Open Government Public Engagement Sessions

[Daniel York - M1ET]

Hello everyone,

We are pleased to share that we are making progress on implementing the Government’s Fifth Open Government National Action Plan, and are writing to invite the public to participate in the following engagement sessions:

July 2023

• July 12th, 11:00AM - Noon EST – Transforming Government Service Delivery – Register Here 
• July 20th, 2:00PM - 3:30PM EST – Increasing Civic Space to Engage the Public – Register Here 

August 2023

·       August 16th, 1:00PM - 2:00PM EST – Improving Access to Government Data, Research, and Information – Register Here

For more information on this Open Government work, as well as future opportunities for engagement and feedback, you can visit https://open.usa.gov.

Thank you for your continued support!

Sincerely,

	U.S. General Services Administration
	Daniel W. York Director, IT Data Transparency Office of Government-wide Policy Office 202-357-9624 | Mobile 202-384-8778

[alexande...@gmail.com]

Hi Daniel,

Thank you for the update on these three sessions. I've registered & look forward to speaking with you and others next week.

This is the first time this forum as heard from the U.S. government since December 28, 2022. There is no acknowledgement or recognition of the questions or concerns that have been raised here, including the unmet promise to hold sessions in June 2023, which has since been erased from this page: https://open.usa.gov/national-action-plan/5/schedule-of-2023-engagement-sessions/

This forum is meant to feature ongoing dialogue, not one way communication that announces meetings that then shift without notice. Members of civil society have repeatedly asked that the US government begins to show its work implementing commitments, as part of a larger investment in the capacity necessary to reclaim international leadership though example: https://www.opengovpartnership.org/stories/six-ways-the-united-states-can-lead-by-example-on-open-government/

As a reminder to all, every member of OGP are expected to comply with participation and co-creation standards, which the US government has violated in both the 4th NAP and 5th NAP, including a space in which government and civil society "meets regularly" – "at least every six months."

https://www.opengovpartnership.org/ogp-participation-co-creation-standards/

This meeting in July will be more than 6 months after the 5th NAP dropped. Stakeholders can and should expect monthly updates from the White House Open Government Working Group, with ongoing progress from accountable officials posted to Github, and to be invited to meet in person, not to be relegated to Zoom.

It is not collaborative for the US government to unilaterally decree that these three sessions will focus on narrow specific themes, as opposed to discussion of the flaws in process or product to date, much less the significant, ongoing issues related to open government in the USA that civil society members have been highlighting and calling for commitments and action on over a decade.

Pushing a discussion on commitments related to "countering corruption" and "ensuring government integrity and accountability to the public," and ensuring "equal justice under law" to TBD in September is reminiscent of the US government going silent from April to October last year. These are critical areas for action, not words: we should be hearing from senior officials about progress on all of the commitments in the NAP on an ongoing basis, punctuated by a press conference every quarter where the members of civil society and US officials who (in theory!) co-created commitments take questions on progress or the lack thereof.

Further relegating US government efforts on open government to the opacity of obscurity will erode the positive impact that would come from broader public awareness of these initiatives and delivery on these commitments. Please schedule in-person roundtables that feature open discussion:

https://www.opengovpartnership.org/stories/six-ways-the-united-states-can-lead-by-example-on-open-government/

Best,

Alex Howard