3.1: Developing our Open Government Plan

Develop the themes, elements, and details of this plan through a collaborative process.

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The themes, elements, and details of this plan were developed through a collaborative process which utilized the diverse skills of employees from across the Department, leveraged buy-in from senior leadership, and invited input from additional employees, stakeholder groups and the general public. Our efforts have been led by an Open Government Steering Committee made up of senior officials from our public affairs, policy, and technology groups: Carl Fillichio (Senior Advisor for Communications and Public Affairs), Kathleen Franks (Director, Office of Regulatory & Programmatic Policy), and Tom Wiesner (Deputy Chief Information Officer). Along with members of their staffs, this group developed the strategic vision for open government at DOL. The Open Government Steering Committee meets with our Deputy Secretary on a weekly basis and engages the entire senior management team, providing timely updates and opportunities for feedback. In July 2009, we organized an internal Open Government Workgroup (OGW) to champion public disclosure and public engagement throughout DOL. This group coordinated the release of our initial high-value data and these initial conversations helped to identify areas of focus for the development of this plan. We also organized a series of cross-agency focus groups to identify challenges and develop strategies to meet and exceed the specific components of the Open Government Directive. These groups tackled the specific themes of importance to implementing open government within the Department of Labor: Leadership and Governance; Culture Change; Data Identification and Publication; Public and Employee Engagement; Our Flagship Initiative; and the Legal, Security, and Record Keeping Implications. More than 70 employees – across all agencies and with a wide-variety of expertise – took part in these focus groups which helped to formulate our approach to open government discussed in Chapter 4. These discussions were also the launching point for honest dialogue about resistance and resources – both of which were recurring themes.

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