US National Action Plan Final 2

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SEPTEMBER 20, 2011

THE OPEN GOVERNMENT

PARTNERSHIP

NATIONAL ACTION PLANFOR THE UNITED STATES

OF AMERICA


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U.S. NationalACTION PLAN

INTRODUCTION

Since the rst day o his Administration, President Barack Obama has made Open Government a high priority. The

Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government was the rst executive action to bear the Presidents signature,

and the President has pledged his Administration to work toward an unprecedented level o openness in Government.

Over the past two and a hal years, Federal agencies have done a great deal to make government more transparent and

more accessible, to provide people with inormation that they can use in their daily lives, to solicit public participation

in government decision-making, and to collaborate with all sectors o the economy on new and innovative solutions.

These Open Government eorts are now entering a new phase, as we collaborate with other countries in the global

Open Government Partnership (OGP).

President Obama has emphasized three independent reasons to support Open Government:

OpenGovernmentpromotesaccountability,whichcanimproveperformance.InthewordsofSupremeCourt

Justice Louis Brandeis: Sunlight is said to be the best o disinectants.

Transparencyenablespeopletondinformationthattheycanreadilyndanduse.Forthisreason,the

President has asked agencies to harness new technologies and solicit public eedback to identiy

inormation o greatest use to the public.

Inmanydomains,governmentshoulddeveloppolicies,rules,andplanswithclosereferencetothe

knowledge, expertise, and perspectives o diverse members o the public. As the President has said,

[k]nowledge is widely dispersed in society, and public ocials benet rom having access to that

dispersed knowledge and hence to collective expertise and wisdom.

As it developed a U.S. National Action Plan (National Plan), the Federal Government engaged in extensive

consultations with external stakeholders, including a broad range o civil society groups and members o the private

sector.ItsolicitedinputfromtheAdministrationsownOpenGovernmentWorkingGroup,comprisedofsenior-level

representativesfromexecutivebranchdepartmentsandagencies.WhiteHousepolicymakersalsoengagedthe

public via a series o blog posts, requesting ideas about how to ocus Open Government eorts on increasing public

integrity, more eectively managing public resources, and improving public services. Responsive submissions were

posted online.

ThisNationalPlanbuildson,butdoesnotreplace,theOpenGovernmentInitiativeinauguratedbythePresidents

Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government. The National Plan will briefy highlight what has been

accomplished thus ar and lay out some o our goals and plans or the uture.

The process o opening government is a continuing work-in-progress. This National Plan is but one step in an

initiative that has produced signicant results over the last two and a hal years and that will continue, under the

Presidents leadership, in many orms in the uture. Just as we will continue to generate and implement Open

Government policies and reorms, so, too, we will continue to seek input rom outside groups and citizens about how

to create a more Open Government.

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U.S. OPEN GOVERNMENT EFFORTS TO DATE

Over the last two and a hal years, the Administration has taken numerous specic steps to make the Federal

Government more transparent, participatory, and collaborative. The Administrations Open Government eorts to

dateareoutlinedingreatdetailinTheObamaAdministrationsCommitmenttoOpenGovernment:AStatusReport.That Status Report outlines the Administrations major Open Government initiatives, summarizes the progress made

on those initiatives, and explains how the Administration will continue to implement them over the next months and

years. A more complete picture o current Open Government eorts and accomplishments to date can also be ound

on agency Open Government web pages, available at www.[agency domain].gov/open.

While agency Open Government Plans continue to evolve and improve with the help of public participation, the

Administration has numerous accomplishments to date. Examples include:

1. Open Government Directive and Agency Plans. The OMB Open Government Directive required agencies both

to take immediate specic steps and to establish long-term goals to achieve greater openness and transparency.

Inaddition,numerousagenciescreatedOpenGovernmentPlans,whichlayoutindetailhowtheywillincreasetransparency and integrate public participation and collaboration into their core activities.

2. Data Availability. As agencies developed their Open Government Plans, they made unprecedented amounts o

inormation available and easily accessible to the public, in part through a centralized government platorm, Data.gov.

This platorm, designed in large part to provide people with inormation that they can readily nd and use, now gives

the public access to over 390,000 high value agency data sets on such diverse subjects as auto saety, air travel, air

quality, workplace saety, drug saety, nutrition, crime, obesity, employment, and health care.

