1 

EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

 OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20503

 

 THE DIRECTOR

December 8, 2009 

M-10-06 

MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES

FROM: Peter R. Orszag

 Director

SUBJECT: Open Government Directive 

In the Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government, issued on January 21, 

2009, the President instructed the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to 

issue an Open Government Directive. Responding to that instruction, this memorandum is 

intended to direct executive departments and agencies to take specific actions to implement the 

principles of transparency, participation, and collaboration set forth in the President’s 

Memorandum. This Directive was informed by recommendations from the Federal Chief 

Technology Officer, who solicited public comment through the White House Open Government 

Initiative.

The three principles of transparency, participation, and collaboration form the 

cornerstone of an open government. Transparency promotes accountability by providing the 

public with information about what the Government is doing. Participation allows members of 

the public to contribute ideas and expertise so that their government can make policies with the 

benefit of information that is widely dispersed in society. Collaboration improves the 

effectiveness of Government by encouraging partnerships and cooperation within the Federal 

Government, across levels of government, and between the Government and private institutions.

This Open Government Directive establishes deadlines for action. But because of the 

presumption of openness that the President has endorsed, agencies are encouraged to advance 

their open government initiatives well ahead of those deadlines. In addition to the steps 

delineated in this memorandum, Attorney General Eric Holder earlier this year issued new 

guidelines1

 

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 for agencies with regard to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). With those 

guidelines, the Attorney General reinforced the principle that openness is the Federal 

Government’s default position for FOIA issues. 

http://www.usdoj.gov/ag/foia-memo-march2009.pdf
2 

 This memorandum requires executive departments and agencies to take the following 

steps toward the goal of creating a more open government: 

1. Publish Government Information Online

To increase accountability, promote informed participation by the public, and create 

economic opportunity, each agency shall take prompt steps to expand access to 

information by making it available online in open formats.2

a. Agencies shall respect the presumption of openness by publishing information 

online (in addition to any other planned or mandated publication methods) and by 

preserving and maintaining electronic information, consistent with the Federal 

Records Act and other applicable law and policy. Timely publication of 

information is an essential component of transparency. Delays should not be 

viewed as an inevitable and insurmountable consequence of high demand. 

 With respect to information, 

the presumption shall be in favor of openness (to the extent permitted by law and subject 

to valid privacy, confidentiality, security, or other restrictions). 

b. To the extent practicable and subject to valid restrictions, agencies should publish 

information online in an open format that can be retrieved, downloaded, indexed, 

and searched by commonly used web search applications. An open format is one 

that is platform independent, machine readable, and made available to the public 

without restrictions that would impede the re-use of that information. 

c. To the extent practical and subject to valid restrictions, agencies should 

proactively use modern technology to disseminate useful information, rather than 

waiting for specific requests under FOIA. 

d. Within 45 days, each agency shall identify and publish online in an open format at 

least three high-value data sets (see attachment section 3.a.i) and register those 

data sets via Data.gov. These must be data sets not previously available online or 

in a downloadable format. 

e. Within 60 days, each agency shall create an Open Government Webpage located 

at http://www.[agency].gov/open to serve as the gateway for agency activities 

related to the Open Government Directive and shall maintain and update that 

webpage in a timely fashion.

 

2 The Federal Government has defined information in OMB Circular A-130, “Management of Federal Information 

Resources,” as any communication or representation of knowledge such as facts, data, or opinions presented in any 

medium or format. 
3 

f. Each Open Government Webpage shall incorporate a mechanism for the public 

to: 

i. Give feedback on and assessment of the quality of published information; 

ii. Provide input about which information to prioritize for publication; and 

iii. Provide input on the agency’s Open Government Plan (see 3.a.). 

g. Each agency shall respond to public input received on its Open Government 

Webpage on a regular basis.

h. Each agency shall publish its annual Freedom of Information Act Report in an 

open format on its Open Government Webpage in addition to any other planned 

dissemination methods. 

i. Each agency with a significant pending backlog of outstanding Freedom of 

Information requests shall take steps to reduce any such backlog by ten percent 

each year.

j. Each agency shall comply with guidance on implementing specific Presidential 

open government initiatives, such as Data.gov, eRulemaking, IT Dashboard, 

Recovery.gov, and USAspending.gov. 

