Openness In Government – Barack Obama

This is a somewhat ironic follow-up to the earlier rant about Gordon Brown’s wish to keep embarrassing UK government activities secret.

Actions speak louder than words.  On his very first packed full day in office, Barak Obama has pledged an era of openness.   He has promised a transparent government and said he would change the way the federal government interprets the freedom of information act.

He said he was directing agencies that vet requests for information to err on the side of making information public — not to look for reasons to legally withhold it — an alteration to the traditional standard of evaluation.

Just because a government agency has the legal power to keep information private does not mean that it should, Obama said. Reporters and public-interest groups often make use of the law to explore how and why government decisions were made; they are often stymied as agencies claim legal exemptions to the law.

To achieve this transparency, he promised to apply the very best technology.

Obama’s administration will utilize cutting-edge technologies to give Americans access to his administration’s records and he will likely appoint a chief technology officer who will ensure that government and all its agencies have the right infrastructure policies and services for the 21st century.

Among Obama’s proposals are the creation of internet databases for lobbying reports, ethics records and campaign finance filings as well as a “contracts and influence” database to track federal contractors’ spending and lobby efforts.

One hopes that other national leaders will follow Obama’s lead.  Gordon Brown has backed off his threat to keep the MPs expenses data secret, which would have been voted on tomorrow.  Given the timing it would look as though the Facebook hornet’s nest (now at 8,400 members at the time of writing) that developed had more to do with the change of heart than a wish to emulate the US president.

One hopes the same spirit of openness begins to be more apparent in Canada than is the current norm.  However it is somewhat disheartening to see that the current version of the freedom of information legislation website has only an outdated copy of the legislation available.

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