3. Disclosure to Increase Accountability and to Promote Inormed Consumer Choice. The Administration has taken

numerous steps to inorm consumers in areas such as health, education, nutrition, energy eciency, uel economy,

environmental protection, and nancial services. Building on governmentwide guidance issued by OMB on June 18,

2010, the Administration is promoting, in many areas, the use o disclosure as a low-cost, high-impact regulatory tool

to ensure inormed decisions.

4. Data Communities to Spark Breakthroughs or National Priorities. The President released the Strategy or

AmericanInnovationasablueprintforsparkinginnovativesolutionstowell-denedproblemsofnationalimportance.

The Administration has played a role in harnessing American ingenuity by launching Data.gov communities to

simpliy access to high value data and inorm innovators and the private sector about a growing array o agency prizes,

challenges, and competitions.

5. Enorcement and Compliance Data. The President issued a memorandum on January 18, 2011 requiring Federal

enorcement agencies to make publicly-available compliance inormation easily accessible, downloadable, and

searchable online.

6. Reviewing Existing Agency Rules.InExecutiveOrder13563,ImprovingRegulationandRegulatoryReview,the

President required Federal agencies and departments to undertake an unprecedentedly open process or reviewing

their existing rules. The process invited extensive public comment and has resulted in the creation o plans that will

eliminate millions o hours in annual reporting burdens and billions o dollars in annual regulatory costs.

7. Government Transparency. TheWhiteHousehasestablishedaclearpresumptioninfavorofopennessbyposting

visitorrecords,stanancialdisclosures,salaries,andethicswaiversontheWhiteHousewebsiteforthersttime

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andbyreversingpriorlimitsonaccesstopresidentialrecords.Wearealsopostingonlinerecordsconcerningthe

EmergencyEconomicStabilizationAct,TroubledAssetsReliefProgram,andeconomicstimuluslobbying.

8. Freedom o Inormation.ThePresidentsMemorandumontheFreedomofInformationAct(FOIA),issuedon

January 21, 2009, instructed agencies to adopt a presumption o disclosure and to take proactive steps to make

informationavailabletothepublic.Inresponse,agencieshaveincreasinglyprovidedinformationtothepublic

armatively,ratherthaninresponsetoincomingFOIArequests,andhavedevelopedbetterwaysforprocessingFOIA

requests.TheDepartmentofJusticesnewFOIAdashboardwillenableuserstoassessFOIAcomplianceforthenearly

100agenciessubjecttoFOIA.

U.S. NATIONAL ACTION PLAN NEW INITIATIVES

CreatingamoreOpenGovernmentrequiresasustainedcommitmentbypublicocialsandemployeesatalllevelsof

government; it also requires an inormed and active citizenry. The initiatives we launch today aim to increase public

integrity by tackling corruption and by enhancing citizen access to inormation. They will improve the management

o public resources in the U.S. They attempt to improve public services and to spur private sector innovation. Because

theAmericanpeopledeservea21stCenturygovernment,thisNationalPlanembracestheroleoftechnologyandinnovationintacklingthekeychallengesthattheU.S.andothergovernmentsfacearoundtheworld.Infurther

testament to the value o opening government, many o the ideas presented below were themselves suggested during

consultations with the public and non-governmental groups.

Open Government to Increase Public Integrity

1. Promote Public Participation in Government

IntheUnitedStates,wehaveagovernmentofthepeople,bythepeople,andforthepeople,andthewisdom,energy,

and creativity o the American public is the nations greatest asset. The U.S. is committed to expanding opportunities

or public participation in government, and will:

Launch the We the People Petition Platform. Building on President Obamas desire to hear directly rom

theAmericanpeople,theWhiteHousehasannouncedthatitwilllaunchWethePeopletogiveAmericans

a direct line to voice their concerns to the Administration via online petitions. This is a tool to enable the

publictocreateandsignpetitionsonarangeofissues.Ifapetitionmeetsapublicsignaturethreshold,itwill

bereviewedbyWhiteHousepolicymakers,whowillconsultrelevantAdministrationocialsandprovidean

ocialandpublicresponse.Moreinformationcanbefoundathttp://www.WhiteHouse.gov/WeThePeople.

