[Federal Register: May 21, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 97)]
[Notices]               
[Page 23901-23902]
                       

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OFFICE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY POLICY

 
 Executive Office of the President; Transparency and Open 
Government

SUMMARY: The President's January 21, 2009, memorandum entitled, 
Transparency and Open Government, directed the Chief Technology 
Officer, in coordination with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
and the General Services Administration (GSA), to develop a set of 
recommendations that will inform an Open Government Directive. This 
directive will be issued by OMB and will instruct executive departments 
and agencies on specific actions to implement the principles set forth 
in the President's memorandum. Members of the public are invited to 
participate in the process of developing recommendations via email or 
the White House Web site at http://www.whitehouse.gov/open offering 
comments, ideas, and proposals about possible initiatives and about how 
to increase openness and transparency in government.

DATES: Comments must be received by June 19, 2009.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments by one of the following methods:
     http://www.whitehouse.gov/open.
     E-mail: opengov@ostp.gov.
     Mail: Office of Science and Technology Policy, Attn: Open 
Government Recommendations, 725 17th Street, Washington, DC 20502.
    Comments submitted in response to this notice could be made 
available to the public online or by alternative means. For this 
reason, please do not include in your comments information of a 
confidential nature, such as sensitive personal information or 
proprietary information. If you submit an e-mail comment, your e-mail 
address will be captured automatically and included as part of the 
comment that is placed in the public docket and made available on the 
Internet.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Office of Science and Technology 
Policy, Attn: Open Government, 725 17th Street, NW., Washington, DC 
20502.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In his January 21, 2009, Presidential 
Memorandum to the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies, 
published in the Federal Register [74 FR 4685, January 26, 2009], the 
President outlined three principles for promoting a transparent and 
open government:
     Transparency promotes accountability and provides 
information to citizens about what their Government is doing;
     Participation enhances the Government's effectiveness and 
improves the quality of its decisions by tapping knowledge that is 
widely dispersed in society; and
     Collaboration harnesses innovative tools, methods, and 
systems to promote cooperation across all levels of Government and with 
the private sector.

The Presidential Memorandum requests recommendations to inform an OMB 
Directive that will instruct executive departments and agencies on 
specific actions to implement the three principles of transparency, 
participation, and collaboration.
    The purpose of this Federal Register notice is to solicit public 
participation in the development of those recommendations. There is a 
great deal of dispersed information among the nation's citizens. With 
twenty-first century tools, the United States is in a unique position 
to take advantage of that dispersed information to inform the 
policymaking process. Our goal is to use the principles of open 
government to obtain fresh ideas about open government itself.
    Comments on open government may relate to government-wide or 
agency-specific policy, project ideas, and relevant examples. Comments 
may address law, policy, technology, culture, and practice on issues 
such as:
     What government information should be more readily 
available on-line or more easily searched?
     How might the operations of government be made more 
transparent and accountable?
     How might federal advisory committees, rulemaking, or 
electronic

[[Page 23902]]

rulemaking be better used to improve decisionmaking?
     What alternative models exist to improve the quality of 
decisionmaking and increase opportunities for citizen participation?
     What are the limitations to transparency?
     What strategies might be employed to adopt greater use of 
Web 2.0 in agencies?
     What policy impediments to innovation in government 
currently exist?
     What changes in training or hiring of personnel would 
enhance innovation?
     What performance measures are necessary to determine the 
effectiveness of open government policies?
    This public process is not intended to, and does not, create any 
right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in 
equity by any party against the United States, its departments, 
agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other 
person.

John P. Holdren,
Director, Office of Science and Technology Policy.
[FR Doc. E9-12026 Filed 5-20-09; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3170-W9-P