On Transparency, CDT Waits for Obama to 'Show Us The Data'

The new administration of President Barack Obama's has a limited window to fulfill its promise of transparency in government, Center for Democracy & Technology officials said Tuesday. CDT vice president Ari Schwartz praised the Obama White House for making open government - an issue on which the president made central to his campaign and his image - a theme "from day one." The administration seems to make "another open government announcement literally every day," Schwartz said. While transparency is a "keystone, signature issue" for the new administration, making good on its promises "is going to be an interesting challenge," said CDT president and CEO Leslie Harris. The toughest aspect of changing the culture of secrecy in Washington is "a bureaucracy created for closure - not openness," Harris said. The administration has let 30 days pass on its self-imposed 120 day deadline to for the GSA, OMB and a yet-to-be-named National Chief Technology Officer to create a national directive on open government, Schwartz said. And with the signing of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and in launching the Recovery.gov web site, the Obama administration will face an early test.