Open Source We the People. TheWhiteHouseplanstopublishthesourcecodeofWethePeoplesothat

it is available to any government around the world that seeks to solicit and respond to the concerns o the public.

Develop Best Practices and Metrics for Public Participation.Wewillidentifybestpracticesforpublic

participation in government and suggest metrics that will allow agencies to assess progress toward the goal

o becoming more participatory. This eort will highlight those agencies that have incorporated the most

useul and robust orms o public participation in order to encourage other agencies to learn rom their examples.

2. Modernize Management o Government Records

The backbone o a transparent and accountable government is strong records management that documents the

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decisions and actions o the Federal Government. The transition to digital inormation creates new opportunities or

records management, but much o government still relies on outdated systems and policies designed during a paper-

based world. To meet current challenges, the U.S. will:

Reform Records Management Policies and Practices Across the Executive Branch.Wewilllaunchan

initiative that will recommend reorms and require reporting on current policies and practices. The initiativewill consider changes to existing laws and ask how technology can be leveraged to improve records

management while making it cost-eective. The initiative will seek a reormed, digital-era, governmentwide

records management ramework that promotes accountability and perormance.

3. Continue to Improve Freedom o Inormation Act Administration

TheFreedomofInformationAct(FOIA)guaranteespublicaccesstoexecutivebranchagencyrecordsthatarenot

exempted rom disclosure. The Administrations reorms to date have increased transparency, reduced backlogs, and

encourageddisclosureofgovernmentinformationbeforeaFOIArequestismade.Toimprovetheadministrationof

FOIA,theU.S.will:

Professionalize FOIA Administration.Wewillcontinueworkonanewcivilservicepersonnelcategory(orjob

series)forocialswhospecializeinadministeringFOIAandotherinformationprograms.Itisimportantto

recognizetheprofessionalnatureoftheworkdonebythoseadministeringFOIA.

Harness the Power of Technology.Wewillexpandouruseoftechnologytoachievegreaterecienciesin

FOIAadministration,includingutilizationoftechnologytoassistinsearchingforandprocessingrecords.

Moreover, as agencies increasingly post inormation on their websites, we will work to ensure that the

inormation is searchable and readily usable by the public.

4. Declassiy National Security Inormation

Inmanycases,informationthatatonetimewasnotmadepublicforreasonsofnationalsecuritycaneventually

bemadeavailablethroughthedeclassicationprocess.InExecutiveOrder13526,ClassiedNationalSecurity

Information,thePresidentestablishedaNationalDeclassicationCentertostrengthenOpenGovernmentby

improving coordination among agencies and streamlining the declassication process throughout the Federal

Government.Inthenextyear,theCenterwill:

Lead a Multi-Agency Eort. This multi-agency eort will work to declassiy historically valuable classied

records in which more than one agency has an interest, and work to address the backlog o 400 million page

previouslyaccessionedtotheNationalArchives.TheCenterwillalsooverseethedevelopmentofstandard

declassication processes and training to improve and align declassication reviews across agencies. The

Centerwillconsiderpublicinputwhendevelopingitsprioritizationplan,aswellasreportonitsprogress,provide opportunities or public comment in a variety o media, and host at least one public orum to update

the public and answer questions.

5. Support and Improve Agency Implementation o Open Government Plans

The OMB Open Government Directive, mentioned above, required agencies both to take immediate steps and to

establish long-term goals to achieve greater openness and transparency. Over the next year, the U.S. will:

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Monitor Agency Implementation of Plans. Taking account o the views and perspectives o outside

stakeholders,theWhiteHousewillcarefullymonitoragencyimplementationoftheplans.Asaresult,

agencies will improve their eorts to disclose inormation to the public and to make such disclosure useul,

identiy new opportunities or public participation in agency decision-making, and solicit collaboration with

those outside government.

6. Strengthen and Expand Whistleblower Protections or Government Personnel

Employeeswiththecouragetoreportwrongdoingareagovernmentsbestdefenseagainstwaste,fraud,andabuse.

