OpenGovRadio 7/28/10: A Tour of "Federal Register 2.0"

Here's what we'll discuss on this Wednesday's OpenGovRadio show (July 29th, 2:00 pm ET):

A Tour of "Federal Register 2.0" with NARA's Ray Mosley

President Obama wants federal agencies to be "transparent, participatory, and collaborative".

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA; aka "National Archives") is responsible for maintaining federal documents (transparency) and uses the Federal Register to publicize federal proposals that are being offered for public review and comment (participation/collaboration).  It has been doing this since 1936.

I'm Stephen Buckley, your host on OpenGovRadio, and my guest for this week's show will be Ray Mosley, Director of NARA's Office of the Federal Register.  We'll be talking about the recent launch of "Federal Register 2.0".

Never heard of the Federal Register?  Then you need to watch this intro video:



And some more about the development of "Federal Register 2.0":




In addition to listening to the show on your computer, you can add to the discussion with your comments and questions. You can do that in either (or all) of three ways:

A.  Post a Comment/Question on this Blog at least one hour before the show begins.  Scroll down to "green box" (below) and click on "Comment".  It must be concise, and focused on the Open Government Initiative (or else it will not be approved).  Commentors can choose to remain anonymous.

B.  Email a comment/question Confidentially to your host Stephen Buckley, who fully understands the risk of raising unwelcome questions within the government.  Mr. Buckley can then raise the question "on-air" without identifying you.

C.  Call-in "live" to (917) 388-4210 with your comment/question.  However --  The host will ONLY "go to the phones" AFTER all the posted Comments (see green box, below) have been addressed.  Callers are welcome to add/ask a "follow-up" to those posted Comments.


Handy Links to "Open Government":

1.  President's Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government (1/21/09)

2.  White House's Open Government Directive (12/8/09)

3.  OMB's "Initial Assessment of OpenGov Plans" of Federal Agencies

4.  OMB's "OpenGov Dashboard" for tracking Compliance by Federal Agencies

5.  GovLoop's Chart of the OpenGov Plans

6.  Transparent Leadership by Roger Schwarz (Government Executive magazine, 4/7/10)

"When you are transparent, you create better results and relationships because others understand your thinking. People always are trying to find the meaning of actions, especially leaders' behaviors. When you fail to be transparent, you increase the chance that others will come up with their own theories about your intentions and motives - theories that often will differ from yours.

Additional Links for Today's Show:

7.  National Archives homepage: NARA.gov

8.  NARA's Open Government Webpage (and our 6/29/10 interview with Pamela Wright, head of NARA's OpenGov Team).

9.  NARA's Office of the Federal Register

10.  NARA's "Federal Register 2.0" 

11.  From the developers at GovPulse.US:
"GovPulse was built to .. open the doors of government to the people they work for.  By making such documents as the Federal Register searchable, more accessible and easier to digest, GovPulse seeks to encourage every citizen to become more involved in the workings of their government and make their voice heard on the things that matter to them, from the smallest to the largest issues."

12.  Washington Post (Ed O'Keefe, 7/26/10):
"Federal Register relaunching Web site to make it easier to navigate"

13.  Federal News Radio (Max Cacas, 7/16/10):
"Federal Register Set to Unveil Extreme Makeover"

14.  Federal News Radio (Chris Dorobek, 7/27/10):
"New Federal Register Website Opens Info to Public"

15.  GovFresh.com (Luke Fretwell, 7/27/10)
"Government, citizen developers join forces to build new Federal Register 2.0 Website"

16.  Free Tutorials: "The Federal Register: What It Is and How to Use It"

17.  Regulations.gov (and our 5/18/10 interview with EPA's John Moses)

18.  Follow the Federal Register on Twitter: http://twitter.com/FedRegister

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OpenGovRadio at Six Months: What's Been Learned

This is what we'll talk about on OpenGovRadio tomorrow (Tues., July 20th at 2:00 pm ET):

"OpenGovRadio at Six Months: What's Been Learned"

Six months ago, in January, I started up OpenGovernmentRadio as a way to have a weekly, real-time discussion with the interesting people who are doing interesting work to make our government more "transparent, participatory, and collaborative."  (Are you  new to "OpenGov"?  See links below.)

Using the "talk-radio" format, I invited guests to come on my one-hour show to talk about what they are doing in the Open Government intiative of the Obama administration.  We also browse through "OpenGov" and related websites while the show's listeners follow along with us, and then we take questions and comments from listeners who have left blog-comments and/or call-in "live" to the show.  (It's really fun, and the hour always flies right by.)  The archives of past shows can be found in the column to the right.   

I scheduled the OpenGovRadio show for the same time every week ("Tuesdays at 2)", so that my listeners would be able to set-aside time to listen (and call-in) to the show.   However, I find that this is not as beneficial to people as I thought it would be.  With everyone's (including potential guests) schedule always in flux, along with the fact that people can opt to listen to the show's recording later, I've decided to arrange and announce the upcoming show on an unscheduled, semi-regular basis.

So what does that mean?

I still plan to do the shows on weekday afternoons (because 11am Eastern is only 8am Pacific, etc.) while, at the time, shifting from a weekly show to one about every other week.  And the flexibility will make it much easier, of course, for potential guests to choose a show-time that fits their schedule.

Also, because many of my invited guests are representing their government agency, the extra time for scheduling is useful for most agencies' Public Affairs Office because it appears that they each operate with different procedures for dealing with the public (including "the media").  And so, I never quite knew how long it will take for my invited guest to get "approval from Public Affairs".

But the most interesting thing that I've learned is what often happens when I am talking with the people in the Public Affairs offices in the various federal agencies.  After they tell me their procedures for deciding if someone can come speak with "the media" (e.g., on OpenGovRadio),  I then ask if these procedures are written down for me (or anyone else from the public) to see.  The most common response is "Gee -- umm -- our Public Affairs procedures? Written down? Uhh, I don't know."

Now, that type of response raises a red flag with me .. for two reasons.

