Friday, May 22, 2009

Obama E-Gov Push Gets Mixed Reviews

President Obama's e-government agenda took a major leap forward Thursday with the launch of several initiatives aimed at increasing openness and accountability but transparency watchdogs, while largely content, wonder if officials are moving too fast and may not get meaningful public feedback. The administration simultaneously unveiled its online hub to build Obama's open government directive, which he outlined on his first day in office; Data.gov, a Web site intended to "democratize data" by giving the public raw feeds of government information; and announced proposed overhauls to Regulations.gov to make searching and commenting on federal rules easier.

In a Web video, Obama senior advisor Valerie Jarrett called the initiative "an unprecedented process for public engagement in policymaking" and urged citizens to brainstorm ideas and discuss the most promising ones. On the front lines of the effort are Vivek Kundra, OMB administrator for e-government, and a team at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy led by federal CTO Aneesh Chopra, who was approved by the Senate late Thursday to serve as OSTP's associate director. The confirmation of another tech player, Larry Strickling, who would head the National Telecommunications and Information Administration stalled when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid failed to get unanimous consent, a Reid aide said.

Sunlight Foundation Executive Director Ellen Miller called the open government site "fascinating" and Data.gov "path-breaking." She said the initiatives represent "a dramatic demonstration of the administration's intent to use technology to create a more transparent and collaborative government." But others like OMB Watch Executive Director Gary Bass tempered their excitement with skepticism. He worries the open government brainstorming phase that ends next week and the mid-June timeline for drafting recommendations for Obama is too fast. He is also concerned that questions the White House posed to spur the online dialogue are too basic and letting Internet users vote on the best ideas will let "cool" but ultimately flawed concepts prevail.

Bass's reaction to Regulations.gov was similarly mixed. Making the site more user-friendly is worthwhile but the system needs "radical surgery," not just window dressing, he said. Data.gov, however, won his full praise. Jim Harper, director of information policy studies at the Cato Institute, is worried the transparency community "is being distracted with shiny baubles while the actual workings of government remain unchanged." Their attention should be on whether WhiteHouse.gov is a well-organized and useful repository for information, he said, noting Obama continues to violate his pledge to post non-emergency bills online for five days before signing them.

On a late day conference call with transparency advocates, OSTP Deputy Director for Open Government Beth Noveck and her colleagues made clear their projects are a work in progress. They said they were mindful of the open government initiative's looming deadlines, which are not set in stone, but are timed to allow for funding in the next budget cycle. "If one of the phases needs to be extended or if people are commenting after a phase is over, that's okay," one participant on the call said they were told. Novek's team also said they had not sets hard dates for that program's completion and were unsure whether it would result in a single or series of memos or executive orders.