Memo highlights Obama strategy on making government data usable

A new draft paper from President Obama’s budget office reveals the Administration’s strategy to making government information more accessible and usable. The strategy, titled "Building a Future-Ready Digital Government" and circulated for discussion among federal agencies last week by the White House Office of Management and Budget, is intended to make it possible for citizens, private-sector businesses and government agencies to access high-quality digital government information on computers, cellphones and other platforms, something that now can be exceedingly difficult to do.

The “Future-Ready” strategy laid out in the draft has two overarching goals: to enable citizens and an increasingly mobile workforce to access high-quality digital government information and services anywhere, anytime on any device; and to ensure that the government procures and manages devices, applications and data in smart, secure and affordable ways. Upon examination, the strategy appears to build upon a foundation of several highly publicized executive orders signed by President Obama in his first days after taking office, including the "President's Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government" and OMB's own "Open Government Directive."