Opening Government

Reps Launch New Effort to Free CRS Reports

On July 10, Representative Mike Quigley (D-IL) and Representative Leonard Lance (R-NJ) introduced a bill, H.Res 727, that would give the public access to widely distributed reports prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS).

07/11/2012

Fulfilling GAO.gov’s Potential

Open government is about more than open information, just as accessibility is about more than availability. The Government Accountability Office (GAO), Congress’ investigative arm, produces reports full of information about how the government is doing its job and recommendations for improving performance but its website’s busy structure and lack of navigability fails to serve its openness and accountability agenda.

06/26/2012

Groups Urge Senate to Turn Back Short-Sighted Decision to Defund the American Community Survey

Several partners and other open government allies joined OpenTheGovernment.org recently in urging the Senate to reject the House's short-sighted decision to defund the US Census Bureau's American

06/12/2012

Groups Urge Senate to Save the American Community Survey

Several partners and other open government allies are urging the Senate to reject the House's short-sighted decision to defund the US Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS).

05/30/2012

Most Agencies Release Re-booted Open Government Plans, But Where is Labor's?

Under the terms of the Open Government Directive (OGD), the Obama Administration encouraged agencies to view their open government plans as "living documents" that should be regularly revisited, and required agencies to update the plans every two years.

05/29/2012

Where is the Department of Labor's Open Government Plan 2.0?

Under the terms of the Open Government Directive (OGD), the Administration encouraged agencies to view their open government plans as "living documents" that should be regularly revisited, and required agencies to update the plans every two years. Accordingly, on April 9, the White House put up a blog post celebrating the release of open government plans 2.0. The celebration was a bit premature, though, given that several agencies hadn't yet actually posted their plans for the public, and one major agency - the Department of Labor - has not posted a single update since its Version 1 of the plan was released on April 7, 2010.

05/15/2012

Partners Write in Support of Free Access to Material Incorporated into Law by Reference

OpenTheGovernment.org joined the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) in sending a letter to Cass Sunstein, the Administrator of Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), in support of comments filed by Public.Resources.Org arguing that any material incorporated into an ag

05/15/2012

Open Government Partnership Meets in Brasilia

Government officials and selected civil society organization representatives gathered in Brazil's capital city of Brasilia on April 17 - 18 to showcase the progress made by participants in the Open Government Partnership (OGP).

05/01/2012

Most Agencies, with Notable Exceptions, Post New Open Government Plans

A review of several large agencies' /open pages revealed that a slim majority of agencies met the requirement under the White House's Open Government Directive to post "Version 2" of the Open Government Plans by early last week.

04/17/2012

Coming Soon to an Agency Near You: Open Gov Plan 2.0

In the coming weeks agencies will begin releasing "Version 2" of the Open Government Plans. The original Open Government Directive (OGD) plans, released in April 2010, were described by the Administration as "living documents" that agencies should regularly revisit and are required to update every two years. In the revamped plans, agencies are to develop initiatives and provide concrete timelines for building openness, participation, and collaboration into the way they operate.

03/23/2012

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