White House to Unveil Open Government Directive Today

**BREAKING BREAKING BREAKING MUST CREDIT FEDBLOG!!!1!**

Okay, not really. Via the "Sunlight Foundation":http://blog.sunlightfoundation.com/2009/12/07/white-house-to-announce-open-government-directive/ (and about a jillion "Gov 2.0 tweets":http://twitter.com/#search?q=%23gov20%20open%20directive), we learned late last night that the Obama Administration is finally ready to release the Open Government Directive. The guidance is expected to fill out and operationalize the "Open Government Memorandum":http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/TransparencyandOpenGovernment/ that, issued on the President's first full day in office, directed agencies and departments to find ways to become more transparent, participatory, and collaborative. Accompanying the release, the White House is doing a live webcast featuring U.S. CTO Aneesh Chopra, U.S. CIO Vivek Kundra -- and You, since the forum will also take live questions from viewers. (First "TIME Person of the Year":http://is.gd/5fY0T, now this! Pretty impressive.) You can watch the action unfold at 11:00 a.m. ET at "http://www.whitehouse.gov/live":http://www.whitehouse.gov/live.

Why is this so significant? Part of it is simply cultural. The initial Memo instantly strengthened the hand of those throughout government who had been insisting for a while that a more open and participatory government was both essential and inevitable; this Directive should only strengthen momentum and the sense of Presidential leadership on these issues. It's also worth noting that the original due date for the Directive -- May 21st, 2009 -- is, uh, a really long time ago. But to me, that's a good thing, because it means that lots of different voices were consulted in putting this together. Openness and transparency aren't their own separate mission or box on the org chart; they potentially affect everything that federal government does, and reflect a shared responsibility for senior managers, program folks, human capital, acquisition, legal, CIO, financial and performance managers, and, well, everyone. So it's good and essential that this not just be a project of the White House's resident tech enthusiasts. An Open Government Directive that's had consultation by "Jeff Zients":http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Zients and "Cass Sunstein":http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cass_Sunstein, for example, is one that's going to be a lot more effective at laying out performance management criteria and addressing regulatory issues than one that hasn't. So kudos to the White House for blowing past the deadline and giving this guidance the time it really needed.

Finally, no matter what gets said at this morning's webcast, a lot of attention will inevitably be put on the additional requirements, both procedural and in terms of resources, that the Directive places on agencies. And that's an absolutely valid concern. Making data free takes more resources than not making it free. Enabling the public to shape policies that affect their lives is harder than just making the decisions by yourself in a closed room. A "recent thread on GovLoop":http://www.govloop.com/forum/topics/in-7-words-or-less-how-ready asked folks whether their agencies were ready to implement the Open Government Directive; the general answer seemed to be, "Probably not, but who knows?"

But ultimately, I hope federal managers realize that the ability to inform and collaborate with other agencies, front-line employees, stakeholders, and citizens represents an unprecedented opportunity to do the work of government in a more informed, meaningful, and responsive way. It will be the responsibility of those who advocate for this path (and I include myself here) to demonstrate how that return on investment is captured, which is one reason that I'm really looking forward to the Directive's guidance on performance measurement. In the meantime, though, it's incredibly heartening to see the President's vision -- and that of thousands of folks across federal government and millions of folks outside it -- being fleshed out in an important and unmistakable way.