First wave from states will test Recovery.gov's stimulus reporting mettle

The newly redesigned Recovery.gov, the Web site that reports on what’s happening with the $787 billion available through the economic stimulus spending law gets its first real test on Oct. 10.

That’s when organizations that have gotten stimulus money are to report their first round of measurement data.

“Recovery.gov site functionality is being deployed in phases, but this is an important milestone” in developing a transparent tool for public use, said a spokeswoman for Level 3 Communications, which is supplying content delivery network services for the site.

The new site launched Sept. 28. The original Recovery.gov Web portal provided information on the stimulus law, agency plans, reports, links to other information and some basic mapping of spending. However, it did a poor job of offering the transparency promised by President Barack Obama when he signed the law, according to officials.

Version 2.0 of the site runs on Microsoft SharePoint collaboration software instead of the original open-source technology, and has a new interface and graphics. More features are planned, including improved search and navigation capabilities and an open API to give application developers greater access to government data.