View Executive Summary - Transparency as a Management Tool: Practical Recovery Act Strategies for Government Executives -

Agencies are feeling the urgency of the Obama administration’s transparency imperative. First through his January 21 openness memorandum, then with the February 18 OMB guidance for implementing the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and soon with the fiscal 2010 Budget, the President is making clear he wants federal spending, performance and management data up on the Web, accessible to the public and all stakeholders—NOW.

The major difficulty is in the “how,” of course. Across government, C-title executives and program managers are grappling with this new set of mandates and the unprecedented speed required.  But the push for transparency can be more than just a massive compliance exercise. It can become a tool for management transformation.

On Wednesday, April 15, 2009, the CGI Initiative for Collaborative Government and George Mason University hosted a breakfast discussion with C-level government executives on “Transparency as a Management Tool.”  The session offered senior government executives a chance to share tactics and lessons learned to assist in crafting a transparency management strategy going forward.

The interactive session featured:

• David McClure, Vice President, Gartner Research, author of the February 20 research brief, "Stimulus Spending Reporting Will Challenge U.S. Agencies" and co-author of the February 9 research brief, "Obama Takes Quick Steps to Ensure Open and Transparent Government." Having consulted with numerous government executives about the Recovery Act, Dave will brief the gathering on emerging information management approaches and offer guidance for agencies.  He is responsible for research and client support for public-sector IT management practices dealing with business case development, IT portfolio management, performance management, IT governance and strategic planning, business intelligence and CPM approaches in government, CIO organizational approaches, and e-government service delivery.  To see Mr. McClure's full bio, click here.
• Stan Czerwinski, Director of Strategic Issues at the Government Accountability Office. Stan is responsible for coordinating GAO's work on American Recovery and Reinvestment Act programs. He is the point of contact for recent March 5, 2009 testimony to Congress delivered by Gene Dodaro, Acting Comptroller General of the United States, entitled, “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act: GAO’s Role in Helping to Ensure Accountability and Transparency.”  For access to the March 5 GAO testimony, click here.
• Lisa Schlosser, Director of the Office of Information Collection at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Lisa heads up EPA's collection of environmental data submissions from state and local governments, industry and tribes, and is active in expanding EPA's data collection efforts to meet Recovery Act requirements. Before joining EPA, Lisa served as the Chief Information Officer for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
• Kshemendra Paul, Federal Chief Architect, Office of E-Government and IT, Office of Management and Budget, Executive Office of the President. Kshemendra is actively involved in OMB’s efforts to establish a central government-wide system for collecting mandatory reports from recipients of Recovery Act grants, contracts and loans.   To see Mr. Paul's full bio, click here.