Federal law clearly prohibits retaliation against most government employees who blow the whistle, but some

employees have diminished protections, and judicially-created loopholes have let others without an adequate remedy

To address these problems, we will:

Advocate for Legislation to Reform and Expand Whistleblower Protections.Recently,Congressnearly

enacted legislation that would eliminate loopholes in existing protections, provide protections or employees

in the intelligence community, and create pilot programs to explore potential structural reorms in the

remedialprocess.TheAdministrationwillcontinuetoworkwithCongresstoenactthislegislation.

Explore Utilization of Executive Branch Authority to Implement Reforms if Congress is Unwilling to Act.

Statutoryreformispreferable,butifCongressremainsdeadlocked,theAdministrationwillexploreoptions

or utilizing executive branch authority to strengthen and expand whistleblower protections.

7. Enhance Enorcement o Regulations Through Further Disclosure o Compliance Inormation

From highway saety and clean air to workers saety and toxic chemicals, smart regulations cannot work without

eective enorcement. Disclosure o regulatory compliance inormation helps to oster air and consistent enorcement

o important regulatory obligations. The President issued a memorandum requiring Federal enorcement agencies to

makepubliclyavailablecomplianceinformationeasilyaccessible,downloadable,andsearchableonline.Inthenextyear, Federal agencies will:

Provide Enforcement and Compliance Data Online. Agencies will continue to develop plans or providing

greater transparency about their regulatory compliance and enorcement activities, and look or new ways to

make that inormation accessible to the public.

8. Increase Transparency o Legal Entities Formed in the U.S.

Legal entities can provide access to the international nancial system or illicit actors and may rustrate nancial

investigations. To increase transparency over the next year, we will:

Advocate for Legislation Requiring Meaningful Disclosure. As a critical element o a broader strategy to

saeguard the international nancial system rom such abuse o legal entities, the Administration will

advocate or legislation that will require the disclosure o meaningul benecial ownership inormation or

corporations at the time o company ormation.

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Open Government to Manage Public Resources More Eectively

1. Implement Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative

TheExtractiveIndustriesTransparencyInitiative(EITI)hasdevelopedavoluntaryframeworkunderwhich

governments publicly disclose their revenues rom oil, gas, and mining assets, and companies make paralleldisclosures regarding payments that they are making to obtain access to publicly owned resources. These voluntary

disclosures are designed to oster integrity and accountability when it comes to development o the worlds natural

resources. This Administration:

Is Hereby Committing to Implement the EITI to Ensure that Taxpayers Are Receiving Every Dollar Due for

Extraction of our Natural Resources. The U.S. is a major developer o natural resources. The U.S. collects

approximately $10 billion in annual revenues rom the development o oil, gas, and minerals on Federal lands

and oshore, and disburses the bulk o these revenues to the U.S. Treasury, with smaller portions disbursed

toveFederalagencies,35States,41AmericanIndiantribes,andapproximately30,000individualIndian

mineralowners.BysigningontotheglobalstandardthatEITIsets,theU.S.Governmentcanhelpensurethat

American taxpayers are receiving every dollar due or the extraction o these valuable public resources.

Will Work in Partnership with Industry and Citizens to Build on Recent Progress. The Administration has

already made important strides in reorming the management o our natural resources to ensure that there

are no conficts o interest between the production and the collection o revenues rom these resources.

SigningontotheEITIinitiativewillfurthertheseobjectivesbycreatingadditionalsunshinefortheprocess

ofcollectingrevenuesfromnaturalresourceextraction.IndustryalreadyprovidestheFederalGovernment

withthisdata.Weshouldshareitwithallofourcitizens.Towardthatend,theFederalGovernmentwillwork

with industry and citizens to develop a sensible plan over the next two years or disclosing relevant

inormation and enhancing the accountability and transparency o our revenue collection eorts.

