E-government fund could be cut, group warns

Federal transparency programs that include Data.gov and USASpending.gov would have their budgets drop sharply during the next six months under the fiscal 2011 budget packages in Congress.

The General Services Administration is requesting $34 million for the Electronic Government Fund for fiscal 2012, the same level as fiscal 2010. But that $34 million would be reduced to $2 million for the remainder of the fiscal year under two separate pieces of fiscal 2011 budget legislation, according to the Sunlight Foundation, a transparency advocacy group. According to the White House’s IT Dashboard, Data.gov has cost $8.3 million and USASpending.gov has cost $13.3 million.
According to the GSA’s spending request for fiscal 2012, the program areas paid for by the e-government fund are:
Federal cloud computing services, including infrastructure as a service, software as a service and platform as a service.
The Citizens Engagement Platform and Web 2.0 account provide tools for public dialogue, new media and engagement, including a Citizen Services Delivery Dashboard and Challenge.gov.
Implementation of the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act, including USASpending.gov and several online dashboards.
The Efficient Federal Workforce initiative to support collaboration platforms, including Fedspace.gov.
Accessible and transparent government information through Data.gov.