2. Improve the Quality of Government Information 

To improve the quality of government information available to the public, senior leaders 

should make certain that the information conforms to OMB guidance on information 

quality3

a. Within 45 days, each agency, in consultation with OMB, shall designate a highlevel senior official to be accountable for the quality and objectivity

 and that adequate systems and processes are in place within the agencies to 

promote such conformity. 

4

 

3 Information Quality Act, Pub. L. No. 106-554, section 515; see also, “Guidelines for Ensuring and Maximizing 

the Quality, Objectivity, Utility, and Integrity of Information Disseminated by Federal Agencies” (67 FR 8452) and 

your agency’s Information Quality Act guidelines. 

4 The Federal Government has defined quality and objectivity in, “Guidelines for Ensuring and Maximizing the 

Quality, Objectivity, Utility, and Integrity of Information Disseminated by Federal Agencies” (67 FR 8452). 

Quality is “...the encompassing term, of which ‘utility,’ ‘objectivity,’ and ‘integrity’ are the constituents.” 

“‘Objectivity’ focuses on whether the disseminated information is being presented in an accurate, clear, complete, 

and unbiased manner, and as a matter of substance, is accurate, reliable, and unbiased.”

of, and 

internal controls over, the Federal spending information publicly disseminated 
4 

through such public venues as USAspending.gov or other similar websites. The 

official shall participate in the agency’s Senior Management Council, or similar 

governance structure, for the agency-wide internal control assessment pursuant to 

the Federal Managers’ Financial Integrity Act.5

b. Within 60 days, the Deputy Director for Management at OMB will issue, through 

separate guidance or as part of any planned comprehensive management 

guidance, a framework for the quality of Federal spending information publicly

disseminated through such public venues as USAspending.gov or other similar 

websites. The framework shall require agencies to submit plans with details of 

the internal controls implemented over information quality, including system and 

process changes, and the integration of these controls within the agency’s existing 

infrastructure. An assessment will later be made as to whether additional guidance 

on implementing OMB guidance on information quality is necessary to cover

other types of government information disseminated to the public. 

 

c. Within 120 days, the Deputy Director for Management at OMB will issue, 

through separate guidance or as part of any planned comprehensive management 

guidance, a longer-term comprehensive strategy for Federal spending 

transparency, including the Federal Funding Accountability Transparency Act and 

the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act. This guidance will identify the 

method for agencies to report quarterly on their progress toward improving their

information quality. 

3. Create and Institutionalize a Culture of Open Government

 To create an unprecedented and sustained level of openness and accountability in every 

 agency, senior leaders should strive to incorporate the values of transparency, 

 participation, and collaboration into the ongoing work of their agency. Achieving a more 

 open government will require the various professional disciplines within the Government 

 – such as policy, legal, procurement, finance, and technology operations – to work 

 together to define and to develop open government solutions. Integration of various 

disciplines facilitates organization-wide and lasting change in the way that Government 

 works. 

a. Within 120 days, each agency shall develop and publish on its Open Government 

Webpage an Open Government Plan that will describe how it will improve 

transparency and integrate public participation and collaboration into its activities. 

 

5 The implementing guidance for the Federal Managers’ Financial Integrity Act can be found in OMB Circular A123, “Management’s Responsibility for Internal Control.”
5 

Additional details on the required content of this plan are attached. Each agency’s 

plan shall be updated every two years. 

b. Within 60 days, the Federal Chief Information Officer and the Federal Chief 

Technology Officer shall create an Open Government Dashboard on 

www.whitehouse.gov/open. The Open Government Dashboard will make 

available each agency’s Open Government Plan, together with aggregate statistics 

and visualizations designed to provide an assessment of the state of open 

government in the Executive Branch and progress over time toward meeting the 

deadlines for action outlined in this Directive. 

c. Within 45 days, the Deputy Director for Management at OMB, the Federal Chief 

Information Officer, and the Federal Chief Technology Officer will establish a 

working group that focuses on transparency, accountability, participation, and 

collaboration within the Federal Government. This group, with senior level 

representation from program and management offices throughout the 

Government, will serve several critical functions, including: 

i. Providing a forum to share best practices on innovative ideas to promote 

transparency, including system and process solutions for information 

collection, aggregation, validation, and dissemination; 

ii. Coordinating efforts to implement existing mandates for Federal spending 

transparency, including the Federal Funding Accountability Transparency 

Act and the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act; and 

iii. Providing a forum to share best practices on innovative ideas to promote 

participation and collaboration, including how to experiment with new 

technologies, take advantage of the expertise and insight of people both 

inside and outside the Federal Government, and form high-impact 

collaborations with researchers, the private sector, and civil society. 

d. Within 90 days, the Deputy Director for Management at OMB will issue, through 

separate guidance or as part of any planned comprehensive management 

guidance, a framework for how agencies can use challenges, prizes, and other 

incentive-backed strategies to find innovative or cost-effective solutions to 

improving open government. 

