, I would like to highlight one idea that stood out as having particular potential. Participants recognized that the Administration has many government programs to support entrepreneurs and extend lending to small businesses. However, there islittle or no transparency on customer service.We were challenged to launch a “Yelp”-like service to engage customer feedback on economic development programs and to use that information to continuously improve performance. It is a remarkably simple idea but could be a first step in pushing this dialogue forward.

Yesterday’s conference was just the beginning of this conversation. We are committed to exploring each and every proposal raised. National Economic Council Director Gene Sperling ended the day by reminding us that, despite the challenges, our economy is ripe for innovation – more than half the companies on the Fortune 500 list were launched during a recession or bear market. Small business growth will continue to be a top priority. Stay tuned for next steps.

Aneesh Chopra is the U.S. Chief Technology Officer

Three Trends on Fostering Innovation through Open Government

Aneesh Chopra and Chris Vein — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 22:07:05 +0000

Last Sunday, economist Dick Thaler wrote an article in the New York Times highlighting the many ways innovators are using government data to create platforms, applications, and other useful tools that touch the lives of our friends and neighbors. As we celebrate Sunshine Week, we thought we’d reflect on the intersection of our open government initiative and the President’s Strategy for American Innovation.

We are focused on three trends that are fostering government innovation:

The Rise of a New Information Intermediary Industry: The release of government data has contributed to a new category of products and services designed to make information more relevant and useful to a variety of audiences. Reflecting the market potential, venture capitalists have backed firms like Socrata and Infochimps that repurpose open data sets for developers and others to quickly and easily put them to good use. Think of this industry as competing to provide the “last-mile” of information service to help consumers, companies, and stakeholders keenly interested in effective, efficient government.
The Incorporation of Data in New Products and Services: An emerging trend aligned with the President’s strategy to “out-innovate” our economic competitors is the incorporation of open data into new products and services. We’ve previously written about Brightscope, which has now grown into a multi-million-dollar information business supporting over 30 employees. This past weekend, at the Startup America session at SXSW, noted early-stage investor Vinod Khosla shared the story of his participation in a $42 million investment in Weatherbill, an insurance company helping farmers to adapt to climate change, powered by real-time information freely available through the National Weather Service.
The Extension of Government Platforms: Agencies are increasingly inviting third party developers to extend the value of government websites or to solve specific problems through platforms like Challenge.gov, which as of March 2011 showcased 75 prizes, including the SMART Apps for Health. The Commerce Department, in collaboration with the FCC, recently launched The National Broadband Map to shine light on coverage gaps, including developer tools to extend the value of the platform. An early adopter - the Department of Education - published a “mashup” incorporating school data so communities are empowered to ensure that their children are equipped for the jobs of the future.

These trends reflect great promise for open government as a catalyst for productivity growth. But they also point to a new phenomenon - the rise of citizen developers. At a recent “Transportation Camp” in New York City, concerned citizens met with government transportation leaders to discuss transportation issues at the Federal and local level. We learned an alarming statistic: almost 3 out of 4 parents improperly install their child safety seat. Others at the Camp were concerned too, so much so that one member of the audience created a mobile app that now allows parents to find the nearest inspection stationwhere professionals can install their child seatsecurely, improving access to an existing government website.

President Obama is committed to ensuring that the 21^st century does not leave the Federal government behind. We’re using technology to save money, create a more participatory government, and to make a real different in the lives of all Americans, from informing your family about recalls to finding new and fun ways to get the whole family to eat healthy and stay active. Stay tuned for more.

Aneesh Chopra is the U.S. Chief Technology Officer

Chris Vein is the Deputy U.S. Chief Technology Officer for Government Innovation

Sunshine, Savings, and Service

Vivek Kundra — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 17:48:37 +0000

For too long, the Federal Government has failed to effectively harness the power and potential of information technology (IT) -- despite spending approximately $80 billion dollars on IT each year, and more than $600 billion over the past decade. As a result, it has lagged far behind the private sector in the reaping the gains in productivity and enhancements in service from IT. To get a better return on this investment for the American people, we have fundamentally altered the way we manage the federal government's IT projects -- using transparency to shed light on government operations and to hold government managers accountable for results.

