4: DOT-Specific Open Government Initiatives

Describe the DOT’s Open Government initiatives, designed to enhance openness and collaboration in mission areas.

Other Information:

This chapter describes the DOT’s Open Government initiatives, designed to enhance openness and collaboration in mission areas. The DOT’s flagship initiative is the “Regulation Room.” It is a pilot project in partnership with the Cornell e-Rulemaking Initiative (CeRI) to discover the best ways of using Web 2.0 and social networking technologies to further rulemaking efforts. This project is the first of its kind anywhere in Federal rulemaking and DOT hopes that it will help identify ways to make it easier for everyone to comment on regulatory topics that impact their lives, such as distracted driving or being bumped from an oversold airline flight. The goal is to increase public understanding of proposed rules and the rulemaking process and encourage more effective public input and collaboration. In addition, this chapter includes proposals for new feedback mechanisms and collaboration platforms designed to increase interaction and communication between the DOT and citizens. Finally, this chapter describes several Open Government related initiatives that are underway to enhance transparency.

Objective(s):

4.1: Flagship Initiative: Regulation Room

4.1.1: Background

4.1.2: How does the public normally get involved in the rulemaking process?

4.1.3: How will this project engage the public differently from the normal rulemaking process?

4.1.4: Which DOT strategic goals does this project support?

4.1.5: What types of proposed rules will be used in this pilot project?

4.1.6: How are the three principles of Open Government supported by this project?

4.1.7: Other Project Partners

4.1.8: Measuring Project Success and Project Sustainability

4.2: Proposals for New Feedback Mechanisms

4.2.1: Targeted Citizen Feedback Tool

4.2.2: Public Feedback on Strategic Plans

4.2.3: Data.gov Rating System

4.2.4: Supporting Aviation Consumer Protection

4.3: Proposals for New Collaboration Platforms

4.3.1: Use of Internal and External Collaboration Platform and Social Networking

4.3.2: Ideation

4.3.3: Secure Video Teleconferencing and Web Conferencing

4.4: Other Open Government Related Initiatives

4.4.1: New Web Site to Display Maps Illustrating DOT Data

4.4.2: Web 2.0 Business Service Catalog

4.4.3: DOT Web site Re-design

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