Transparency Initiatives Launched Today by the White House

After spending all the last week's spare time on submitting assignments on my studies in Economics (Yes, I did it! But the exams remain to do in the two weeks to come...) I have turned my introvert perspective out once more. Whats's going on now? Lot's of field trips for all the children, very nice weather (25-30C every day), American Idol's surprising outcome and Obama, Obama, Obama...

Today, On Obama's 120th day as a president, he launched Transparency Initiatives bases on the internet technology, as he promised during the campaign. For me, as a professional in Communications, this is really interesting.

Crafting Open-Government Recommendations
The White House has launched a new process for soliciting public input in the policy-making process. This three-phase structured process runs as follows:

1. Brainstorming: Starting today, citizens will be able to submit and rank ideas regarding how the government should become more transparent, participatory and collaborative.


2. Blog Discussion: Starting June 3, citizens and federal employees will discuss some of the top issues raised during the brainstorming session. For example, how can privacy and security be protected as government data is made available?


3. Wiki-based Draft: Starting June 15, the public can help craft the language of recommendations on open government. These formal recommendations will become the framework for how the open-government directive will be implemented.

Data.gov

An online platform to access non-sensitive federal government data so Web developers can create new applications to help citizens sort and analyze public data.

Regulations.gov

Exchange Regulations.gov was created in 2003 to let citizens search for and comment on federal regulations. Today the site has been revamped so the public can post opinions about the regulations directly to the site.

Innovations Gallery

Part of WhiteHouse.gov, the gallery will be a place for agencies and departments to show their own efforts to be more transparent and collaborative with the public. Some of the examples listed on the gallery: Department of Homeland Security's IdeaFactory, which lets employees of the Transportation Security Administration submit ideas to make the transportation system more secure; Department of Defense's Techipedia, which allows government workers and civilians share ideas about new technology.

Obama is encouraging Cabinet secretaries to adopt more open-government innovations over the next year. These efforts will be added to the gallery over time.

Innovations Timeline

Lists transparency benchmarks reached by the administration, including the U.S. Attorney General's order for agencies to more readily respond to requests for records under the Freedom of Information Act.

Read more about this in Washington Post >>