First off, as a former management auditor with the federal government, it was often my job to find out "what went wrong" to create a failure.  So when people would tell me that they did follow the rules but that they "are not written down", then the main reason for the problem starts to become clear.

Secondly, here I am, talking with the Public Affairs office in a federal agency, trying to get information about how they plan to improve their Public Engagement practices.  But, while their new "Open Government Plan" talks about how they really, really want to do that in the future, they can't show anybody the existing rules for how they do things now!  (OMG!)

No organization can improve on the way it does something unless it understands (i.e., can show to others) what it is doing NOW!  (And, yes, the same thing applies to personal improvement.)

So now, I'm thinking that I may have to submit a Freedom of Information request in order to get a federal agency to divulge its current procedures for public engagement (aka, "open government").

Ironic, huh?  So, if you want to keep up with my next step, you can subscribe-by-email to this blog by using that feature in the right-hand column.

But, in the meantime, I'd like to hear YOUR perspective on this or any other OpenGov topic.  You can leave a comment below (anonymously if needed .. as a former fed, I understand why).  And if you've read this far, I want you to know that I will be hosting OpenGovRadio tomorrow (July 20th) at 2:00 pm ET, but the invited guest is YOU!   I want to hear if YOU have anything -- a question, comment or suggestion on "Open Government"  -- that YOU want to discuss.

You can do that in either (or all) of three ways:

1.  Post a Comment/Question on this Blog at least one hour before the show begins.  Scroll down to "green box" (below) and click on "Comment".  It must be concise, and focused on the Open Government Initiative (or else it will not be approved).  Commentors can choose to remain anonymous.

2.  Email a comment/question Confidentially to your host Stephen Buckley, who fully understands the risk of raising unwelcome questions within the government.  Mr. Buckley can then raise the question "on-air" without identifying you.

3.  Call-in "live" to (917) 388-4210 with your comment/question.

------------------------------------

 Handy Links to "Open Government":

1.  President's Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government (1/21/09)

2.  White House's Open Government Directive (12/8/09)

3.  OMB's "Initial Assessment of OpenGov Plans" of Federal Agencies

4.  OMB's "OpenGov Dashboard" for tracking Compliance by Federal Agencies

5.  GovLoop's Chart of the OpenGov Plans

6.  Transparent Leadership by Roger Schwarz (Government Executive magazine, 4/7/10)

"When you are transparent, you create better results and relationships because others understand your thinking. People always are trying to find the meaning of actions, especially leaders' behaviors.  When you fail to be transparent, you increase the chance that others will come up with their own theories about your intentions and motives - theories that often will differ from yours.

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OpenGovRadio 6/29/10: "NARA: Portal for Public Participation"

Here's what we'll discuss on this weeks's OpenGovRadio show (Tues., June 29th, 2:00 pm ET):

"NARA: Portal for Public Participation"

President Obama wants federal agencies to be "transparent, participatory, and collaborative".  But guess what?  They already are.  (But the National Archives can help them do better.)

The National Archives is responsible for maintaining federal documents (transparency) and for publishing public notices of proposed actions in the Federal Register (participation/collaboration).

I'm Stephen Buckley, your host on OpenGovRadio, and my guest for this week's show will be Pamela Wright from the Open Government Team at the National Archives.

In addition to listening to the show on your computer, you can add to the discussion with your comments and questions. You can do that in either (or all) of three ways:

A.  Post a Comment/Question on this Blog at least one hour before the show begins.  Scroll down to "green box" (below) and click on "Comment".  It must be concise, and focused on the Open Government Initiative (or else it will not be approved).  Commentors can choose to remain anonymous.

B.  Email a comment/question Confidentially to your host Stephen Buckley, who fully understands the risk of raising unwelcome questions within the government.  Mr. Buckley can then raise the question "on-air" without identifying you.

C.  Call-in "live" to (917) 388-4210 with your comment/question.  However --  The host will ONLY "go to the phones" AFTER all the posted Comments (see green box, below) have been addressed.  Callers are welcome to add/ask a "follow-up" to those posted Comments.

Handy Links to "Open Government":

1.  President's Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government (1/21/09)

2.  White House's Open Government Directive (12/8/09)

3.  OMB's "Initial Assessment of OpenGov Plans" of Federal Agencies

4.  OMB's "OpenGov Dashboard" for tracking Compliance by Federal Agencies

5.  GovLoop's Chart of the OpenGov Plans

6.  Transparent Leadership by Roger Schwarz (Government Executive magazine, 4/7/10)

"When you are transparent, you create better results and relationships because others understand your thinking. People always are trying to find the meaning of actions, especially leaders' behaviors. When you fail to be transparent, you increase the chance that others will come up with their own theories about your intentions and motives - theories that often will differ from yours.

7.  National Archives homepage: NARA.gov

8.  NARA's Open Government Webpage

9.  NARA's Office of the Federal Register

10.  OMB's New Guidance on Cookies & 3rd-Party Apps - Nancy Scola's article (6/28/10) at techPresident.com   

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OpenGovRadio 6/8/10: The Secret Public-Participation Act of 1969

Here's what we'll discuss on this weeks's OpenGovRadio show (Tues., June 8st, 2:00 pm ET):

"The Secret Public-Participation Act of 1969"

Remember last fall, when you read about the 40th birthday of the Internet ("born" in 1969)?  I bet many people (of a certain age) were amazed that it had been around for so long, because most people had not even heard about it until 1995 or so.

I know this from personal experience because, in the early 1990s, when I tried to tell my friends and others about a worldwide network of millions of people sending messages through their personal computers, the typical reaction was Disbelief, followed by Denial:  "How can that be? Well, if that were true, then I would already know about it!"

That reaction seemed to occur more often in the Washington, D.C. area, where I lived at the time, due to the fact that they're are a lot more self-important people there.  They simply couldn't handle the idea that there was something REALLY BIG going on -- for years -- and that they hadn't known about it.

Okay, so maybe you weren't one of those people.  But, now, here's a test for you.