4. Create an Enabling Policy Framework for Open Government

Emerging technologies open new forms of communication between a government and the 

people. It is important that policies evolve to realize the potential of technology for open 

government. 
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a. Within 120 days, the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory 

Affairs (OIRA), in consultation with the Federal Chief Information Officer and 

the Federal Chief Technology Officer, will review existing OMB policies, such as

Paperwork Reduction Act guidance and privacy guidance, to identify 

impediments to open government and to the use of new technologies and, where 

necessary, issue clarifying guidance and/or propose revisions to such policies, to 

promote greater openness in government. 

 Nothing in this Directive shall be construed to supersede existing requirements for review 

and clearance of pre-decisional information by the Director of the Office of Management and 

Budget relating to legislative, budgetary, administrative, and regulatory materials. Moreover, 

nothing in this Directive shall be construed to suggest that the presumption of openness 

precludes the legitimate protection of information whose release would threaten national 

security, invade personal privacy, breach confidentiality, or damage other genuinely compelling 

interests.

If you have any questions regarding this memorandum, please direct them to

opengov@omb.eop.gov or call Nicholas Fraser, Information Policy Branch, Office of 

Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget at (202) 395-3785. 
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Attachment 

Open Government Plan

1. Formulating the Plan: Your agency’s Open Government Plan is the public roadmap 

that details how your agency will incorporate the principles of the President’s January 

21, 2009, Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government into the core 

mission objectives of your agency. The Plan should reflect the input of (a) senior 

policy, legal, and technology leadership in your agency and (b) the general public and 

open government experts. It should detail the specific actions that your agency will 

undertake and the timeline on which it will do so. 

2. Publishing the Plan: Consistent with the deadlines set forth in this Directive, the 

Plan should be published online on the agency’s Open Government Webpage in an 

open format that enables the public to download, analyze, and visualize any 

information and data in the Plan.

3. Components of the Plan:

a. Transparency: Your agency’s Open Government Plan should explain in 

detail how your agency will improve transparency. It should describe steps 

the agency will take to conduct its work more openly and publish its 

information online, including any proposed changes to internal management 

and administrative policies to improve transparency. Specifically, as part of 

your Plan to enhance information dissemination, your agency should describe 

how it is currently meeting its legal information dissemination obligations,6

i. A strategic action plan for transparency that (1) inventories agency 

high-value information currently available for download; (2) fosters 

the public’s use of this information to increase public knowledge and 

promote public scrutiny of agency services; and (3) identifies high

value information not yet available and establishes a reasonable 

timeline for publication online in open formats with specific target 

dates. High-value information is information that can be used to 

increase agency accountability and responsiveness; improve public 

knowledge of the agency and its operations; further the core mission of 

and how it plans to improve its existing information dissemination practices 

by providing: 

 

6 Paperwork Reduction Act, Pub L. No. 104-13, section 3506(d).
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the agency; create economic opportunity; or respond to need and 

demand as identified through public consultation. 

ii. In cases where the agency provides public information maintained in 

electronic format, a plan for timely publication of the underlying data. 

This underlying data should be in an open format and as granular as 

possible, consistent with statutory responsibilities and subject to valid 

privacy, confidentiality, security, or other restrictions. Your agency

should also identify key audiences for its information and their needs, 

and endeavor to publish high-value information for each of those 

audiences in the most accessible forms and formats. In particular, 

information created or commissioned by the Government for 

educational use by teachers or students and made available online 

should clearly demarcate the public’s right to use, modify, and 

distribute the information. 

iii. Details as to how your agency is complying with transparency 

initiative guidance such as Data.gov, eRulemaking, IT Dashboard, 

Recovery.gov, and USAspending.gov. Where gaps exist, the agency 

should detail the steps the agency is taking and the timing to meet the

requirements for each initiative.

