Agencies to use Ideascale software for online forums

Cabinet-level departments and large agencies plan to launch online discussion forums by Feb. 6 using IdeaScale software.

The deal was announced Tuesday by the General Services Administration, which arranged it. Access to the forum technology will be free to agencies. President Obama ordered agencies to create online forums by Feb. 6 to solicit the public's opinions on what information the government should make more publicly accessible as part of his Open Government initiative. A GSA spokeswoman said the agency decided upon using IdeaScale after comparing no-cost dialogue tools. Ideascale won out because it provided features, such as allowing citizens to submit their own ideas as well as voting on others' ideas, and because it already had a proven track record at the White House and the Federal Communications Commission. Twenty-one agencies — including all Cabinet-level departments and most of the largest non-Cabinet level agencies — have signed up so far to use the tool, said David McClure, GSA's associate administrator for the Office of Citizen Services and Communications.