Panel: Obama's open government directive faces hurdles

The Obama administration's open government directive is a step toward enhancing transparency and democracy, but it still has a ways to go, technology observers said on Tuesday.

Panelists at a State of the Union for Technology event hosted by The Atlantic magazine in Washington, said that while the mandate could have meaningful results, the challenge is translating innovative ideas into actual government policy.

The administration has to find inexpensive ways to innovate, federal Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra said in his opening remarks. The open government directive gives agencies a free online platform to gather feedback, and since agencies launched their individual pages earlier in February, the administration has received 7,500 comments and ideas from the public.

Chopra also praised the recent launch of two new public engagement opportunities. The Education Department's Open Innovation Portal solicits ideas for school improvement, and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy is seeking feedback on the smart grid consumer interface. Chopra also mentioned upcoming open government policy guidance from the Office of Management and Budget due March 8 on properly awarding prizes for competitions soliciting ideas to improve government.

Chopra said the administration doesn't expect these initiatives to be perfect from Day One.

"[We] launch with 'good enough,' get feedback and improve over time -- that's our philosophy," he said.

The initiative indicates a renewed push to get information out, said Daniel Castro, senior analyst at the nonprofit Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, adding that increasing transparency is where the most progress has occurred. But other panelists said that the administration still has an uphill battle.

"The problem is that it is all being done in a highly partisan, highly critical environment, so 'good enough' is attacked in a way that makes it hard to move forward," said Leslie Harris, president and chief executive officer at the Center for Democracy and Technology.

Panelists also questioned whether public wikis and comment periods are effective tools for innovation and agreed that feedback should relate to deliverable outcomes.

Castro said some of the top responses to the directive were familiar recommendations, noting that it isn't an issue of getting ideas into government but rather how to put good policies into action.

"There isn't an app for everything in government," Harris said. "The government needs to be very clear that this isn't an immediate process. Expectations are set too high."

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