Open Government Directive

The Obama administration has created the Open Government Initiative in an effort to make the Federal Government more transparent and responsive to the every day person.  They base their efforts on three principles: transparency, participation, and collaboration.

• Transparency in government is meant to promote accountability within the government, agencies post what they are doing and what their plans entail.  Then the public can comment on the plans and execution.
• Participation allows citizens to provide input to the government, brainstorm ideas and solutions.  It enables citizens to take an active role in developing government programs and policies.
• Collaboration encourages partnership between agencies to take advantage of each others strengths and build upon each other's successes.

The problems along the Southern border fall directly within the participation and collaboration areas.  The use of social media technology encourages participation and takes advantage of people's innate desire to make a difference.

Collaboration enables peer development and shortens time to reality for ideas by taking advantage of our nation's collective intelligence.

References:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/open/documents/open-government-directive