There's something else that's been around since 1969 that's REALLY BIG and that I bet you didn't really know about.  It goes by another name but it really should be called "The Secret Public-Paricipation Act of 1969".  That's because it's a U.S. law that requires federal departments and agencies to invite the public (that's you) to participate in their decision-making about their proposed policies and projects.

So, except for the minor decisions at federal agencies, like what kind of carpeting to buy, or how often to mow the grass around the buildings, YOU are supposed to be invited to comment on ALL the proposals that may affect or interest you.  (Note: A permit for an oil drilling platform is not a minor decision, as has now become apparent.)

The official name of this law is the "National Enviromental Policy Act of 1969" (aka, NEPA).  And, even though you may know it as the law that requires "Environmental Impact Statements" to be written, it is much more than that.  It's a federal law for improving "transparency, participation, and collaboration" that was around for almost 40 years before the President Obama launched the "Open Government Initiative".  It's just that a lot of people (like you?) don't know or think about it that way.

I'm Stephen Buckley, your host on OpenGovRadio, and my guest for the 6/8 show will be Judith Lee, owner of Environmental Planning Strategies, who has 25 years of experience and education in Natural Resource Management, Environmental Planning, and practical and effective implementation of NEPA and Public Involvement.  According to Ms. Lee in a 1997 article:

"After 25 years, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is still highly misunderstood and inefficiently implemented. NEPA, however, incorporates the components of a quality public interdisciplinary planning process. The components that make NEPA a powerful planning process - recognition of the role of uncertainty, interpersonal collaboration, nonlinear processes, and decision making with administrative and political risk - tend to make NEPA discomforting, at best, to many managers and practitioners. NEPA is not about more bullet-proof documents, more talented writers, more thorough data, more controllable public involvement processes, or even correct decisions. NEPA is about more participatory planning, incorporating the messy human components of values, politics, change, uncertainty, risk, strategy, emotions, and the diversity of personalities and life experiences that shape ourselves, our coping mechanisms, and our relationships."

In addition to listening to the show on your computer, you can add to the discussion with your comments and questions. You can do that in either (or all) of three ways:

A.  Post a Comment/Question on this Blog at least one hour before the show begins.  Scroll down to "green box" (below) and click on "Comment".  It must be concise, and focused on the Open Government Initiative (or else it will not be approved).  Commentors can choose to remain anonymous.

B.  Email a comment/question Confidentially to your host Stephen Buckley, who fully understands the risk of raising unwelcome questions within the government.  Mr. Buckley can then raise the question "on-air" without identifying you.

C.  Call-in "live" to (917) 388-4210 with your comment/question.  However --  The host will ONLY "go to the phones" AFTER all the posted Comments (see green box, below) have been addressed.  Callers are welcome to add/ask a "follow-up" to those posted Comments.

Handy Links to "Open Government":

1.  President's Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government (1/21/09)

2.  White House's Open Government Directive (12/8/09)

3.  OMB's "Initial Assessment of OpenGov Plans" of Federal Agencies

4.  OMB's "OpenGov Dashboard" for tracking Compliance by Federal Agencies

5.  GovLoop's Chart of the OpenGov Plans

6.  Transparent Leadership by Roger Schwarz (Government Executive magazine, 4/7/10)

"When you are transparent, you create better results and relationships because others understand your thinking. People always are trying to find the meaning of actions, especially leaders' behaviors. When you fail to be transparent, you increase the chance that others will come up with their own theories about your intentions and motives - theories that often will differ from yours.

7.  President's Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) - http://www.nepa.gov/

8.  The BP oil spill and NEPA compliance (or lack thereof), as mentioned in an editorial by the Washington Post (6/6/10):

"Actually, it seems that for years government regulators dismissed the possibility that a big blowout could occur, downplaying the likelihood of that scenario in three 2007 studies and issuing BP a waiver from more detailed environmental analysis last year."

9.  "U.S. exempted BP's Gulf of Mexico drilling from environmental impact study" - Washington Post (5/4/10)

10.  Flowchart Diagram of the NEPA Process (from LucindaLowSwartz.com)

11.  CEQ's "Citizen's Guide to NEPA" (2007)

12.  CEQ's "Collaboration in NEPA" (2007)


13.  CEQ's 30-Day Review of MMS NEPA Procedures for OCS Oil and Gas Exploration and Development (Note: FedReg notice says public comments due ASAP, not due June 17th). 



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OpenGovRadio 6/1/10: The 1990s' Origins of OpenGov

Here's what we'll discuss on this weeks's OpenGovRadio show (Tues., June 1st, 2:00 pm ET):


"The 1990s' Origins of Today's Open Government Initiative"


Newsflash:  President Obama did not invent the principles of "open government".  There are new buzzwords, but people have been evangelizing about, and proving the value of, better communication between citizens and their government for many, many years.  Although new to many people, the idea of "Open Government" is the just latest name for the ongoing effort.
   
Your host on OpenGovRadio is Stephen Buckley, and his guest will be Bruce Waltuck, former head of the Government Division of the American Society for Quality.  Bruce Waltuck has spent more than 30 years as a leader in government quality and process improvement. He worked 26 years for the U.S. Department of Labor, where he co-created and managed the DOL's award-winning Employee Involvement and Quality Improvement system.  Bruce is a senior member of the American Society for Quality, where he has served on the Board of the Government Division for over 10 years.  Bruce hosts the Divisions series of webinars on successful government improvement, which draws an international audience. You can learn about the ASQ Government Division at www.asq.org/gov Bruce is also a member of the Plexus Institute, and he holds a unique Masters degree in Complexity, Chaos, and Creativity.  Bruce has written and taught about government improvement throughout the US, Canada, Brazil, and Southeast Asia.

