Experiment No. 4 Champions of Participation (2009)

www.americaspeaks.org (leadership in action)

Champions of Participation Feedback from Agency Leaders and Managers

on the Open Government Directive

Champions of Participation

  Solicit input on the Open Government Directive from those who have had the greatest experience working to make federal government more open

  Follow up from 2006 conference

  Convened 34 federal managers and staff on March 30-31, 2009

  Convened 19 senior agency leaders on May 12, 2009

  Facilitated by four leaders in the field of public engagement and electoral reform

Participating Agencies Army Corps of

Engineers EPA GAO NOAA

Centers for Disease Control

Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission GSA Nuclear Regulatory

Commission

Dept of Defense Federal Highway Administration

Institute for Enviro. Conflict Resolution

Office of Nanotechnology

Dept of Energy FEMA National Mediation Board

Office of the Fed. Coord. for Gulf

Coast Rebuilding

Dept of Interior Fish and Wildlife Service

National Park Service

Transportation Security

Administration

Dept of Labor Forest Service NEA Veterans Administration

General Observations   Significant excitement among agency leaders who have championed

participation, transparency, and collaboration for years

  Some healthy skepticism that adequate resources, support and commitment will be devoted to advancing OGD values

  Hope that the Directive will be a living document that is iterative and systematically “marbled” into the government

  Concern that the Directive will overemphasize pilot projects over systemic, scaled, and lasting changes

  Concern that web-based, ICT approaches will over-shadow proven face-to-face participation and collaboration methods

Major Recommendations 1.  President’s Management Council as implementation vehicle

2.  Communicate commitment to OGD to all Federal staff through personal statement from President, resources, and reporting

3.  Require agencies to state how they will incorporate OGD goals into major agency systems such as HR, planning, budget

4.  Provide training and other support to assure that federal workforce possesses public engagement skills

5.   Establish systems of reporting and measurement

6.  Create communities of practice to foster innovation and diffusion

7.  Create incentives through awards, recognition, & funding

8.  Demonstrate the value of participation through highly visible presidential initiatives

9.  Address legal and statutory barriers to Open Government

President’s Management Council as OGD Implementation Vehicle

  PMC effectively engages Deputy Secretaries to provide top-level management support for the Open Government Directive

  Chief Performance Officer should direct the overall Open Government Directive

  Add independent agencies who do not currently sit on PMC

  Create three inter-agency work groups to carry out the directive:

  OMB should chair a work group to oversee implementation and measure progress

  OPM should chair a work group to build the capacity of federal employees

  CTO should chair a work group on the use of technology to support open government goals across agencies

Communicate Administration’s Commitment to Open Government

  President Obama’s deep, personal commitment to Open Government must be clearly communicated

  Send a physical letter to every employee from the President explaining the importance of open government

  Produce a video and send email with link to every federal employee

  The principles of open government should be repeated often and consistently

  Congressional leaders should join the President in communicating the priority of open government

  Adequate new funding and regular reporting requirements should reinforce the importance of the directive

Incorporate Open Government into All Major Agency Systems

  Require all agencies to submit plans for how they will incorporate Open Government goals into their missions within 120 days

  Require all agencies to submit plans for how they will incorporate Open Government goals into all major systems, including human resources, budget, planning and management, within 180 days

  Require Federal Executive Boards to implement collaborative partnerships to involve the public and report their plans within 180 days

  Require each agency to designate a senior leader as an Open Government champion and support designated champion with appropriate resources

Building Capacity & Training   Define the skills required for all federal employees to take

responsibility for creating a more open government

  Enable each agency to customize training programs to individual circumstances and needs

  Pay special attention to groups that will have a significant role in the success of the directive, including political appointees and OMB budget examiners

  Help citizens better understand the workings of government so that they know where, when, and how to engage

Measurement & Performance   Build mandatory reporting about progress towards Open

Government goals into the Performance and Accountability Reports that every agency must submit each year

  Integrate Open Government goals into individual performance measures and contracts

  Publicize dates by which agencies must make specific progress on open government goals

  Ensure that measures are outcome-based, well defined, and consistent across government

Communities of Practice and Other Supports

  Establish online resource base that will enable sharing of best practices in participation, collaboration and transparency

  Create a cross-agency team of internal consultants who are available to support agencies that need assistance

  Establish a federal institute for public engagement to gather research on best practices, offer training, develop a knowledge base, and institute the community of practice.

  Leverage the expertise of non-governmental practitioners and experts through a roundtable or advisory board on public engagement

Recognition, Morale, & Incentives

  Establish a highly publicized and prestigious award for Open Government

  Establish an Open Government Conference at which the award will be presented

  Create a competitive innovative fund for Open Government intiatives

Demonstrate the Value of Participation and Collaboration

  Convene a national policy discussion on health care reform in which more than 1 million Americans participate; demonstrate potential of participation and government commitment to OG

  Initiate a federal agency intergovernmental collaboration on an issue like food safety

  Initiate a cross-jurisdictional collaboration between multiple levels of Federal, State, ad Local and/or Tribal government on an issue like a national disaster recovery plan

  Initiate individual agency problem solving on a major issue with public collaboration at every stage on an issue like dam safety

  Conduct and disseminate research that communicates the value that participation and collaboration can offer

Address Legal and Statutory Barriers to Open Government

  Provide guidance to agencies on policies and interpretations of statutes (e.g. FACA, FOIA, APA, and NEPA) through a White House Office/Council on Public Engagement

  Create a venue through which legal staff from agencies communicate about interpretations of Federal statutes that may inhibit participation, collaboration and transparency

  Initiate a government-wide review of department, agency and government statutes, regulations and rules that may inhibit open government. Develop plans for addressing these barriers.