2. Increase Transparency in Spending By Applying Lessons rom the Recovery Act to All Federal Spending

The Administration has provided the public detailed inormation about stimulus spending (Recovery.gov), Federal

procurement and nancial assistance spending, down to the sub-award level or grants and contracts (USAspending.

gov), the accuracy o payments to non-Federal recipients to reduce raud, waste, and abuse (Paymentaccuracy.gov),

andFederalinformation-technologyspending(it.usaspending.gov).Inthecomingyear,theU.S.will:

Provide Strategic Direction to Increase Transparency. On June 13, 2011, the President urthered his

commitmenttoFederalspendingtransparencyinExecutiveOrder13576,whichestablishesthenew

GovernmentAccountability&TransparencyBoard(GATB).Withinsixmonthsofitsestablishment,the

GATB will provide a report to the President recommending concrete steps that can be taken to achieve

thegoalsoftheExecutiveOrder.Thereportwillfocusonintegratingsystemsthatcollectanddisplay

spending data, ensuring the reliability o those data, and broadening the deployment o cutting-edge

technologies that can identiy and prevent raud.

3. Increase Transparency o Foreign Assistance

Greater oreign aid transparency promotes eective development by helping recipient governments manage their aid

owsandbyempoweringcitizenstoholdgovernmentsaccountablefortheuseofassistance.Increasedtransparency

also supports evidence-based, data-driven approaches to oreign aid (assisted, where appropriate and easible, by the

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use o randomized controlled experiments). Building on these commitments, the U.S. will:

Release and Implement Governmentwide Reporting Requirements for Foreign Aid. These requirements will

direct all Federal agencies that administer oreign assistance to provide timely and detailed inormation on

budgets, disbursements, and project implementation. Agencies will be responsible or providing a set

o common data elds that are internationally comparable. The inormation collected through the aboveinitiative will be released in an open ormat and made available on a central portal the Foreign Assistance

Dashboard (ForeignAssistance.gov) that will be updated quarterly.

4. Create a More Eective and Responsive Government Perormance.gov

Responding to the Presidents challenge to cut waste, save money, and better serve the American people,

Perormance.gov provides a window on the Administrations approach to improving perormance and accountability.

The site gives the government and the public a view o the progress underway in cutting waste, streamlining

government, and improving perormance. Over the next year, the U.S. will:

Improve Government Performance and Accountability.Wewillcontinuetoimprovethewebsite,including addingdataonothergovernmentwidemanagementinitiatives.Inparticular,thesitewillbeupdated

to meet the requirements o the recently enacted Government Perormance and Results Modernization Act,

which requires regular progress updates on the top agency-specic perormance goals.

Open Government to Improve Public Services

1. Expand Public Participation in the Development o Regulations

For two and a hal years, the Administration has promoted public participation in rulemaking, which covers such

diverse subjects as energy, education, homeland security, agriculture, ood saety, environmental protection, health

care,andairlineandautomobilesafety.InJanuary2010,thePresidentissuedExecutiveOrder13563,ImprovingRegulation and Regulatory Review, which requires timely consultation with aected stakeholders and the use o

Regulations.gov, an online portal to view and comment on pending regulations in an open ormat that can be easily

searchedanddownloaded.Inthenextyear,theU.S.will:

Overhaul the Public Participation Interface on Regulations.gov. The U.S. will continue its vital eorts in

thisareabyoverhaulingthepublicparticipationinterfaceonRegulations.gov.Wewillrevamppublic

commenting mechanisms, search unctions, user interaces, and other major eatures to help the public

nd,follow,andparticipateinFederalrulemakings.Inthisway,wewillensurewhatthePresidenthascalled

an open exchange o inormation and perspectives.

2. Use Data.gov as a Platorm to Spur Innovation

The U.S. champions the publication o machine-readable data and the use o challenges, prizes, and competitions

to catalyze breakthroughs in national priorities. The Data.gov site supplies the public with large amounts o useul,

machine-readable government data that can be used by innovators without intellectual property constraint. To

accelerate this movement, the U.S. will:

Contribute Data.gov as a Platform.ThroughtheU.S.-IndiaOpenGovernmentDialogue,thetwo

countries have partnered to release Data.gov-in-a-Box, an open source version o the United States

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Data.govdataportalandIndiasIndia.gov.indocumentportal.Itwillbeavailableforimplementationby

countries globally, encouraging governments around the world to stand up open data sites that promote

transparency, improve citizen engagement, and engage application developers in continuously improving

these eorts.

