Today marks yet another Open Government Initiative deadline. Agencies are required to have their public comments submitted by today. So far there have been 2,000 ideas from the public and NASA has received the most suggestions. Other agencies that received more feedback than others were the Environmental Protection Agency, the Veterans Affair’s Department and the Department of Homeland Security.While today marks the deadline, officials encourage agencies to continue to engage with the public and receive suggestions. To track the agencies open government websites and the types of feedback they are getting visit Make Your Voice Heard.
Agencies have been required to respond to the public input on a regular basis as stated in the official Open Government Directive. It also stated “extensive public and employee engagement should take place during the formation of this plan, which should lead to the incorporation of relevant and useful ideas developed in that dialogue.â€
“Public engagement should continue to be part of your agency’s periodic review and modification of its plan. Your agency should respond to public feedback on a regular basis.†Each agency is required to submit an Open Government Plan to OMB next month.