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On my first day on the job, at the beginning of the Obama Administration, I was handed a portfolio that included $27 Billion in IT projects that were years behind schedule, and over budget. I quickly found that the sheer size of the portfolio often led to a sense of faceless accountability and quickly set out to fix that. That’s why just months after President Obama took office, we launched the IT Dashboard (June, 2009) – which provides a clear window into Federal IT projects, bolstering transparency and accountability. The IT Dashboard shines a light on these projects, including if they are on schedule and within budget -- and posting the photo and name of the official responsible -- and agencies continue to increase transparency and improve data quality.

Using this important tool, we identified underperforming high priority IT projects and began an intensive review of these programs, eliminating ineffective projects, reconfiguring others, and targeting IT expenditures more carefully. These actions have on average:

cut the time in half to deliver meaningful functionality and critical services (like faster adoption of new biometric technologies for law enforcement investigations and IT systems that effectively manage the delivery of food to 30 million Americans);
reduced total budgeted costs by over $3 billion.

And as part of our broader IT reform plan to close the public- private technology gap, we are also strengthening program management and formalizing that career track to ensure that we have the right managers in place to oversee these projects, working with a dedicated team that will be held accountable for keeping the project on track.

Whether it be shining light on IT spending at the IT dashboard, posting details of where dollars are going (including by location and down to the subcontractor level) at USAspending.gov, or democratizing government data at data.gov, this Administration is committed to continuing to make government more open and accountable. As we celebrate Sunshine Week, it’s important to note that transparency is not only good government, it also bolsters accountability, and helps us deliver billions in savings and better results for the American people. More work lies ahead and we will continue to leverage the power of IT to make government more open and more effective so we can win the future.

Vivek Kundra is U.S. Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra

Investing in Open Government to Create A More Efficient and Effective Government

Chris Lu — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 17:26:24 +0000

Ed. Note: This post is part of our Sunshine Week series, a national initiative to celebrate and focus on government transparency and open government.

Federal agencies collect enormous amounts of data about such diverse matters as automobile safety, air travel, air quality, workplace safety, drug safety, nutrition, crime, obesity, the employment market, and health care. The Obama Administration has made it a priority to share this and other government information – what the President has called a “national asset” – to improve citizen education and decision-making, and to spur innovation and job creation.

Federal agencies are working hard to foster open government, and we encourage you to examine what they have done. For example:

The Department of Homeland Security created “Virtual USA,” enabling public safety officials across all levels of government to share information in real time, and improve response to national disasters.
The Department of Energy, as part of its efforts to promote clean energy, launched OpenEI.org, containing dozens of clean energy resources and data sets, including maps of worldwide solar and wind potential, information on climate zones, and energy best practices. The Department intends to expand these resources to include on-line training and technical expert networks.
The Environmental Protection Agency, together with other federal, state, local, and tribal agencies, developed AIRNow.gov, offering the public daily Air Quality Index forecasts and real-time Air Quality Index conditions for over 300 cities across the country as well as links to detailed state and local air quality cites.
And six federal agencies—the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Food and Drug Administration, the Department of Agriculture, and the EPA—created Recalls.gov, to alert the public to unsafe, hazardous, or defective products and up-to-date consumer safety information.

Throughout the week, WhiteHouse.gov will continue highlighting the Administration’s commitment to open government, including the accomplishments of three other departments – Health and Human Services, Veterans Affairs, and Transportation. We hope you will take a moment to read these blog posts. What unites these federal agencies is that they all consider open government to be a long-term investment in building a stronger democracy and creating a more efficient and effective government.

Chris Lu is Assistant to the President and Cabinet Secretary