Proving Value of Open Government Falls to Agencies

Agency officials are faced with the burden of proving President Barack Obama’s Open Government Initiative is worth the effort, according to a panel of experts. Federal employees, especially those in the acquisition workforce, have been wary of a new system of openness and collaboration to add to their already overly complex procurement system, said Mary Davie, assistant Federal Acquisition Service commissioner for the Office of Integrated Technology Service at the General Services Administration.

“The first reaction we got was ‘No way,’ ” she said. It leaves in leaders’ hands the tough challenge of changing viewpoints from deeper in the agency. Those major advocates of the movement have to show the benefits of openness and reaching out to industry, said Dave McClure, GSA’s associate administrator of the Office of Citizen Services.

Open-government supporters however must wrestle with showing whether the initiative is a burden or a value, he said. “We have to ask that question,” McClure said, hosting a panel discussion at the Interagency Resources Management Conference, with Davie and several others.