Because Bruce has been at the forefront of government improvement for more than 25 years, we'll be talking with him about the history of work to improve government, and the reasons why each generation of managers and leaders seems to forget what happened "B.T." - before them. Bruce will also talk about ways to re-connect to the body of existing knowledge on government improvement, and the Government Division's current initiative to spread the knowledge and practice of better government around the world.In addition to listening to the show on your computer, you can add to the discussion with your comments and questions.  You can do that in either (or all) of three ways:

A.  Post a Comment/Question on this Blog at least one hour before the show begins.  Scroll down to "green box" (below) and click on "Comment".  It must be concise, and focused on the Open Government Initiative (or else it will not be approved).  Commentors can choose to remain anonymous.

B.  Email a comment/question Confidentially to your host Stephen Buckley, who fully understands the risk of raising unwelcome questions within the government.  Mr. Buckley can then raise the question "on-air" without identifying you.

C.  Call-in "live" to (917) 388-4210 with your comment/question.  However --  The host will NOT answer callers until AFTER all the posted Comments (see link, below) have been addressed.  Callers are welcome to add/ask a "follow-up" to those posted Comments.

Handy Links to "Open Government":

1.  President's Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government (1/21/09)

2.  White House's Open Government Directive (12/8/09)

3.  OMB's "Initial Assessment of OpenGov Plans" of Federal Agencies

4.  OMB's "OpenGov Dashboard" for tracking Compliance by Federal Agencies

5.  GovLoop's Chart of the OpenGov Plans

6.  Transparent Leadership by Roger Schwarz (Government Executive magazine, 4/7/10)

"When you are transparent, you create better results and relationships because others understand your thinking. People always are trying to find the meaning of actions, especially leaders' behaviors. When you fail to be transparent, you increase the chance that others will come up with their own theories about your intentions and motives - theories that often will differ from yours.

7.  Open Government Directive Workshop (#5 in Series) was Monday, May 24th (1:00 to 4:30pm) at U.S. Dept. of Treasury.  (OGD Workshops info here.)

8.  The Amercian Society for Quality's Government Division

=================================

OpenGovRadio 5/25/10: Talking with White House/OSTP's Eugene Huang

Here's what we'll discuss on this weeks's OpenGovRadio show (Tues., May 25th, 2:00 pm ET):

"Talking with White House/OSTP's Eugene Huang"

Your host on OpenGovRadio is Stephen Buckley, and his guest will be Eugene Huang, Senior Advisor to the U.S. Chief Technology Officer in the White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP).  We'll be talking with him about the White House's approach for implementing the Open Government Directive, both at OSTP and government-wide.

From August 2009 to April 2010, Mr. Huang served as the Government Operations Director for the National Broadband Task Force at the Federal Communications Commission, and was part of the team responsible for authoring “Connecting America: The National Broadband Plan”.

Mr. Huang served at the United States Department of the Treasury under two Secretaries of the Treasury from 2006 to 2009, as Policy Advisor to the Secretary and previously as a White House Fellow.  From 2002 to 2006, Mr. Huang served the Commonwealth of Virginia under Governor Mark R. Warner as the Secretary of Technology and previously as the Deputy Secretary of Technology. At the time of his appointment as Secretary of Technology in 2004, he was the youngest cabinet member in Virginia history at the age of 28.

In addition to listening to the show on your computer, you can add to the discussion with your comments and questions.  You can do that in either (or all) of three ways:

A.  Post a Comment/Question on this Blog at least one hour before the show begins.  Scroll down to "green box" (below) and click on "Comment".  It must be concise, and focused on the Open Government Initiative (or else it will not be approved).  Commentors can choose to remain anonymous.

B.  Email a comment/question Confidentially to your host Stephen Buckley, who fully understands the risk of raising unwelcome questions within the government.  Mr. Buckley can then raise the question "on-air" without identifying you.

C.  Call-in "live" to (917) 388-4210 with your comment/question.  However --  The host will NOT answer callers until AFTER all the posted Comments (see link, below) have been addressed.  Callers are welcome to add/ask a "follow-up" to those posted Comments.


Handy Links to "Open Government":

1.  President's Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government (1/21/09)

2.  White House's Open Government Directive (12/8/09)

3.  OMB's "Initial Assessment of OpenGov Plans" of Federal Agencies

4.  OMB's "OpenGov Dashboard" for tracking Compliance by Federal Agencies

5.  GovLoop's Chart of the OpenGov Plans

6.  Transparent Leadership by Roger Schwarz (Government Executive magazine, 4/7/10)

"When you are transparent, you create better results and relationships because others understand your thinking. People always are trying to find the meaning of actions, especially leaders' behaviors. When you fail to be transparent, you increase the chance that others will come up with their own theories about your intentions and motives - theories that often will differ from yours.

7.  Open Government Directive Workshop (#5 in Series) was Monday, May 24th (1:00 to 4:30pm) at U.S. Dept. of Treasury.  (OGD Workshops info here.)

8.  OSTP's Open Government Webpage, including the following links:

a.  OSTP's Open Government Plan 1.0 (4/7/10)

b.  "Following Public Evaluation, OSTP Upgrades Open Government Plan" and the resultant Open Government Plan 1.2 (4/26/10)

9.  OpentheGovernment's Evaluation of OpenGov Plans by federal agencies. For the press-release, click here.
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OpenGovRadio 5/18/10: Talking with EPA's Lisa Schlosser

Here's what we'll discuss on this weeks's OpenGovRadio show (Tues., May 18th, 2:00 pm ET):

"Talking with EPA's Lisa Schlosser"

Your host on OpenGovRadio is Stephen Buckley, and his guest will be Lisa Schlosser, leader of the Open Government team at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).  We'll be talking with her, of course, about EPA's OpenGov Plan and their efforts to implement it.

Ms. Schlosser is also Director of the EPA's Office of Environment Information which manages environmental information, runs the governmentwide e-regulation Web site (regulations.gov), and manages EPA's Freedom Of Information Act requests.

============================

NOTICE:  Our scheduled guest, Lisa Schlosser is unable to participate on today's show, but she is being replaced by John Moses, Director of the Communications Strategies Division with EPA's Office of Environmental Information.  Mr. Moses was the "Evaluator" for EPA's Self-Evalutation of its Open Government Plan (see link 9.e, below).