Foster Communities on Data.gov.WewillworktowardexpandingthenumberofData.govcommunities thatconnectdatarelatedtoparticularsubjectmatterswithusersandproducersofthatdata.With

communities ocused on health, energy, and law already launched, we will work to launch new communities

in education, research and development, and public saety in the next year.

3. Encourage Communication between Government Ofcials and Citizen-Experts

Inmanycases,thosewhoworkingovernmentturntothoseoutsideforadviceandsupport.Buttoooften,ocials

know only a subset o relevant experts or need to nd experts in a new area. To overcome these hurdles, the U.S. will:

Launch ExpertNet. This platorm will enable government ocials to better communicate with citizens

whohaveexpertiseonapertinenttopic.Itwillgivemembersofthepublicanopportunitytoparticipateinapublic consultation relevant to their areas o interest and knowledge, and allow ocials to pose questions to

and interact with the public in order to receive useul inormation.

4. Reorm Government Websites

Morecitizensseekgovernmentinformationthroughtheinternetthananyothersource.Inadditiontocontinuingto

beaccessible,governmentwebsitesshouldbeeasytond,use,andnavigate.OnApril27,2011,thePresidentissued

ExecutiveOrder13571,StreamingServiceDeliveryandImprovingCustomerService,tobeginsweepingreformof

government websites. As part o this ongoing initiative, the U.S. will:

Begin an Online National Dialogue With the American Public.WewillsolicittheAmericanpublicsinputonhow best to improve Federal agency use o the internet and online tools.

Update Governmentwide Policies for Websites.Wewillreformtheseven-year-oldpolicythatgovernsthe

management, look and eel, and structure o Federal Government websites to make them more useul and

benecial or the public.

5. Publish Data to Help Consumers and Scientists

Inmanycases,thegovernmenthasinformationthatcanbeleveragedtohelpconsumersmakebetterdecisionsandto

aid scientic research. To unlock the potential o this data, the U.S. will:

Promote Smart Disclosure. The government already discloses data to inorm decision-making in many areas

by, or example, providing access to comprehensive tools to acilitate the search or insurance options best

suited to an individuals specic needs. To build on this work, OMB recently issued guidance to Federal

agenciesonsmartdisclosure.Wehavealsoestablishedataskforcededicatedtopromotingbetter

disclosurepolicies.Inresponsetothisguidance,agenciesanddepartmentswillworkoverthenextyearto

ensure the timely release o complex inormation in standardized, machine-readable ormats that enable

consumers to make inormed decisions in numerous domains.

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Publish Guidelines on Scientic Data. WewilldevelopFederalguidelinestopromotethepreservation,

accessibility, and interoperability o scientic digital data produced through unclassied research supported

wholly or in part by unding rom the Federal science agencies.

6. Promote Innovation Through International Collaboration

TheU.Shasusedprizesandcompetitiontofosteracultureofinnovationinboththepublicandprivatesectors.Inthis

spirit, the United States will:

Launch International Space Apps Competition. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration and

key space agencies around the world will gather with scientists and concerned citizens to use publicly-

releaseddata(e.g.,Earthscienceandplanetaryobservations)soastocreatesolutionsforglobalchallenges

such as weather impacts on the global economy and depletion o ocean resources. An international

collaboration website will be created to acilitate citizen participation.

CONCLUSION

Last year, President Obama said at the United Nations General Assembly:

In all parts o the world, we see the promise o innovation to make government more open

and accountable. Now, we must build on that progress. And when we gather back here

next year, we should bring specifc commitments to promote transparency; to fght

corruption; to energize civic engagement; and to leverage new technologies so that we

strengthen the oundation o reedom in our own countries, while living up to ideals that can

light the world.

The Open Government eorts o the U.S. Government have been undertaken with close reerence to the Presidents

goals: ostering public and private accountability; providing people with inormation that they can readily nd and use,

oten in their daily lives; and beneting rom the dispersed knowledge o the American people. The new initiatives

described here are designed to promote all o these goals.

Whilemuchworkremains,theU.S.isstronglycommittedtoOpenGovernmentandtocompletingtheinitiatives

described in this National Plan.

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This Plan is developed as part o the

United States participation in the OGP.

Documents

US National Action Plan Final 2