Liberals promise open government in cyber-space

Liberals promise open government in cyber-space

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Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff responds to a question during an news conference in Ottawa, Tuesday, Oct. 12, 2010. (Adrian Wyld / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Updated: Fri Oct. 22 2010 6:33:41 AM

The Canadian Press

OTTAWA — Liberals are vowing to create an open government data portal that would give Canadians unprecedented access to federally collected information.

Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff says the initiative would "end the era of secrecy and control" and give Canadians the information to which they're entitled.

The United States, Britain and Australia are already using digital technology to open up their governments.

But Ignatieff says Canada has been held back by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, whom he accuses of running "the most secretive government" in Canadian history.

However, the government has actually been discussing ways to allow citizens faster access to the reams of government data currently locked away behind a firewall.

Corinne Charette, the government's chief information officer, aims to have a plan in place in six to 12 months, according to a presentation she delivered in July, which The Canadian Press obtained under the Access to Information Act.

FULL ARTICLE: http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20101022/open-government-liberals-101022/20101022/?hub=TorontoNewHome

Watchdogs: Gov2019t Spent $196 Keeping Secrets For Every $1 Spent Declassifying Documents (ProPublica)

by Marian Wang ProPublica, Sep. 8, 12:21 p.m.
The federal government has significantly reduced the backlog of Freedom of Information requests in the last year, but has been slow to act in other areas related to government secrecy, according to a new secrecy report card by OpenTheGovernment.org, a coalition of more than 70 watchdog groups.
201CThe country elected a president who has promised the most open, transparent and accountable federal Executive Branch in history,201D the report said. 201CThe record to date is mixed, but some indicators are trending in the right direction.201D
Perhaps among the more promising trends the group highlighted: Freedom of Information request backlogs were reduced by 40 percent across the federal government.
The new report, released Tuesday, covers the last three months of the Bush administration and the first nine months of the Obama administration. OpenTheGovernment.org2019s director, Patrice McDermott, noted other 201Cencouraging201D trends, such as a decline in the creation of new national security secrets.
According to the report, the number of federal workers who have 201Coriginal classification authority201D 2014 or the authority to create a new document and classify it as 201Ctop secret,201D 201Csecret201D or 201Cconfidential201D 2014 dropped from 4,109 in 2008 to 2,557 last year. Original classifications, accordingly, have dropped by about 10 percent.
Decisions to declassify records, however, also declined by 8 percent compared to the year before. In all, government agencies spent nearly $9 billion last year "maintaining the secrets on the books," the report describes, while spending about $45 million on declassifying documents.
For more, check out the full report in our document viewer.

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Obama Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government

Image via WikipediaTHE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary


For Immediate Release January 21, 2009


MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES

SUBJECT: Transparency and Open Government


My Administration is committed to creating an unprecedented level of openness in Government. We will work together to ensure the public trust and establish a system of transparency, public participation, and collaboration. Openness will strengthen our democracy and promote
efficiency and effectiveness in Government.

Government should be transparent. Transparency promotes accountability and provides information for citizens about what their Government is doing. Information maintained by the Federal Government is a national asset. My Administration will take appropriate action, consistent with law and policy, to disclose information rapidly in forms that the public
can readily find and use. Executive departments and agencies should harness new technologies to put information about their operations and decisions online and readily available to the public. Executive departments and agencies should also solicit public feedback to identify
information of greatest use to the public.

Government should be participatory. Public engagement enhances the Government's effectiveness and improves the quality of its decisions. Knowledge is widely dispersed in society, and public officials benefit from having access to that dispersed knowledge. Executive departments and agencies should offer Americans increased opportunities to
participate in policymaking and to provide their Government with the benefits of their collective expertise and information. Executive departments and agencies should also solicit public input on how we can increase and improve opportunities for public participation in Government.

Government should be collaborative. Collaboration actively engages Americans in the work of their Government. Executive departments and agencies should use innovative tools, methods, and systems to cooperate among themselves, across all levels of more Government, and with nonprofit organizations, businesses, and individuals in the private sector. Executive
departments and agencies should solicit public feedback to assess and improve their level of collaboration and to identify new opportunities for cooperation.

I direct the Chief Technology Officer, in coordination with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Image by dbking via Flickrand the Administrator of General Services, to coordinate the development by appropriate executive departments and agencies, within 120 days, of recommendations for an Open Government Directive, to be issued by the Director of OMB, that
instructs executive departments and agencies to take specific actions implementing the principles set forth in this memorandum. The independent agencies should comply with the Open Government Directive.

This memorandum is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by a party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.


This memorandum shall be published in the Federal Register.




BARACK OBAMA





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