Open Data Could Aid Spending Transparency

As the Treasury Department examines the next generation of federal financial management systems, one thing it’s keeping an eye out for is how those systems will aid the government’s open data efforts, federal Chief Information Officer Steven VanRoekel said Thursday.

After the White House published a new executive order and open data policy on May 9, Treasury was one of the first agencies to approach VanRoekel about it, he told reporters during a conference call marking the one-year anniversary of his digital government strategy.

Treasury officially disburses money Congress appropriates to agencies and is ground zero for federal financial management software. President Obama’s 2014 budget proposal suggested moving the spending transparency site USASpending.gov from the General Services Administration to Treasury.

Bringing USASpending and open data principles to the agency with the greatest amount of information on federal spending and revenue would “create a nice dynamism around spending transparency,” VanRoekel said.