Open Government

So far, the Obama Administration's push to encourage software developers to use monstrous, freely available government datasets in consumer apps is generating more light than heat.

It's not clear why access to 600 gazillion terabytes (or thereabouts) of free, machine-readable data covering traffic accidents, copper smelting, phytoplankton cell counts and other fascinating, everyday topics have only inspired, at last count, 85 mobile apps.

To counter this data ennui, and to launch a special section of Data.gov focusing on transportation and consumer product safety, the administration hosted a data pep rally on Wednesday, with U.S. Chief Technology Officer Todd Park acting as cheerleader-in-chief.

Senior officials from Labor, Transportation, Consumer Product Safety Commission and others, made presentations (some live, some via recorded video) designed to stimulate interest in translating raw data into simple, navigable apps that consumers can use on mobile devices.

Seth Harris, Deputy Labor Secretary, announced a contest with a $30,000 prize to build a work safety app that uses Occupational Safety and Health Administration data to encourage workers to recognize and report safety violations. A successful app, Harris said, would ultimately reduce OSHA inspector visits by encouraging workplaces to respond directly to worker safety complaints.

Currently, Data.gov website lists just four consumer safety applications. One app, SaferBus, designed to alert bus travelers to safety violations by operators, has inspired a measly three reviews on the Apple App Store.

AUSTIN, Texas - After a year that saw social media energize revolutions in the Middle East and North Africa, online protests that blocked controversial anti-piracy legislation, and viral videos highlighting human rights abuses, activists at the annual South by Southwest conference said technology enables, but doesn't drive political action.

"Technology is a ladder to engagement," said Mary Joyce, founder of the Meta-Activism Project. The Internet lowers the bar for people who want to become politically involved, she said.

That message was echoed by government officials from the United States and United Kingdom who said technology can only go so far. "What you need is the involvement of citizens," said White House adviser Samantha Power, who has helped lead open government efforts.

Transparency can help increase involvement and trust in government by reducing corruption, she said.

The Internet can help increase transparency by publicizing government information, but providing that data is more important than the technology used, said Tim Kelsey, executive director of Transparency and Open Data for the U.K.

He cited examples of officials in India posting spreadsheets on the sides of buildings so people can help catch fraud in government aid programs.

"Content matters more than the channel," Kelsey said.

Nextgov.com reports that two years after President Obama announced his open government initiative, federal agencies still face numerous organizational, technical and resource challenges in its implementation, according to a new report from the IBM Center for the Business of Government.

Obstacles to progress include outdated information technology infrastructure, risks of violating online privacy, relatively weak public engagement, the need to enforce accountability and responsibility, and a lack of resources, wrote the report's authors, Gwanhoo Lee, an associate professor of business at American University, and Young Hoon Kwan, an associate professor of business at The George Washington University.

When the Obama administration in May 2009 officially launched its long-awaited open government initiative, it included ambitious plans for facelifts to federal websites that would offer raw data the public could download and adapt. It garnered encouraging reviews from government transparency activists. Yet implementation has been slow, in part because of perceived risks that agencies might violate citizen privacy. To read more, click here.

The public isn't convinced that the Obama administration is being fully open with Americans, more than a year and a half after the president launched a government-wide transparency effort, according to a new survey conducted by ForeSee Results and Nextgov.

But compared to regulated industries in the United States, the White House is doing a lot better. The White House earned a score of 46 out of a possible 100 on its attempts to be transparent about what the West Wing is doing; federal agencies came in with an aggregate score of 40; Congress rated 37; and the banking and health care sectors both were at 32. At the bottom of the list: the energy industry, with a 30 rating.

To measure perceptions of transparency, ForeSee Results, a market research firm, conducted an online survey asking participants to evaluate the thoroughness of the information various federal organizations and industries disclosed; the speed with which that information was released; and the ease of accessing it. To read more, click here.

An annual report card on secrecy in the federal government indicates the Obama administration has taken promising steps toward becoming the most open White House ever, while still criticizing the new president for spending billions of dollars creating and securing classified material, Nextgov.com reports.

"The elections of 2008 were viewed by many as a referendum on the secrecy and unaccountability of the Bush administration, and the country elected a president who has promised the most open, transparent and accountable federal executive branch in history. The record to date is mixed, but some indicators are trending in the right direction," said Patrice McDermott, director of OpenTheGovernment.org, a coalition of watchdog associations that posted the report on Tuesday.

OpenTheGovernment.org began measuring executive branch secrecy in 2003, the year the United States invaded Iraq. The first report card, released in 2004, found then-President Bush's policies generated the largest jump in the production and protection of classified documents in at least a decade. The most recent study is not a full assessment of the Obama administration's work, since it also includes the last three months of the Bush administration.

President Obama established a declassification center within the National Archives and Records Administration to coordinate interagency efforts aimed at expediting the process of declassifying information, according to Tuesday's report card. The center is developing an information technology system to track classified records from the time they are accessioned by the Archives to when they are publicly released, according to department officials. To read more, click here.

The Senate Judiciary Committee advanced bipartisan legislation Thursday to set up a commission to uncover why tens of thousands of requests for government information get sidetracked.

Sponsored by Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Tex., the bill (S. 3111) was approved and sent to the full Senate on a voice vote. The legislation is in response to delays lasting sometimes years for requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act.

Leahy cited some progress in cleaning up the backlog of applications for information, noting the Obama administration reported the number of pending cases dropped from 124,019 in fiscal year 2008 to 67,764 in fiscal year 2009, a government-wide decrease of 50 percent. "But large FOIA backlogs remain a major roadblock to public access to in formation," Leahy said.

Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said exemptions cited by agencies under the FOIA for preventing release of information have risen significantly in the last year. The law lists exceptions for complying with requests, such as to protect national security or personal privacy.

The bill would set up a 16-person commission to study the reason for the delays and issue a report with recommendations within a year. An amendment by Leahy approved by voice vote would require the commission to examine and determine why the number of exemptions numbered some 467,000 in 2009.