Open government officials to testify before Senate panel

Just days after announcing the new open government directive that requires federal agencies to share government information with the public at new levels, the two White House appointees who announced the directive are scheduled to testify before a Senate task force on how technology can improve government performance.

The hearing, titled "Data-Driven Performance: Using Technology to Deliver Results," is scheduled to be part of the Senate Budget Committee’s task force on government performance.

Federal Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra; federal Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra; Roger Baker, the Veterans Affairs Department’s assistant secretary for information and technology; and Brad Douglas, Georgia’s commissioner of administrative services, are scheduled to testify today.

The new Open Government Directive mandates that federal agencies share data with the public at unprecedented levels. In 45 days of its release, the directive requires agencies to make at least three high-value datasets available to the public.

The Senate established the task force to examine the federal government’s management framework and identify opportunities to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of federal programs and services, according to the Budget Committee’s Web site.

The task force will examine federal program measurement systems that are intended to ensure that agencies efficiently implement policies and achieve those policies' goals. The task force also will look at how the government uses performance and program evaluation when forming budgets, and it plans to borrow best practices from public, private and nonprofit organizations, in addition to previous federal performance reform efforts.