Polishing the Keys to Open Government

President Barack Obama’s commitment to creating a more open federal government has inspired a slew of experiments in online dialogue and engagement by the White House. However, effective methods of online participation will come from a painstaking trial-and-error process that requires patience from Americans and their government. More than 2,000 technology experts and vendors posted and ranked ideas for analyzing economic stimulus spending at Recovery.gov. Nearly 100,000 people rated questions for the president to answer in a virtual town hall meeting. Regulations.gov hosts an online portal for federal rule-making. And the most elaborate experiment is a three-phase dialogue asking the public to help develop the president’s Open Government Directive.