Fwd: Announcing the Publication of the Mid-Term Self-Assessment for the U.S. 5th Open Government National Action Plan

[Alexander Howard]

FYI, for folks who aren’t on the GSA’s new list.

This assessment barely changed from the draft shared for review — much like the fifth national action plan that OSTP shared in late fall 2022. 

The self-assessment still doesn’t include critical elements and facts that invalidate various claims in it, along with a deeper issue of deception by omission: 

https://governing.digital/2024/06/21/the-u-s-governments-self-assessment-of-its-performance-on-open-government-suffers-from-opacity-and-omission/

The US government’s assessment omits the lack of civil society involvement in the plan launch - no press conference, no joint statement - and then complete disengagement and silence until the Secretariat was established and the U.S. government misrepresented the health of our domestic processes to the world in Estonia in September 2023.

There’s still no repository of the public comments the U.S. government received about open government in 2022 via web forms, email, & Zoom. OSTP took notes on those fall workshops conducted under Chatham House rule, but those aren’t online, either. Posting them would show that the U.S. government did not co-create this plan.

I understand the limits that the Secretariat team must evidently operate under, but it’s hard to read that the insights of the three comments they received on the Register were “instrumental” in shaping this document when the final version does not address the many omissions we documented. That’s deceptive. 

This was not a “milestone” for accountability for years of failures to co-create two NAPs and engage the public and press about them, after burying OGP inside of the GSA, far from the White House offices where policy is being made and power is exercised.

OGP will continue to be irrelevant to US politics if it’s limited to a FACA in GSA that has no support from the Oval Office, no Congressional involvement, no public awareness, & no multi-stakeholder network for that FACA to build upon.

Instead of responding to valid critiques of IRM and NGOs by revising commitments and adding new challenge commitments now, the U.S. is now ignoring feedback, again. It’s yet another missed opportunity to rebuild trust. 

Regretfully,

Alex

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Open Government Secretariat <opengovernme...@gsa.gov>
Date: Mon, Aug 5, 2024 at 11:16 AM
Subject: Announcing the Publication of the Mid-Term Self-Assessment for the U.S. 5th Open Government National Action Plan
To: <OPENG...@listserv.gsa.gov>

Dear friends and colleagues, 

We are pleased to announce the publication of the mid-term self-assessment of the United States’ 5th Open Government National Action Plan. The final version is available HERE. 

We extend our thanks to everyone who provided feedback and comments on the draft. Although this mid-term assessment is now complete, our work continues. We welcome your ongoing thoughts and feedback as we close out the 5th National Action Plan and prepare for the final self-assessment. Your ongoing engagement is crucial to our goal of fostering transparency, accountability, and public participation in government. 

Thank you for your support and partnership. 

Daniel York

Director, U.S. Open Government Secretariat

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