You heard right. “The Official Business Link To The US Government” is getting more transparent as of this writing. It has to do with the recent OGD (Open Government Directive).
“In the Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government, issued on January 21, 2009, the President instructed the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to issue an Open Government Directive. Responding to that instruction, this memorandum is intended to direct executive departments and agencies to take specific actions to implement the principles of transparency, participation, and collaboration set forth in the President’s Memorandum. This Directive was informed by recommendations from the Federal Chief Technology Officer, who solicited public comment through the White House Open Government Initiative.”
There’s more information on this directive on The White House website. Including this;
“The three principles of transparency, participation, and collaboration form the cornerstone of an open government. Transparency promotes accountability by providing the public with information about what the Government is doing. Participation allows members of the public to contribute ideas and expertise so that their government can make policies with the benefit of information that is widely dispersed in society. Collaboration improves the effectiveness of Government by encouraging partnerships and cooperation within the Federal Government, across levels of government, and between the Government and private institutions.”
So, just what are the folks behind the scenes at Business.Gov doing? (Disclosure; I write the monthly community franchise column on Business.Gov. )
The team over at Business.Gov is in the process of making their computers talk to your computer. The reason for this is stated over at Business.Gov, and is below;
“One of the goals of the OGD is to publish government information online to increase accountability, promote informed participation by the public, and create economic opportunity. By requiring agencies to create web services, the government is slowly giving the public access to information in a methodical and logical way.”
The team at Business.Gov started working on making their data more accessible early in 2009.
Go here to see what is available for you, whether you are a prospective or current small business owner. It’s pretty amazing. And it’s really transparent.
Do you feel that this is a good start?
