The USA in Transition Open Government Leading to

The USA in Transition: Open Government Leading to Connected Governance International Symposium “Connected Governance: Vision or Reality? ” Rome, Italy 21 -22 October 2009 Gregory G. Curtin, Ph. D. Managing Director Civic Resource Group, USA Senior Fellow Bedrosian Center on Governance and Public Enterprise University of Southern California, USA

CONNECTED GOVERNANCE—WHY? • UN, WEF, Others: “Connected Governance” as an Advanced State of Governance Facilitated by ICT whereby Governments Provide – Better Delivery of Public Services: Efficiency and Quality – Open, Transparent, Accountable Government – Greater and More Meaningful Participation – Innovation: Economic, Societal, Government • Bottom Line: Improved Quality of Life

CONNECTED GOVERNANCE FRAMEWORK • Federal Level—Horizontal – – – – Collaboration Across Agencies System Interoperability/Backoffice Integration Coherent Policy Making GIS Standardization and Platformatization Information and Data Sharing Communications Networks Cost and Service Sharing • Federal, States, Local—Vertical – Information and Data Sharing – Reporting, Compliance, Tracking • Connected Publics – Citizen Feedback, Consultations – Collaboration – “Crowdsourcing” of New Public Information, Knowledge

THE USA ENVIRONMENT—A CHALLENGE FOR CONNECTED GOVERNANCE • $76 B in Federal Government Information Technology Spending • More than 10, 000 Federal Government Systems • More than 1. 9 M Employees • 100 s of Individual Agencies and Departments • More than 300 M “Customers” • 50 Separate State Governments • Thousands of Local Governments

THE USA APPROACH—AN OPEN GOVERNMENT STRATEGY • Leadership and Vision – Commitment from the highest levels – Articulation of the value of technology for open government • Government is the Open “Platform” – The web as the foundation – Enterprise/service oriented architecture – Focus not on infrastructure, but on value • Open Data and Information – Open data stimulates user activity, input, new ideas and processes, trust in government – Exposing data to users encourages more and better backend collaboration and integration

TECHNOLOGY LEADERSHIP IN THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION “Technology…promises to provide an unprecedented window into the workings of government, supporting democratic principles of transparency and, by inviting more public participation, making use one of the nation’s greatest untapped resource: the shared knowledge of its citizenry. ”

TECHNOLOGY LEADERSHIP IN THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION • Bring government into the 21 st Century: – Establish a Chief Technology Officer position within the Executive Office of the President – Ensure that every government branch and agency has the right infrastructure, policies and services for the 21 st century • Create an Open and Transparent Democracy: – Develop cutting-edge technologies to create a new level of transparency, participation, and collaboration for America's citizens – Enhance scientific integrity in government decision-making • Protect America’s Cyber Networks: – Initiation of new and powerful protection strategies – Ensure that America’s cyber network remains safe from espionage and disruption – Step up efforts to track down cyber criminals

CONNECTIONS WITH THE PUBLIC • Whitehouse. gov: Open and accessible • Recovery. gov • Regulations. gov • Open Government Brainstorm Initiative • Web Video and Online Chat Sessions • White House and Executive Agency Social Media: Blogs, Wikis, Twitter, Facebook, etc.

CONNECTING WITH THE PEOPLE—OPEN GOVERNMENT DIALOGUE • Open and transparent process for citizens to discuss…open and transparent government! • Wiki and blog formats use allowing citizens to view the input of others

REGULATIONS. GOV--TRANSPARENCY IN DECISION MAKING • Search and find ALL federal rules and related documents from all federal agencies • Provide formal comments • View comments of others

TRANSPARENCY IN FEDERAL FINANCIAL BAILOUT (STIMULUS PACKAGE) • Effectively using the web and open data sources to quickly and reliably provide dynamic information • Tracking at the state and local levels— structured “connections” • Social media for connecting with public

DATA. GOV--EXPLODING SOURCE OF OPEN GOVERNMENT DATA • Started in May 2009 with fewer than 50 data sources • Now has more than 100, 000 data feeds in a variety of open, machine readable formats

OPEN DATA—STATE AND LOCAL CONNECTIONS • Slow start, but states recently agreed to collaborate • California and Utah as State leaders • San Francisco and Washington D. C. initial local participants

RELATED INITIATIVES AT THE STATE LEVEL • National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO): Collaboration with Federal Gov on Open Data • Electronic Commerce Coordinating Council (EC 3): Symposium and Guidance for Use of Web 2. 0 Tools in Government • States of California and Utah: Participating in Data. gov • Increase in State EGovernment Activity – Web 2. 0 – Cloud Computing – Open Data/Gov

ORGANIZATION—THE REAL KEY • Formalized Federal Chief Information Officer (CIO) – Strategic Technology Planning and Policy – Federal Enterprise Architecture – Systems Interoperability – “Democratization” of Data • Created Federal Chief Technology Officer (CTO) – Technology Innovation – US Broadband Rollout – Economic, Health, Education, Community Connectivity – Deputy CTO for Open Government • Office of E-Government and Information Technology within the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)

REINVIGORATING E-GOVERNMENT AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL • Renewed focus on e-government • New e-gov initiatives and policies • Federal enterprise architecture— foundation for connected systems

IT DASHBOARD--TRANSPARENCY IN FEDERAL IT • Window into ALL federal IT projects • Details on purpose, vendors, contracts, status, ROI, etc. • Federal agencies and other governments can compare, align projects, etc.

NEW PROCUREMENT APPROACHES POLICIES • Apps. gov—new portal for procuring cloud based resources • New streamlined IT procurement • Shared services initiatives • Online IT shopping • Aggressive use of the web and social media

USA. GOV: CONNECTING FEDERAL, STATE, LOCAL AND TRIBAL SERVICES

CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS • More Open and Transparent Government will Lead Naturally to More Connected Governance at All Levels • Open Data and Information are the Keys to Open Government • New Web 2. 0/3. 0 Technologies and Approaches Make Open Government Feasible • Leadership is the Stimulus to Make it All Happen

THANK YOU! Gregory Curtin gregc@civicresource. com