=============================

In addition to listening to the show on your computer, you can add to the discussion with your comments and questions.  You can do that in either (or all) of three ways:

A.  Post a Comment/Question on this Blog at least one hour before the show begins.  Scroll down to "green box" (below) and click on "Comment".  It must be concise, and focused on the Open Government Initiative (or else it will not be approved).  Commentors can choose to remain anonymous.

B.  Email a comment/question Confidentially to your host Stephen Buckley, who fully understands the risk of raising unwelcome questions within the government.  Mr. Buckley can then raise the question "on-air" without identifying you.

C.  Call-in "live" to (917) 388-4210 with your comment/question.  However --  The host will NOT answer callers until AFTER all the posted Comments (see link, below) have been addressed.  Callers are welcome to add/ask a "follow-up" to those posted Comments.
 

Handy Links to "Open Government":

1.  President's Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government (1/21/09)

2.  White House's Open Government Directive (12/8/09)

3.  OMB's "Initial Assessment of OpenGov Plans" of Federal Agencies

4.  OMB's "OpenGov Dashboard" for tracking Compliance by Federal Agencies

5.  GovLoop's Chart of the OpenGov Plans

6.  Transparent Leadership by Roger Schwarz (Government Executive magazine, 4/7/10)

"When you are transparent, you create better results and relationships because others understand your thinking. People always are trying to find the meaning of actions, especially leaders' behaviors. When you fail to be transparent, you increase the chance that others will come up with their own theories about your intentions and motives - theories that often will differ from yours.

7.  Open Government Directive Workshop (#5 in Series) is Monday, May 24th (1:00 to 4:30pm) at U.S. Dept. of Treasury.  (Previous OGD Workshops info here.)

8.  Next Week's Guest:  Eugene Huang, Special Advisor to Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra, in the White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy

9.  EPA's Open Government Webpage, including the following links:

a. EPA's Open Government Plan 1.0 (4/7/10) PDF file: 53 pages

b.  Discussion Forum on EPA's OpenGov Plan

c.  EPA's Open Government Timeline

d.  EPA's Flagship Initiative Projects

e.  EPA's Self Evaluation (4/23/10) of its OpenGov Plan

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OpenGovRadio 5/4/10: "GovFresh at One Year: Talking with Luke Fretwell"

Here's what we'll discuss on this weeks's OpenGovRadio show (Tues., May 11th, 2:00 pm ET):

"GovFresh at One Year: Talking with Luke Fretwell"

Your host on OpenGovRadio is Stephen Buckley, and his guest will be Luke Fretwell, creator and operator of GovFresh, which "works to inspire government-citizen collaboration and build a more engaged democracy" and features "Gov 2.0, open gov news, guides, TV, tech, people and official U.S. government feeds, all in one place", including GovFreshTV and MilFresh. Luke grew up, worked and lived in the Washington, DC, area before moving to the San Francisco Bay Area.

In addition to listening to the show on your computer, you can add to the discussion with your comments and questions.  There are three ways for you to do that:

A.  Post it, now, as a "Comment" at the end of this posting (scroll down to "green box").  It must be concise, and focused on the Open Government Initiative (or else it will not appear).  Commentors do not need to identify themselves.  They may also choose to ...

 B.  Email a comment/question confidentially to your host Stephen Buckley, who fully understands the risk of raising unwelcome questions within the government.  Mr. Buckley can ask the question for you, but if you want to "call in", then he needs your phone number in order to see your incoming call.

C.  Call-in "live" to (917) 388-4210 with your comment/question.  However, preference will be given to callers who have already provided their question/comment by posting on this blog.


Handy Links to "Open Government":

1.  President's Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government (1/21/09)

2.  White House's Open Government Directive (12/8/09)

3.  OMB's "Initial Assessment of OpenGov Plans" of Federal Agencies

4.  OMB's "OpenGov Dashboard" for tracking Compliance by Federal Agencies


5.  GovLoop's Chart of the OpenGov Plans

6.  Transparent Leadership by Roger Schwarz (Government Executive magazine, 4/7/10)

"When you are transparent, you create better results and relationships because others understand your thinking. People always are trying to find the meaning of actions, especially leaders' behaviors. When you fail to be transparent, you increase the chance that others will come up with their own theories about your intentions and motives - theories that often will differ from yours.

7.  Notes from Open Government Directive Workshop (#4 in Series) held 4/28/10 at USDA HQ

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OpenGovRadio 5/4/10: Evaluating the OpenGov Plans of Federal Agencies

Here's what we'll discuss on this weeks's OpenGovRadio show (Tues., May 4th, 2:00 pm ET):

"Evaluating the OpenGov Plans of Federal Agencies"

Joining me, your host Stephen Buckley, will be Patrice McDermott of OpentheGovernment, a coalition of organizations that recently released its evaluations of the Open Goverment Plans of federal agencies.  Also joining us is Robbie Schingler of NASA's OpenGov team that developed the OpenGov Plan judged "#1" by OpentheGovernment.

The Open Government Initiative began on President Obama's first full day in office when he signed the Presidential Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government, followed last December with issuance of the Open Government Directive to federal agencies and, on April 7th, the release of Open Government Plans by every federal agency on how they plan to be more "transparent, participatory, and collaborative."

Last week, the Office of Management & Budget (OMB) released its evaluation of whether the federal agencies met the requirements contained in the OMB's Open Government Directive.  OMB took a "check-list" approach (i.e., did an OpenGov Plan meet an OGD requirement, or not).  OpentheGovernment took a "score-card" approach (i.e., how well was an OGD requirement met).

OpenGovRadio's host Stephen Buckley invites you to listen on your computer and, if you wish, add to the discussion with your comments and questions.  There are three options to participate:

A.  Post it, now, as a "Comment" at the end of this posting (scroll down to "green box").  It must be concise, and focused on the Open Government Initiative (or else it will not appear).  Commentors do not need to identify themselves.  They may also choose to ...

