Open Government

Research Note: Is Your Government Open or Closed? October 2011 8 Department Mission Office of the Chief Information Officer’s GSA Technology Enterprises (Key roles: Acquisition Analyst Support, Contracting Officer) Procures the next generation of enterprise IT services and support. Cloud Computing, Green IT, and Mobile Workforce are an integral part of operations looking to the future of Data Center Integration, Smart Building monitoring and control and cyber security. Gov 2.0 Accomplishments of the GSA The GSA is helping the Administration move toward a more citizen-centered government by providing tools that simplify the engagement process for its agencies and citizens. The GSA launched Challenge.gov, where government agencies are now crowdsourcing solutions to identified problems. Agencies are able to post challenges, create blogs and discussions and reward winners with social or monetary incentives. The website enables users to search for challenges; share ideas with the government; submit possible solutions through text, video, files or links; and support challenges by following their progress or writing congratulatory notes to winners. The GSA has been called the “engine behind the administration‟s „cloud-first‟ strategy.” Its Info.Apps.gov was created to help agencies gather information on how cloud computing can help create sustainable, more cost-effective IT Services for the federal government. In addition to a cloud RFQ, info.apps.gov includes links to highlighted articles about public sector cloud computing, a calendar of upcoming cloud-related events, details about cloud computing, reference documents, usage scenarios and case studies from several agencies. The GSA‟s Notifications.USA.gov was established in September 2010 to give the public easy access to real-time updates on topics ranging from food recalls to weather emergencies. A single entry point offers citizens a direct view of the key information flowing out of federal government at any moment. The site now redirects to the main usa.gov page. The GSA is also intent on opening up procurement and bringing in notions of transparency and collaboration. The Better Buy Project, for instance, is a space online to co-create the specification for certain goods and services with their suppliers. This is currently expanding dialogue with the acquisitions community to make government buying more open and collaborative. Through the Making Mobile Gov initiative, the Office of Citizen Services and Innovative Technologies aimed at getting agencies to collaborate on their use of mobile assets to find better ways to disseminate government information to the public. They plan to pull together a host of mobile initiatives that already exist across the federal government and work with the stakeholders involved to form a more strategic direction.