CIOs Embrace Open Government

Federal chief information officers have embraced the Obama administration's open government initiative by trying to increase access to government information and encouraging public participation and collaboration, a new survey of these officials released Tuesday found.

The 20th annual survey of CIOs, conducted by TechAmerica and Grant Thornton, found that CIOs are trying to improve access to government information through portals such as Data.gov, USASpending.gov, Recovery.gov and the Federal IT Dashboard and aiming to increase public participation through social media, wikis, Web. 2.0, Twitter and next-generation Web applications. "The CIOs think that broadening public participation and involvement in government will create greater trust in government, increase the value that citizens receive from government, and unleash innovation with respect to governing and government services," Paul Wohlleben, a partner in the Global Public Sector practice at Grant Thornton, LLP, said.