B.  Email a comment/question confidentially to your host Stephen Buckley, who fully understands the risk of raising unwelcome questions within the government.  Mr. Buckley can ask the question for you, but if you want to "call in", then he needs your phone number in order to see your incoming call.

C.  Call-in "live" to (917) 388-4210 with your comment/question.  However, first preference will be given to callers who have already provided their question/comment, AND who haved provided a phone number with which to identify their incoming call.


Links for following the discussion:

1.  OpentheGovernment's Evaluation of OpenGov Plans by federal agencies. For the press-release, click here.

2.  OMB's "Initial Assessment of OpenGov Plans" by federal agencies

3.  OMB's "OpenGov Dashboard" for Tracking Agency Compliance
http://www.whitehouse.gov/open/around (then click on an agency's name for its OpenGov Plan)

4.  GovLoop's Chart of the OpenGov Plans

5.  "What Government Plans Are Missing" by Andrea Di Maio, The Gartner Group (4/1/10)

6.  How We Will Measure the Success of Open Government at HHS
http://www.hhs.gov/open/plan/opengovernmentplan/change/measure_1.html

7.  Transparent Leadership by Roger Schwarz (Government Executive magazine, 4/7/10)
Excerpt: "When you are transparent, you create better results and relationships because others understand your thinking. People always are trying to find the meaning of actions, especially leaders' behaviors. When you fail to be transparent, you increase the chance that others will come up with their own theories about your intentions and motives - theories that often will differ from yours. http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0410/040710mm.htm

8.  Open Government Directive Workshop (#4 in Series) -- Wednesday, April 28th in D.C. (@USDA)

9.  President's Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government (1/21/09)

10.  White House's Open Government Directive (12/8/09)

11.  Open Government Directive google-group is an "opt-in/opt-out" moderated email-group (137 members) about OGD news & discussion.

12.  NextGov 4/27/10: Agencies Issue Self-Evaluations for Open Government Plans 
       NextGov 5/3/10:  Group Gives Most Open Government Plans Mediocre Marks

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OpenGovRadio 4/20/10: Beth Noveck Takes Your OpenGov Questions

Here's what we'll discuss on this weeks's OpenGovRadio show (Tues., April 20th, 2:00 pm ET):

"Beth Noveck Takes Your OpenGov Questions"

Joining me, your host Stephen Buckley, will be Beth Noveck,  the White House's Deputy Chief Technology Officer.  Ms. Noveck's primary responsbility has been President Obama's Open Government Initiative. 

(From Wikipedia:)  Based at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, she is an expert on technology and institutional innovation. Previously, Noveck directed the Institute for Information Law & Policy and the Democracy Design Workshop at New York Law School where she is on-leave as a professor. She is founder of the "Do Tank," and the State of Play Conferences, and launched the first of its kind Peer-to-Patent community patent review project in collaboration with the United States Patent and Trade Office. She has taught in the areas of intellectual property, innovation, and constitutional law, as well as courses on electronic democracy and electronic government. She is the author of the book Wiki Government, about how technology can make government better, democracy stronger, and citizens more powerful.



The Open Government Initiative began on President Obama's first full day in office when he signed the Presidential Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government, followed last December with issuance of the Open Government Directive to federal agencies and, on April 7th, the release of Open Government Plans by every federal agency on how they plan to be more "transparent, participatory, and collaborative."

After some discussion about Ms. Noveck's perspective on the progress made thus far, we will turn to take your questions and comments, especially from those people in the federal agencies who are responsible for implementing their agency's "OpenGov" Plan. 

OpenGovRadio's host Stephen Buckley invites you to listen on your computer and, if you wish, add to the discussion with your comments and questions.  However, because the listeners' response to this topic may be greater than usual, there are three options to participate:

A.  Post it, now, as a "Comment" at the end of this posting (scroll down to "green box").  It must be concise, and focused on the Open Government Initiative (or else it will not appear).  Commentors do not need to identify themselves.  They may also choose to ...

B.  Email a comment/question confidentially to your host Stephen Buckley, who fully understands the risk of raising unwelcome questions within the government.  Mr. Buckley can ask the question for you, but if you want to "call in", then he needs your phone number in order to see your incoming call.

C.  Call-in "live" to (917) 388-4210 with your comment/question.  However, first preference will be given to callers who have already provided their question/comment, AND who haved provided a phone number with which to identify their incoming call.


Links for following the discussion:

1.  Listing of Federal Agencies' OpenGov Plans
http://www.whitehouse.gov/open/around (then click on an agency's name)

2.  GovLoop's Chart of the OpenGov Plans

3.  "What Government Plans Are Missing" by Andrea Di Maio, The Gartner Group (4/1/10)

4.  How We Will Measure the Success of Open Government at HHS
http://www.hhs.gov/open/plan/opengovernmentplan/change/measure_1.html

5.  "OpenTheGovernment.org and [their] partners will be using [the Open Government Directive] to evaluate the Open Government Plans, and grade them on whether they live up to both the letter, and the spirit, of the [OGD] requirements."  https://sites.google.com/site/opengovtplans/

6.  A Test of Leadership by Brian Friel (Government Executive magazine, 3/17/10)
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0310/031710mm.htm

7.  Transparent Leadership by Roger Schwarz (Government Executive magazine, 4/7/10)
Excerpt: "When you are transparent, you create better results and relationships because others understand your thinking. People always are trying to find the meaning of actions, especially leaders' behaviors. When you fail to be transparent, you increase the chance that others will come up with their own theories about your intentions and motives - theories that often will differ from yours. http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0410/040710mm.htm

8. DorobekInsider.com compendium of the previos week's OpenGov links (w/ survey question at bottom)

9.  Participedia.net is a consists of user-generated information about participatory methods and organizations (e.g., NCDD, IAP2, etc.) throughout the world.

