Comments on: what’s the benefit of open? http://changecamp.ca/2009/02/whats-the-benefit-of-open/ Re-imagine government and citizenship in the age of participation Fri, 11 Nov 2011 00:25:32 -0800 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Darren Chartier http://changecamp.ca/2009/02/whats-the-benefit-of-open/comment-page-1/#comment-30 Darren Chartier Thu, 19 Feb 2009 22:02:37 +0000 http://changecamp.ca/?p=144#comment-30 good point Sean, but to be fair in the public sector the control of the coffers isn't really a carrot, but almost always a stick. sure it's great when you get more funding, but all agencies/departments/etc are always asking for more money so having a new strategic direction to link your budget proposal to doesn't really count as a carrot in my opinion. or at least it's nothing new.. what i'm interested in is how do they get organizations to honestly and truly approach the question of transparency. throwing money at the issue doesn't really accomplish much without real attitude change on behalf of the people who are spending the money. my hunch is that he's going to have to find one or two agencies or departments who are already primed for increased transparency, with people in place (in the trenches and middle management) who already have the attitude necessary to make sure that money devoted is spent wisely, and either encourage executive management to accelerate their approach or replace senior management with people who are as committed as he is to getting it done. accelerate the transparency in a couple key agencies, and develop process/tools/technology and examples that can show the benefits of transparency to the less enthusiastic parts of government. use those examples/processes/tools/tech/etc as the carrots i guess if i'm to go back to my original question. d_c good point Sean, but to be fair in the public sector the control of the coffers isn’t really a carrot, but almost always a stick. sure it’s great when you get more funding, but all agencies/departments/etc are always asking for more money so having a new strategic direction to link your budget proposal to doesn’t really count as a carrot in my opinion.

or at least it’s nothing new.. what i’m interested in is how do they get organizations to honestly and truly approach the question of transparency. throwing money at the issue doesn’t really accomplish much without real attitude change on behalf of the people who are spending the money.

my hunch is that he’s going to have to find one or two agencies or departments who are already primed for increased transparency, with people in place (in the trenches and middle management) who already have the attitude necessary to make sure that money devoted is spent wisely, and either encourage executive management to accelerate their approach or replace senior management with people who are as committed as he is to getting it done.

accelerate the transparency in a couple key agencies, and develop process/tools/technology and examples that can show the benefits of transparency to the less enthusiastic parts of government. use those examples/processes/tools/tech/etc as the carrots i guess if i’m to go back to my original question.

d_c

]]> By: Sean Howard http://changecamp.ca/2009/02/whats-the-benefit-of-open/comment-page-1/#comment-20 Sean Howard Mon, 16 Feb 2009 02:03:42 +0000 http://changecamp.ca/?p=144#comment-20 Hey Darren, Great questions. There's a key part to the memo that is easily overlooked. The memo calls on a few players, but namely the "Office of Management and Budget (OMB)" to be responsible for a plan to enable and enforce these principles across departments and agencies. This is critical. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the organization that funds all these departments and agencies when it comes down to it. http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/organization/role.aspx The Obama Team did more than issue a memo giving everyone a heads up of what is coming, they made sure everyone saw the teeth and the potential for a carrot. Having the organization that is responsible for funding issue the plan was quite brilliant, in my mind. But I believe you raise a good point. I don't think it was clear to the administration how they were going to fund these initiatives yet as this memo came out so quickly. Hey Darren,

Great questions.

There’s a key part to the memo that is easily overlooked. The memo calls on a few players, but namely the “Office of Management and Budget (OMB)” to be responsible for a plan to enable and enforce these principles across departments and agencies.

This is critical. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the organization that funds all these departments and agencies when it comes down to it. http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/organization/role.aspx

The Obama Team did more than issue a memo giving everyone a heads up of what is coming, they made sure everyone saw the teeth and the potential for a carrot. Having the organization that is responsible for funding issue the plan was quite brilliant, in my mind.

But I believe you raise a good point. I don’t think it was clear to the administration how they were going to fund these initiatives yet as this memo came out so quickly.

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