iv. Details of proposed actions to be taken, with clear milestones, to 

inform the public of significant actions and business of your agency, 

such as through agency public meetings, briefings, press conferences 

on the Internet, and periodic national town hall meetings.

v. A link to a publicly available website that shows how your agency is 

meeting its existing records management requirements.7

 These 

requirements serve as the foundation for your agency’s records 

management program, which includes such activities as identifying 

and scheduling all electronic records,

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vi. A link to a website that includes (1) a description of your staffing, 

organizational structure, and process for analyzing and responding to 

FOIA requests; (2) an assessment of your agency’s capacity to 

analyze, coordinate, and respond to such requests in a timely manner, 

and ensuring the timely transfer 

of all permanently valuable records to the National Archives. 

 

7 36 CFR Subchapter B – Records Management.

8

 E-Government Act of 2002, Pub L. No. 107-347, section 207(e).
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together with proposed changes, technological resources, or reforms 

that your agency determines are needed to strengthen your response 

processes; and (3) if your agency has a significant backlog, milestones

that detail how your agency will reduce its pending backlog of 

outstanding FOIA requests by at least ten percent each year. 

Providing prompt responses to FOIA requests keeps the public 

apprised of specific informational matters they seek. 

vii. A description or link to a webpage that describes your staffing, 

organizational structure, and process for analyzing and responding to 

Congressional requests for information. 

viii. A link to a publicly available webpage where the public can learn 

about your agency’s declassification programs, learn how to access 

declassified materials, and provide input about what types of 

information should be prioritized for declassification, as appropriate. 

Declassification of government information that no longer needs 

protection, in accordance with established procedures, is essential to 

the free flow of information.9

b. Participation: To create more informed and effective policies, the Federal 

Government should promote opportunities for the public to participate 

throughout the decision-making process. Your agency’s Open Government 

Plan should explain in detail how your agency will improve participation, 

including steps your agency will take to revise its current practices to increase 

opportunities for public participation in and feedback on the agency’s core 

mission activities. The specific details should include proposed changes to 

internal management and administrative policies to improve participation. 

 

i. The Plan should include descriptions of and links to appropriate 

websites where the public can engage in existing participatory 

processes of your agency. 

ii. The Plan should include proposals for new feedback mechanisms, 

including innovative tools and practices that create new and easier 

methods for public engagement. 

c. Collaboration: Your agency’s Open Government Plan should explain in 

detail how your agency will improve collaboration, including steps the agency 

 

9

Executive Order 12958, Classified National Security Information.
10

will take to revise its current practices to further cooperation with other 

Federal and non-Federal governmental agencies, the public, and non-profit 

and private entities in fulfilling the agency’s core mission activities. The 

specific details should include proposed changes to internal management and 

administrative policies to improve collaboration.

i. The Plan should include proposals to use technology platforms to 

improve collaboration among people within and outside your agency. 

ii. The Plan should include descriptions of and links to appropriate 

websites where the public can learn about existing collaboration 

efforts of your agency.

iii. The Plan should include innovative methods, such as prizes and 

competitions, to obtain ideas from and to increase collaboration with 

those in the private sector, non-profit, and academic communities. 

d. Flagship Initiative: Each agency’s Open Government Plan should describe 

at least one specific, new transparency, participation, or collaboration 

initiative that your agency is currently implementing (or that will be 

implemented before the next update of the Open Government Plan). That

description should include: 

i. An overview of the initiative, how it addresses one or more of the 

three openness principles, and how it aims to improve agency 

operations; 

ii. An explanation of how your agency engages or plans to engage the 

public and maintain dialogue with interested parties who could 

contribute innovative ideas to the initiative; 

iii. If appropriate, identification of any partners external to your agency 

with whom you directly collaborate on the initiative; 

iv. An account of how your agency plans to measure improved 

transparency, participation, and/or collaboration through this initiative; 

and 

v. An explanation of the steps your agency is taking to make the initiative 

sustainable and allow for continued improvement. 

e. Public and Agency Involvement: Your agency’s Open Government Plan 

should include, but not be limited to, the requirements set forth in this 
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attachment. Extensive public and employee engagement should take place 

during the formation of this plan, which should lead to the incorporation of 

relevant and useful ideas developed in that dialogue. Public engagement 

should continue to be part of your agency’s periodic review and modification 

of its plan. Your agency should respond to public feedback on a regular basis.