Open government conference sponsor takes flak over its software

Adobe on Wednesday hosted a free open government conference aimed at promoting online transparency, amid protests by bloggers who question the transparency benefits of the software company's products.

The well-attended conference showcased pioneers in federal new media, including Lisa Schlosser, director of the Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Information Collection, and personalities who rely on government data to do their jobs, such as keynote speaker and ABC News political analyst Cokie Roberts.

Adobe officials said they organized the event to further dialogue President Obama began on Jan. 21, when he issued a memo instructing federal agencies to institutionalize transparency, collaboration and public participation. But many open government advocates argue that the government should release data using alternatives to Adobe's PDF file format, which they say prevents them from manipulating the information. And such activists argue that Adobe's proprietary Flash, a video viewing tool, does not allow them to replicate or change the displayed graphics.

Technology-focused open government advocates prefer to parse data with technologies like the XML format, which allows them to extract and compare the data with outside information, such as campaign donations. Critics also characterized as misleading the slogan "Adobe Opens Up Washington." The tagline was part of a downtown marketing campaign that coincided with the event.

The Sunlight Foundation, an open government group, contemplated picketing the event. "We thought about it. We kicked it around for a while, but then we thought it would be mildly unproductive, said Clay Johnson, director of Sunlight Labs. The labs division is a team of Web developers that build applications to foster accountability in government.

He instigated a lengthy thread of comments on the Sunlight Labs blog and other online forums with the catchphrase, "Adobe is bad for open government."

Johnson in an interview said the problem with Adobe formats surfaces when people exchange government data, not government documents.

"It is fine to publish a Dear Colleague letter in a PDF. It shows historical accuracy," by authenticating the document, Johnson said. "What I don't like is [budget] summary tables [in PDF]."

Government officials often save and publish documents in PDF because it is readily available on government computers and deployable with a few clicks of the mouse. "The concern here is that PDF is sort of a shortcut for the government to publish data on the Web ... And the government says our job is done. When in fact it isn't done," Johnson said.

He declined an invitation to speak at the Adobe event because of other commitments and said he was exhausted from participating in many other panels this year. But Johnson said it's important for government, citizens and businesses to debate format availability.

"It sure would be bad if government depended on a publishing format -- Flash in particular -- that required government to buy one piece of software in order to publish it," he said.

Adobe officials said they were careful to ensure the event was "nonproduct-centric," but instead a catalyst for the transition to open government, which is "ultimately supporting a public servant who is helping people in need and helping people at risk."

Rob Pinkerton, director of government solutions for Adobe, responded to complaints about product flexibility by pointing to a case in London where government officials expedited services for people on the verge of homelessness with Adobe platforms. The London borough of Southwark was able to slash the time it took to complete requests for housing benefits from 36 days to less than 24 hours by capturing data and automating the process.

"There is this false choice between open government for machines and open government for people. We shouldn't look at it as a choice. We want to do both," Pinkerton said. "The fact that we're presenting data in PDF is not a bad thing. It's that we're not presenting it in [parseable] formats as well."

Johnson agreed that part of the responsibility for ensuring data is usable rests with the government.

Commercial interests aside, the conference delivered on its intent to educate and stoke conversation about the practicality of online transparency. Roberts, during her speech, commended Sunlight for pressing Congress to post legislation online for 72 hours prior to consideration.

A Sunlight Foundation representative even attended and asked Roberts about the benefits and consequences of transparency to civil society. Roberts reiterated what she had said during her presentation, which is transparency can combat misinformation but also carries unintended consequences. For example, Flu.gov has clarified for the public that the H1N1 vaccine shot does not contain a live virus.

Sometimes officials are less candid if they know their words will be published. "Monday you had online live-streaming of the president's meeting with his economic advisers. As a result of that, I suspect nothing happened," Roberts said. She added that citizens should view such episodes with a grain of salt.

She also praised Recovery.gov, the official stimulus spending-tracker, which "has turned out to be a gold mine for us journalists," and the IT Dashboard, a Web site that monitors the progress of IT contracts.

"Yes, sunlight is by and large a really good thing, but it does make it harder to get things done," Roberts said. "It is harder to get a bill passed when you can't cut a deal."