The White House released a progress report on its third Open Government National Action Plan (NAP) and added new commitments to the plan.
The new commitments include allowing contractors and open data experts to collaborate in order to improve contracting data in support of the Open Contracting Data Standard, working for the commitments made regarding U.S. membership in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, supporting the beginning of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals, increasing access to climate and Arctic information, and expanding the transparency of U.S. security sector assistance.
The administration will also work to increase access to Internet connectivity and release a Responsible Business Conduct National Action Plan, which promotes responsible business practices by U.S. companies operating abroad.
U.S. leaders met with the Open Government Partnership (OGP) and civil society organizations at the United Nations on Tuesday to announce these new goals.
“OGP has also introduced great opportunities for peer exchange among the 70 member countries,” Megan Smith, assistant to the president and U.S. chief technology officer, and Cori Zarek, deputy chief technology officer, wrote in a blog post. “Leaders in the United States have been able to share best practices with counterparts in dozens of countries on topics like open data, natural resource transparency, and citizen access to government information.”
Other specific projects include the U.S.-U.K. digital exchange, which allows the technology teams from those nations to collaborate, and the State Department’s International Visitor Leadership Program’s new digital track, where digital colleagues from different countries will meet to work on digital government issues.
“These efforts and more demonstrate the United States commitment to an open government, one that is more transparent, collaborative, and participatory,” Smith and Zarek said. “Over the coming months, the administration will continue to work hard to deliver against all of our open government commitments and to further expand peer exchange opportunities.”
The United States is working with other OGP countries to develop technologies that increase civic engagement.
The next OGP summit is taking place in Paris in December.
“We look forward to collaborating on charting the course ahead with OGP as it continues to grow and evolve,” Smith and Zarek said.
