President Obama Live News Coverage

24 Agencies Open Dialog, Seeking Public Participation on Open Government

WASHINGTON, Feb. 9 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- As part of the Obama Administration's commitment to a more open, transparent, and accountable government, 24 federal agencies have launched online dialogs with the public. From now through Mar. 19, agencies will be seeking feedback from the public on their open government plans and web pages.

"President Obama has made a commitment to transparency and to engage the public in meaningful discussions on how to improve government and make it more accountable to the American people," said Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra. "These public dialogs will enable citizens to share with their government ideas and feedback to help change the way Washington does business. By launching the online public dialogs across government, Americans now have an unprecedented opportunity to become a part of the process from the comfort of their own homes."

On Dec. 8, 2009, President Obama issued his Open Government Directive, challenging agencies to launch an open government Web page and to incorporate a public engagement mechanism by Feb. 6. The U.S. General Services Administration provided agencies with an innovative public dialog tool at no cost to help them meet this deadline. Through this tool, the public will have an easily accessible forum to share ideas, give feedback, and engage in Web-based discussions with their government.

Twenty-three of 24 CFO agencies are using GSA's public dialog tool, helping agencies to devote their attention to running, moderating, and analyzing public input.

"To help agencies answer President Obama's call for a more citizen-centered, open government, GSA gave agencies an easy innovative, solution, allowing them to focus on meaningfully engaging the public," said David McClure, Associate Administrator for GSA's Office of Citizen Services and Communications. "By leveraging a single solution government wide, GSA simplified the public engagement process for both agencies and the citizen, helping to build and offer uniformity and consistency in how the public engages with their government."

SOURCE U.S. General Services Administration