Open Government — Evaluating Our Progress
Open Government Plan Self Evaluation
The following is a self-evaluation — based on criteria provided by the White House — of our Open Government Plan as if April 23, 2010.
- Red — plan does not satisfy the requirement
- Yellow — plan partially satisfies the requirement
- Green — plan fully satisfies the requirement
- N/A — not applicable
*The numbers below the colored sections indicate the pages in which they are located.
Overall Rating |
 |
Formulating the Plan in the Open |
 |
Transparency Strategic Action Plan |
|
Participation |
|
Collaboration |
|
Flagship Initiative |
|
Formulating the Plan in the Open
1. Was multidisciplinary collaboration involved in formulating the plan? |
(5-7) |
2. Was public consultation involved in crafting the plan? |
(6-7) |
3. Was the plan published in an open format, online, on time and on the open government page and with raw data? http://www.dol.gov/open/OGDplan.htm |
|
4. Is there a plan for continued public engagement as part of the review and modification of the open government plan? |
|
Transparency Strategic Action Plan
5. Does the plan contain a strategic action plan that inventories agency high-value information currently available for download? |
(15-16) |
6. Is there a plan to foster the public's use of this information to increase public knowledge and promote public scrutiny of agency services? |
|
7. Does the action plan identify high value information not yet available and establish a reasonable timeline for publication online in open formats with specific target dates? |
(24-25) |
8. For agencies providing public information in electronic format: Is there a plan for timely publication of underlying data for public information maintained in electronic format? |
(24-25) |
9. Does the plan identify key audiences for information and their needs, and the agency endeavors to publish high-value information for each of those audiences in the most accessible forms and formats? |
|
10. Is there a plan to demarcate educational material as free for re-use? |
 N/A |
11. Does the plan detail compliance with transparency initiative guidance, and where gaps exist, detailed steps the agency is taking and the timing to meet the requirements for each initiative: |
(15-19) |
a. Data.gov |
|
b. eRulemaking |
|
c. IT Dashboard |
|
d. Recovery.gov |
|
e. USAspending.gov |
|
12. Are there details of proposed actions (with clear milestones) to inform the public of significant actions and business of the agency (e.g. agency public meetings, briefings, press conferences, town halls)? |
|
13. Does the plan address existing record management requirements by providing: |
(21-22) |
a. Website link http://www.dol.gov/dol/records/ |
|
b. Identifying and scheduling all electronic records |
|
c. Timely transfer of all permanently valuable records to the National Archives |
|
14. Does the plan address FOIA by providing: |
(19-21) |
a. Website link? |
|
b. Staffing, organizational structure, and process for responding to FOIA requests? |
|
c. Assessment of capacity to analyze, coordinate and respond to requests in a timely manner? |
|
d. If there is a significant FOIA backlog, details on how the agency will reduce the backlog by 10% each year? |
|
15. Does the plan address congressional requests by providing a: |
(21) |
a. Website link? |
|
b. Staffing, organizational structure, and process for responding to Congressional requests? |
|
16. Does the plan address declassification, if applicable by providing a: |
N/A (22) |
a. Website link? |
|
b. Where the public can learn about declassification programs, accessing declassified materials, and provide input about what types of information should be prioritized for declassification? |
|
Participation
17. Does the plan explain how the agency will improve participation, including steps the agency will take to revise its current practices to increase opportunities for public participation in and feedback on the agency's core mission activities (including proposed changes to internal management and administrative policies to improve participation)? |
(25-30) |
18. Does the plan describe and provide links to websites for the public to engage in existing participatory processes? |
(25-29) |
19. Are there proposals for new feedback mechanisms (including innovative tools and practices for public engagement)? |
|
Collaboration
Does the plan list steps the agency will take to revise its current practices to further collaboration: |
|
20. With other Federal and non-Federal government agencies? Including the use of technology platforms to this end? |
 |
21. With the public? Including the use of technology platforms? |
|
22. With non-profit and private entities? Including technology platforms? |
|
23. Are there links to websites that describe existing collaboration efforts of the agency? |
|
24. Does the plan describe the Innovative methods (e.g. prizes and collaborations) to increase collaboration with the private sector, non-profit, and academic communities? |
|
Flagship Initiative
25. Does the plan include at least one specific flagship engagement? |
(12-14) |
26. Does the description provide an overview of the initiative: how it addresses one or more of the three openness principles and how it aims to improve agency operations? |
(12) |
27. Does it identify external partners for collaboration (if appropriate)? |
|
28. Is there a plan for public participation in contributing innovative ideas to the flagship? |
(13-14) |
29. Does the description explain how the improvements to transparency, participation and/or collaboration will be measured? |
(9) |
30. Does the flagship include a description of sustainability and room for improvement? |
(13-14) |
High Value Data
Score: Meets Expectations
On Friday, January 22, the Department of Labor posted six raw data sets on data.gov including the Department of Labor Research and Evaluation Inventory, Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Protection Act (MSPA) Registered Farm Labor Contractor Listings, OSHA Data Initiative - Establishment Specific Injury and Illness Rates, Project GATE (Growing America Through Entrepreneurship) Final Evaluation Dataset, Public Workforce System Dataset (PWSD), and the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Net Impact Evaluation Dataset. All six are also available for free download at www.dol.gov/open.
This data helps to improve public knowledge of the Department of Labor and our work provides the public with useful information about the quality and effectiveness of our programs, and showcases incredibly important information data about workplace safety. The public can use this data to find certified farm labor contractors in their area, see workplace injury and illness rates, and evaluate program performance.
In addition, DOL made nine other items available online for the first time, including the EBSA Form 5500 data and the OSHA Weekly Fatality Report, which have been frequently requested by the public and through FOIA requests. All of this data is available at www.dol.gov/open/data.htm.
Data Integrity
Score: Meets Expectations
On January 29, the Department of Labor designated Dan Lacey, Acting Deputy Chief Financial Officer, to be accountable for the quality and objectivity of, and internal controls over, the Federal spending information publicly disseminated through such public venues as USAspending.gov or other similar Web sites. Lisa Fiely had been performing these duties prior to her retirement.
Open Government Web Page
Score: Meets Expectations
On Tuesday, January 19, the Department of Labor published its open government information Web page at www.dol.gov/open. This page features the latest economic statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, highlights recently added data — including items not eligible for submission to data.gov, links to the many ways people can connect with the Department online, and shares how citizens can provide feedback that will make this site, and DOL's work, even better and more engaging. It also provides online access to our annual FOIA report.
Public Engagement
The Department of Labor's /open page offers a variety of ways that the public can provide ideas, comments, and feedback on our open government initiatives. We are conducting extensive stakeholder outreach to gather ideas from many of the businesses, organizations, and individuals who are touched by the services we provide. In addition, we are using our extensive social media networks to engage the public online in conversations on open government and drive traffic to the public engagement tool featured on our /open site. We have a team of staff in place to moderate and respond to public comments, and will be featuring highlighted comments on our new blog, twitter feed, and Facebook page to further drive discussion. In addition to our outreach to the public, we will be conducting a number of internal employee education sessions on the value and impact of open government, and will use these as an opportunity to encourage employees to take part in submitting ideas through our public engagement tool.