10.  ParticipationCamp.org -- April 17th & 18th (Sat./Sun.) in D.C.

11.  Open Government Directive Workshop (#4 in Series) -- Wednesday, April 28th in D.C. (@USDA)

12.  President's Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government (1/21/09)

13.  White House's Open Government Directive (12/8/09)

14.  CoffeePartyUSA.com is a group that is promoting civil discourse for an "Age of Participation".

15.  Open Government Directive google-group is an "opt-in/opt-out" moderated email-group (137 members) about OGD news & discussion.

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Short URL for this posting:
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OpenGovRadio 4/13/10: Review of OpenGov Plans - Version 1.0

Here's what we'll discuss on this weeks's OpenGovRadio show (Tues., April 13th, 2:00 pm ET):

"Review of OpenGov Plans - Version 1.0"

Joining me, your host Stephen Buckley, will be Jenn Gustetic, an Associate at PhaseOneConsulting Group.  Ms. Gustetic blogs about Open Government and assisted in developing the OpenGov Plan for the U.S. Department of Transportation.  We'll be touching on the following points.

A.  With the OpenGov Plans by federal agencies released this past Wednesday (April 7th), how do we judge whether a Plan is adequate to the task?

B.  What are the critical elements, and are they present?


C.  Are these Plans for increasing transparency actually clear enough to be followed?


OpenGovRadio's host Stephen Buckley invites you to listen on your computer and, if you wish, join the live conversation with your comments and questions by calling (917) 388-4210.

Links for following the discussion:

1.  Listing of Federal Agencies' OpenGov Plans
http://www.whitehouse.gov/open/around (then click on an agency's name)

2.  GovLoop's Chart of the OpenGov Plans

3.  "What Government Plans Are Missing" by Andrea Di Maio, The Gartner Group (4/1/10)

4.  How We Will Measure the Success of Open Government at HHS
http://www.hhs.gov/open/plan/opengovernmentplan/change/measure_1.html

5.  "OpenTheGovernment.org and [their] partners will be using [the Open Government Directive] to evaluate the Open Government Plans, and grade them on whether they live up to both the letter, and the spirit, of the [OGD] requirements."  https://sites.google.com/site/opengovtplans/

6.  A Test of Leadership by Brian Friel (Government Executive magazine, 3/17/10)
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0310/031710mm.htm

7.  Transparent Leadership by Roger Schwarz (Government Executive magazine, 4/7/10)
 Excerpt: "When you are transparent, you create better results and relationships because others understand your thinking. People always are trying to find the meaning of actions, especially leaders' behaviors. When you fail to be transparent, you increase the chance that others will come up with their own theories about your intentions and motives - theories that often will differ from yours. http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0410/040710mm.htm

8. DorobekInsider.com compendium of this past week's OpenGov links (w/ survey question at bottom)

9.  Participedia.net is a consists of user-generated information about participatory methods and organizations (e.g., NCDD, IAP2, etc.) throughout the world.

10.  ParticipationCamp.org -- April 17th & 18th (Sat./Sun.) in D.C.

11.  Open Government Directive Workshop (#4 in Series) -- Wednesday, April 28th in D.C. (@USDA)

12.  President's Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government (1/21/09)

13.  White House's Open Government Directive (12/8/09)

14.  CoffeePartyUSA.com is a group that is promoting civil discourse for an "Age of Participation".

15.  Open Government Directive google-group is an "opt-in/opt-out" moderated email-group (137 members) about OGD news & discussion.

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Short URL for this posting:
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OpenGovRadio 4/6/10: Spotting Holes in the OpenGov Plans for Pubilc Engagement

Here's what we'll discuss on this weeks's OpenGovRadio show (2-3pm ET, Tuesday, April 6th):


"Spotting the Holes in OpenGov Plans for Public Engagement"


A.  With the OpenGov Plans by federal agencies to be released this Wednesday (April 7th), how are we to judge whether a Plan is adequate to the task?


B.  What are the critical elements, and are they present?


C.  Are these Plans for increasing transparency actually clear enough to be followed?


D.  And are there loopholes that allow for "fake public participation"?

Joining us will be J. H. Snider with whom, during our March 2nd show, we had a short discussion about the the practice of "fake public participation".  His paper (along with two other authors; see below) appeared in a special issue of the Int'l. Journal of Public Participation about the Obama administration's "Open Government" initiative.

1.  "Deterring Fake Public Participation" by J. H. Snider, PhD. (prior to issuance of Open Government Directive, 12/8/09).
 
J.H. Snider, Ph.D., the president of iSolon.org, has written extensively about information policy and democratic reform.  During Spring Semester 2008, he was a fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government‘s Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy.  From 2001 to 2007, he was a Markle Fellow, Senior Research Fellow, and Research Director at the New America Foundation.  From 1999 to 2000, he was an American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow in Communications and Public Policy.  He has served on many public bodies, including as an elected school board member in Burlington, Vermont.

OpenGovRadio's host Stephen Buckley invites you to listen on your computer and, if you wish, join the live conversation with your comments and questions by calling (917) 388-4210.


Other links that we may discuss:

2.  "Previewing Agencies’ Open Government Plans" last week at the White House Conference Center (4/3/10) as reported by NCDD's representative Lucas Cioffi.

3.  "What Government Plans Are Missing" by Andrea Di Maio, The Gartner Group (4/1/10)

4.  Participedia.net is a consists of user-generated information about participatory methods and organizations (e.g., NCDD, IAP2, etc.) throughout the world.

5.  ParticipationCamp.org -- April 17th & 18th (Sat./Sun.) in D.C.

6.  Open Government Directive Workshop (#4 in Series) -- Wednesday, April 28th in D.C. (@USDA)

7.  President's Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government (1/21/09)

8.  White House's Open Government Directive (12/8/09)

9.  CoffeePartyUSA.com is a group that is promoting civil discourse for an "Age of Participation".

10.  Open Government Directive google-group is an "opt-in/opt-out" moderated email-group (137 members) about OGD news & discussion.

11.  "Open Government Day Arrives April 7" by OMBwatch blog (4/6/10)

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OpenGovRadio 3/30/10: Who should own "OpenGov" within a federal agency?

