## 1 Introduction
\"Just as open source software allows users to change and contribute to the source code of their software,\" according to [PERSON] and [PERSON], \"open government now means government where citizens not only have access to information, documents, and proceedings, but can also become participants in a meaningful way\" [17] (p. xix). While the term _open government_ draws heavily from the collaborative relationships that characterize contemporary technology innovation, it is also tied conceptually to demands for transparency in political governance. Indeed, use of the term _open_ as a way to describe government is nearly synonymous with the vocabulary of \"transparency,\" which some see as the \"contemporary term of choice\" [18] (p. 25). Here too there are substantial ties to new technology. Although there continue to be formidable barriers to achieving transparency [19], the Internet and associated information and communication technologies (ICT) radically reduce the cost of information capture, management, and use, and make sharing with nongovernment entities and individuals feasible and useful. These new possibilities contribute to the pressures citizens exert on government to make data and documents available to them online and have made a full-scale commitment to sharing government data possible. The marriage of political goals for transparency and contemporary ICT tools has fueled the advocacy of new civil sector watchdog organizations, such as the Sunlight Foundation, which operates a \"lab\" to develop software applications that can be used by citizens to analyze and interpret data related to evaluating government performance. As former chief technology officer [PERSON] acknowledged in a recent interview, innovation and accountability are both encompassed in the [PERSON] Administration's open government initiative [20]. Further, these ideas associated with opening government are increasingly aligned with similar commitments being made by governments around the world. Great Britain has committed to a program of open data as a way to achieve both improved accountability and transparency through the creation of new data products [21]. Canada's Access to Information and Privacy Commissioners issued the Open Government Resolution, which articulated the need to make information and data open in order to improve government accountability [22]. Australia issued a \"Declaration of Open Government\" in 2010 [23], with an emphasis on informing, which requires the establishment of a \"pro-disclosure culture\" in Australian government organizations; engaging, which seeks to promote collaboration as a way of improving government processes; and participating, which seeks to make government more consultative. And as a part of its Government 2.0 planning, Australia is exploring the value of open public sector information in stimulating innovation and expanding knowledge [24]. More recently, the \"Open Government Partnership (OGP)\" has made good on a pledge made by President [PERSON] to the United Nations General Assembly in September 2010 to foster the development of more open governments around the world in order to combat corruption and increase accountability. Launched in the fall 2011, the OGP is led by an international, multi-stakeholder steering committee comprised of countries (including the US, Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, Norway, Philippines, South Africa and the United Kingdom) and numerous civil society organizations such as the International Budget Project and the Transparency and Accountability Initiative, among others. Joining the Partnership requires that countries meet a set of minimum eligibility requirements focused on existing practices related to fiscal transparency, access to information, citizen engagement, and financial disclosures by elected leaders and senior public officials. Following that, countries must commit to carrying out detailed \"open government plans\" that further develop these practices, reporting on their continued progress.