- Value [1] Openness
- Making Openness More Effective. The Department has made a vast quantity of information available for the public, which can
in turn put that information to its own uses. The Department will continue to make more information available. These efforts
are valuable, however, only if the public knows that the information is there. Department personnel need to tell them. Going
forward, a component making a new category of information or data available should alert relevant audiences to its release.
The component that releases the data should also encourage a dialogue regarding the utility and quality of that data. Those
conversations will help guide future efforts to make high‐value data available, both by identifying additional data sets that
might be of value and by identifying ways to improve the quality of information made public. Likewise, when these conversations
reveal that certain data sets are not of significant value to the public, the Department may make informed decisions about
how to allocate its resources. The redactions necessary to comply with the Privacy Act and other requirements may sometimes
render an otherwise valuable data set of limited utility; in those instances, a constructive dialogue with the interested
audience may reveal that the Department should put its resources to making other, more valuable data sets available.
- Value [2] Accessibility
- Ensuring Accessibility for All. The Department is strongly committed not only to putting useful information into the public
domain, but also to ensuring that the information it provides is accessible to all Americans. Except when making certain content
available would impose an undue burden on the Department, all individuals with disabilities should have access to and the
use of information comparable to that provided to individuals without disabilities. All Department public Web sites shall
comply with the requirements of the Access Board set forth in response to Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. Individuals
who desire information that has not been made available more generally may nonetheless request it through the FOIA or other
appropriate channels.
- Value [3] Engagement and Collaboration
- Engaging Stakeholders and Collaborating with Partners. The Department has a unique responsibility to the public, but in almost
all of its work, it collaborates with and could not be successful without innumerable partners, including state, local and
tribal law enforcement, prosecutors, defense attorneys, courts, social service agencies, researchers and others. A hallmark
of Attorney General Holder’s leadership is the reinvigoration of these partnerships. As discussed below, the Department has
and will continue to engage in robust collaboration with state, local and tribal law enforcement. The Department has, however,
committed to much greater collaboration, for example, with the criminal defense bar on issues of access to justice; with researchers
on ensuring accountability by focusing on evidence‐based approaches; and with the courts on issues of mutual concern. The
Office of Intergovernmental and Public Liaison (OIPL) is the Department’s leader in these collaborative efforts and serves
as the Department’s external liaison to the public. OIPL staff manages and coordinates the Department’s efforts to inform
and engage the public, by maintaining relationships between the Department and state, local and tribal law enforcement, as
well as with non‐governmental organizations, including academic institutions, the business community and others on matters
relating to Department initiatives. Consistent with the spirit of providing easier methods for public engagement, OIPL will
continue reaching out and facilitating meetings among outside individuals, groups, elected officials and appropriate points
of contact within the Department. To improve its public engagement efforts, OIPL has recently begun sending to external groups
and stakeholders weekly collections of press clips and public events involving the Department’s senior officials. Pursuant
to the Open Government Directive, the office has begun distributing monthly newsletters concerning issues relevant to the
Department. And beginning in April of this year, OIPL will host a regular conference call for outside groups that will cover
a substantive policy issue or Department initiative.
- Value [4] Data Quality
- Ensuring the Quality of Data Provided. As the Department strives to make additional information available in a more timely
manner, there is an increased need to ensure the accuracy of that data. The Department recognizes that providing accurate
information is an important government responsibility. To help ensure the quality of information provided to the public, the
Department has guidelines for components to use as a foundation for developing detailed procedures related to data quality.
The Department’s information‐quality guidelines can be found at http://www.justice.gov/iqpr/dojinformationqualityguidelines.htm.
These guidelines represent the commitment of the Department’s senior leadership to ensuring that information provided to outside
parties has been subjected to quality control procedures and meets the Department’s information quality standards.
- Value [5] Commitment
- Sustaining Commitment. Opening government is not a single transaction, but an ongoing effort. To ensure that the Department’s
efforts continue, a responsible official from the Justice Management Division will be assigned to coordinate them. The official
will work with components to identify information that can be released even in the absence of a request, with media and technology
personnel to disseminate this information efficiently and accessibly and with other agencies to coordinate approaches for
even greater results. The official will be responsible for coordinating review and updates of this Plan and will be reachable
by the public and by Department employees at opengov@usdoj.gov. The Department will also continue to improve its use of new
avenues to communicate with the public. Through a redesigned, more user‐friendly Web site that was launched in October 2009,
a Justice blog that features stories from across the Department and third‐party social media tools, the Department is giving
the public better access to information through platforms that are already a regular part of the public’s daily online lives.
The Department’s Office of Public Affairs will work with offices throughout the Department to improve these efforts.
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