Here's what we'll talk about on OpenGovRadio during this week's show (2-3pm ET, Tuesday, March 30th):

Who should own "OpenGov" within a federal agency?

In other words, which particular office within a federal agency (e.g., Public Affairs, Info.Technology, CIO, etc.) should have primary responsibility for implementing that agency's "Open Government Plan"?

Or should no one particular office be responsible?

We'll be talking with Steve Radick, an Associate at Booz Allen Hamilton where he works in their "social media/Government 2.0 practice, working with clients across the public sector to integrate social media strategies and tactics into their organizational strategies".

Mr. Radick also has a blog called "Social Media Strategery" at which he recently wrote a post (see linked title, below) discussing which part of an organization should own "social media".  Also known as "Web 2.0", those technologies are also expected to be a significant factor in the Open Government Plans of federal agencies (which are due on April 7th).

1.  "Who Owns Social Media? Everyone and No One"
 by Steve Radick, Social Media Strategery, 3/23/10

OpenGovRadio's host Stephen Buckley invites you to listen on your computer and, if you wish, join the live conversation with your comments and questions by calling (917) 388-4210.


Other links of interest:

2.  TransparencyCamp 2010 (last weekend) Schedule, Video, and Community

3.  ParticipationCamp -- Saturday, April 17th in D.C.

4.  Open Government Directive Workshop (#4 in Series) -- Wednesday, April 28th in D.C. (USDA)

5.  President's Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government (1/21/09)

6.  White House's Open Government Directive (12/8/09)

7.  Breaking News: "USDA Releases Draft Open-Gov Plan" - Federal Computer Week (3/29/30)

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OpenGovRadio 3/16/10: Are We in an "OpenGov Bubble"?

Here's what we'll talk about on OpenGovRadio during this week's show (2-3pm ET, Tuesday, March 16th).  We invite you to listen and, if you wish, join the conversation by calling in with your comments and questions (917) 388-4210.

We briefly touched on Tom Bryer's concern during our March 2nd show when we talked with him and two other authors whose papers appeared in a special issue of the Int'l. Journal of Public Participation about the Obama administration's "Open Government" initiative.

Is the "Open Government Initiative" of the Obama administration creating a "democracy bubble" where the expectations of "OpenGov" advocates and other citizens have been raised to an overly optimistic level?

Here's a short intro to that special issue of the IJP2 is described (below) by IJP2 Editor Steven N. Pyser:

The International Journal of Public Participation (IJP2) brings together academicians and practitioners interested in a multidisciplinary forum for the exchange of information among researchers, practitioners, decision makers, and citizens about public participation and its impact around the world. We seek to provide a scholarly record through intellectual contributions to the literature for research, practice and teaching.


This Special Symposium issue (Volume 4, Number 1) examines, among other things, what, if any influence electing Barack Obama has had on the field of public participation. Through a commitment to continuous improvement and sharing innovative approaches, IJP2 continues to offer intellectual contributions that support multidisciplinary-based scholarship, the public interest, practice and learning as well as professional preparation.


At the same time, these materials add a necessary public participation voice to the political discourse and a resource for consideration by political leaders, public managers, citizens and all those who help to shape and implement public policy and national/local governance.

Thomas A. Bryer is an assistant professor of public administration in the Department of Public Administration at the University of Central Florida. His research interests include civic engagement, collaborative public management, and bureaucratic responsiveness.  For his paper in the IJP2, click on this link:


1.  "President Obama, Public Participation, and an Agenda for Research and Experimentation" by Thomas A. Bryer



SPECIAL NOTE:  As promised earlier, I will be hosting a separate show for each of the other two authors, so that we (i.e., including our callers) can delve more deeply into each of their papers (below). -- SB

2.  "Practicing a Participatory Presidency?: An Analysis of the Obama Administration’s Open Government Dialogue" by Stephen P. Konieczka

3.  "Deterring Fake Public Participation" by J. H. Snider, Ph.D.


Some other relevant OpenGov references:

4.  President Obama's Memorandum on "Transparency and Open Government (1/21/09)

5.  White House's Open Government Directive (12/8/09)

6.  The IAP2's "Core Values for the Practice of Public Participation"


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OpenGovRadio 3/9/10: Last Saturday's "Gov2.0 Camp New England"

Here's what we'll be talking about on this week's show of OpenGovRadio (2-3pm ET, Tuesday, March 9th).  We invite you to listen and join the conversation by calling in with your comments and questions (917) 388-4210.

We will looking back at last Saturday's "Gov2.0 Camp New England" at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government in Cambridge, Mass. (aka, "Gov20NE")  was "an unconference about using social media tools and Web 2.0 technologies to create a more effective, efficient and collaborative government."

We will talking with the Gov20NE's organizers:  Laurel Ruma, Jess Weiss, Sarah Bourne, and (we hope) Yasmin Fodil and Rob Goodspeed.

After they share their descriptions and impressions about the gathering, we'll turn to our listeners who can call-in with their comments and questions.  Did you attend in-person?  online?  We'd like to hear your feedback on what you got out of it, as well as how things could be improved for future events.  Or maybe you'd like to tell us about another upcoming "OpenGov" activities in the New England region.

Here are the main links that we'll be visiting during the show's discussion:

1.  The Wiki-pages for Gov2.0 Camp New England

2.  People who registered for "Gov20NE" (but may not have attended)

3.  Massachusetts Governor's  "Civic Engagement" webpage for state agencies


And it's always handy to have these standard OpenGov references:

4.  President Obama's Memorandum on "Transparency and Open Government" (1/21/09)

5.  White House's Open Government Directive (12/8/09)

6.  The IAP2's "Core Values for the Practice of Public Participation"

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NEXT Week (3/16/10):  Thomas Bryer returns for a more in-depth discussion about danger of the "democracy bubble" in the Open Government movement, as described in his paper "President Obama, Public Participation, and an Agenda for Research and Experimentation".
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Short URL to use for this posting:  http://bit.ly/bP0wcG