The White House Tuesday launched an initiative aimed at increasing the openness and transparency of the federal government.
The goal, said White House Office Of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag, is to knock down barriers between the government and the people it is supposed to serve.
"Today's announcement will help to make government more open, transparent, and accountable to bridge the gap between the American people and their government," Orszag said. "The three principles of transparency, participation, and collaboration are at the heart of this directive."
He added, "Transparency promotes accountability. Participation allows members of the public to contribute ideas and expertise to government initiatives. Collaboration improves the effectiveness of government by encouraging partnerships and cooperation within the federal government, across levels of government, and between the government and private institutions."
Orszag's directive calls for government agencies to publish more information online with a presumption of openness except in cases where there are valid privacy, confidentiality, security or other restrictions.
The directive also calls for information and data to be published in open and searchable databases, with the requirement of every agency publishing at least three "high-value" data sets within 45 days.
"To the extent practical and subject to valid restrictions, agencies should proactively use modern technology to disseminate useful information, rather than waiting for specific requests" under the Freedom of Information Act, Orszag wrote.
The directive also seeks to create and institutionalize a mindset favoring openness in federal agencies.
Even monitoring the effectiveness of agency efforts to become more open will be possible, as Orszag's directive calls for the creation of a centralized Web site to "make available each agency's Open Government Plan, together with aggregate statistics and visualizations designed to provide an assessment of the state of open government in the Executive Branch and progress over time toward meeting the deadlines for action."
The White House said the directive was the result of the Open Government Initiative, in which the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy sought out suggestions in online forums and other venues for ways to make government data more accessible.
"The American people know best what their government should do for them," Orszag said. "It's fitting that our open government directive has been significantly shaped by the collective wisdom of the American people."
Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and a long advocate for more transparency in government, hailed Tuesday's announcement.
"For the first time, the public will have immediate access to government data that for too long had been shielded from view by excessive secrecy and outdated technologies," Leahy said. "By issuing this directive, the President is taking another step away from the overreaching secrecy of the last administration."
He added, "Today's directive is a good and important step towards greater transparency. But, there is much more work to do to fulfill the promise to the American people to make our government more open and accountable than it has ever been in our nation's history."
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