@Recovery.gov

Transparency And The Rise Of The Twitterati: ‘Federal Spending’ Episode 10

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The combination of social media and transparency in federal spending adds up to boatloads of data. But what impact do these forces have on federal policy? Perhaps more to the point: Is policy driving change, or is change driving policy?

Social media experts John Crupi, chief technology officer for JackBe, and Gov20LA founder Alan Silberberg joined host Eric Kavanagh on the latest episode of Federal Spending — an online radio broadcast designed to follow the money, not the politics — to discuss how social media and the push for transparency are shaping government policy and process. Keep reading →

Published January 26, 2012 at 3:45 PM

Final Words From Retiring Recovery Board Leader

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In this column, which originally appeared at Recovery.gov, Earl E. Devaney provides his outlook for the future in the weeks prior to his retirement Dec. 31. The final installment in a series of columns he wrote on the lessons he has learned from his work on the Recovery Board was published in November. The column originally appeared at Recovery.gov.

In a few days, my 41-year career in government ends. Through this column, the Recovery Board has given me a platform from which to address the need for more transparency and accountability in government, an issue of great importance to all Americans. In this farewell column, I am providing a status report on our work and what might lie ahead. Keep reading →

Published December 19, 2011 at 2:00 PM

Federal Procurement Data System – Next Generation Needs Yet Another Generation

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The purpose of the USDebtClock.org is to inform the public of the dire financial condition of the United States of America–and it does it a pretty good job. The origin and history of the National Debt Clock from physical billboard to online is told in Wikipedia.

The US Government has recently featured several spending dashboards (Recovery.gov, IT Spending.gov, etc.) and most recently the Federal Procurement Data System – Next Generation. Keep reading →

Published November 30, 2011 at 1:31 PM

Four Lessons Learned Using Dashboards in Government

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Someone suggested I review the new IBM Center for The Business of Government report on Use of Dashboards in Government by Sukumar Ganapati, Florida International University, pointing out one irony off the bat: There aren’t a lot of examples of dashboard illustrations in this report. So I first decided to create a dashboard of this PDF report in my social knowledgebase and use it to analyze the report, and reference all of my dashboard work relating to most of the examples in this report.

The report lists the following 11 dashboards (with links to my 7 recreated dashboards added): Keep reading →

Published October 27, 2011 at 12:56 PM

Recovery.gov: A Good Start But Show Us All the Missing Data

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Recovery.gov is the U.S. government’s official website that provides easy access to data related to Recovery Act spending and allows for the reporting of potential fraud, waste, and abuse. My AOL colleague, Richard Walker wrote recently about how Recovery.gov “Shows The Power Of Transparency In Tracking Federal Spending” since the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board [RAT Board] has provided “a commendable model of transparency… the tremendous success of the RAT Board is worthy of replication throughout the federal bureaucracy.”

He also mentions how the proposed Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2011 (DATA Act) would establish consistent data elements and standards for federal financial information to assure comparability and reliability in reported information and how recipient reporting through federalreporting.gov is the most cutting-edge feature of the transparency process and should be an integral part of federal spending accountability. Keep reading →

Published September 8, 2011 at 3:00 PM

Recovery.gov Shows The Power Of Transparency In Tracking Federal Spending

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Whether the government’s $787 billion economic stimulus plan has actually worked may be the stuff of contentious political debate, but even partisans seem to agree that the processes and systems designed to track that money are helping to lay the foundation for better transparency and accountability in government spending.

Case in point: Rep. Darryl Issa (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and a vociferous advocate of transparency and accountability in federal spending, said that while he continues to have concerns about “the effectiveness and prudence” of President Obama’s trillion-dollar stimulus, the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board [RAT Board] has provided “a commendable model of transparency…the tremendous success of the RAT Board is worthy of replication throughout the federal bureaucracy.” Keep reading →

Published August 23, 2011 at 7:00 AM

Feds@Work: Recovery.gov CIO Shawn Kingsberry

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When Shawn Kingsberry became the Chief Technology Officer of the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board in 2009, it had a blank slate – just a few good ideas and the urgency to create a terrific website.

So Kingsberry rolled up his sleeves and led the effort to create Recovery.gov, a site with bullet-proof security that attracted nearly one million visitors a month at its peak. It has become a model for disclosure and open government. Keep reading →

Published August 18, 2011 at 7:00 AM