{"id":4379,"date":"2014-01-10T07:00:38","date_gmt":"2014-01-10T15:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/formtek.com\/blog\/?p=4379"},"modified":"2013-12-08T18:32:51","modified_gmt":"2013-12-09T02:32:51","slug":"open-government-white-house-revamps-action-plan-for-open-government","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/formtek.com\/blog\/open-government-white-house-revamps-action-plan-for-open-government\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Government: White House Revamps Action Plan for Open Government"},"content":{"rendered":"

The first US Open Government National Action Plan<\/a> was introduced in September 2011. \u00a0In December 2013, a second and revised National Action Plan<\/a> was announced.<\/p>\n

The new National Action Plan includes ten initiatives<\/a> that were designed to increase public integrity:<\/p>\n

Improve Public Participation in Government<\/strong> – expands the “We the People<\/a>” web site that allows citizens to solicit government through signed petitions.<\/p>\n

Modernize Management of Government Records<\/strong> – the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) will work with federal agencies to improve management of temporary and permanent email records<\/p>\n

Modernize the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)<\/strong> – the initiative will provide better training for FOIA professionals. \u00a0It will also consolidate the process for making FOIA requests so that a request can be made to any federal agency from a single web site<\/p>\n

Transform the Security Classification System<\/strong> – review recommendations made by the November 2012 Public Interest Declassification Board to try to reduce over-classification of information. \u00a0One goal of this effort is to make CIA and NARA unstructured data searchable.<\/p>\n

Implement the Controlled Unclassified Information Program<\/strong> – NARA will develop a program for managing controlled unclassified information<\/p>\n

Increase Transparency of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Activities<\/strong> – The white house will release annual public reports that detail activities of national security authorities<\/p>\n

Make Privacy Compliance Information More Accessible<\/strong> – Citizens should have better access to publicly-available privacy compliance reports and privacy policies<\/p>\n

Support and Improve Implementation of Open Government plans Across Federal Agencies<\/strong><\/p>\n

Strengthen and Expand Whistleblower Protections for Government Personnel<\/strong><\/p>\n

Increase Transparency of Legal Entities Formed in the US<\/strong><\/p>\n

But after the many recent revelations of the\u00a0spying activities of the NSA, many are skeptical of the public benefits that are really to be derived from the proposed policies.<\/p>\n

John Wonderlich<\/a>, policy director at the Sunlight Foundation, a nonprofit advocating government transparency, for example, said that<\/a> “just creating a new committee to oversee freedom of information requests isn\u2019t necessarily progress, it\u2019s just a new conversation. \u00a0It doesn\u2019t mean more FOIA requests will be granted.”<\/p>\n

Tom Fitton<\/a>, President of\u00a0Judicial Watch, said that<\/a> “the idea that transparency would be the cornerstone of his presidency is the same as saying if you like your health insurance you can keep it. \u00a0A lying president necessarily isn\u2019t a transparent president.”<\/p>\n

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The first US Open Government National Action Plan was introduced in September 2011. \u00a0In December 2013, a second and revised National Action Plan was announced. The new National Action Plan includes ten initiatives that were designed to increase public integrity:…<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more ›<\/a><\/div>\n

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