Enabling Open Government:
Gov 2.0 Conference Highlighted Coming Changes

On September 9 and 10, 2009, luminaries of the technology world joined federal leaders in a conversation about using the Internet to overhaul government operations.

Gov 2.0 featured talk-show style interviews with senior officials and executives discussing some of the most interesting – and challenging – issues facing agencies today. Timely issues such as the role improved data management can play in improving health care and reducing costs, using data to measure the effectiveness of education practices, and the impact of open government practices on policy-making, were among the highlights. Additional highlights included:

In a keynote session Booz Allen Senior Vice President Lloyd Howell discussed trust frameworks.

“The ability to enable individualized interaction through tools and technologies that citizens use every day represents a tremendous opportunity for federal agencies with citizen-facing missions,” says Howell. “Because this Trust Framework can be applied with a common experience across all federal websites, every agency can take advantage of this approach to improve operational effectiveness and reduce costs.”
Vivek Kundra of the Office of Management and Budget, the first Federal CIO, appointed by President Obama in March, discussed government transparency initiatives and the challenges they raise in protecting the privacy and security of data, how federal policies may need to change to meet these concerns, and lessons to be learned from the private sector in implementing them.
Federal agencies are looking to use social media tools such as blogs, wikis, Twitter, and YouTube to communicate and collaborate with citizens. On Thursday morning Booz Allen’s Grant McLaughlin and Walton Smith demonstrated successful client implementations and discussed the need for a comprehensive strategy that incorporates everything from identifying goals to evaluating ROI.