The White House is seeking assistance in developing best practices and metrics for public participation to help agencies better engage citizens as part of the U.S. Open Government National Action Plan released in September.
Federal Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra wrote on the White House blog that this effort will highlight those agencies that have incorporated the most useful and robust forms of public participation in order to encourage other agencies to learn from their example.
From Chopra:
Given the focus of this initiative, we thought it would be most appropriate to invite you to provide input and ideas on best practices and metrics for public participation, including but not limited to suggestions and recommendations that address the following questions:
- What are the appropriate measures for tracking and evaluating participation efforts in agency Open Government Plans?
- What should be the minimum standard of good participation?
- How should participation activities be compared across agencies with different programs, amounts of regulatory activity, budgets, staff sizes, etc.?
- What are the most effective forms of technology and web tools to encourage public participation, engage with the private sector/non-profit and academic communities, and provide the public with greater and more meaningful opportunities to influence agencies’ plans?
- What are possible mechanisms for agencies to increase the level of diversity of viewpoints and backgrounds brought to bear in their activities and decisions?
- What are the most effective strategies for ensuring that participation is well-informed?
- What are some examples of success stories involving strong public participation, as well as less-than-successful efforts, and what lessons can be drawn from them?
You can send thoughts to opengov@ostp.gov or use the web form provided by January 3.
