Jack & Jill Politics

I just met new White House CIO Vivek Kundra yesterday at the Personal Democracy Forum (a conference I highly recommend btw). He is super-nice and also kind of a hottie. And shouldn’t our civil servants and our gubment in general be hotter?

He also happens to be super-smart. Today he’s announcing the IT Dashboard at USASpending.Gov. It’s a program designed to allow you to see how all government agencies are performing and better than that. Now you can get jiggy with the data, slice and dice it, remix and mash it up. It will be integrated with Delicious, Facebook and Twitter. AND you can get the 411 via spreadsheet or RSS feed. Kinda like you can choose between Original, Extra-Crispy and now Grilled at KFC.

From the press release:

Over the past several years, we have witnessed numerous public failures of major information technology systems and just last year saw roughly one third of all investments reported as poorly planned or poorly performing. Many of these investments may never deliver on their original promises. With over $75 Billion in annual federal information technology spending, we need a new foundation for management – one built on the values of transparency, accountability, and responsibility.

As President Obama has said: “Our commitment to openness means more than simply informing the American people about how decisions are made. It means recognizing that government does not have all the answers and that public officials need to draw on what citizens know.”

The idea is to provide a government that is:

• Open
• Transparent
• Participatory

Look y’all, ultimately, it’s up to us to keep the Obama Administration and subsequent admins accountable. Now they’re making that a little bit easier.

We recognize that the government does not have a monopoly on the best ideas. Only by tapping into the ingenuity of the American people, can we ensure good decisions are made, innovative approaches are pursued, and taxpayer dollars are spent wisely.

Technology creates an unprecedented opportunity to connect you to your government. In providing analytical tools and access to the raw data, the IT Dashboard allows the American people to join with the government in monitoring, analyzing, and helping manage IT investments. Anyone can create an analysis of agency technology spending and performance, and then share the findings with the community via Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and Flickr. And the public can provide direct feedback to the agency officials managing federal IT investments, identifying improvements and proposing innovative new approaches.

Recent events have demonstrated that online organizing is a powerful driver for change.

By organizing online, as an individual or as a community, you can help your government spend taxpayer dollars more effectively.

So get to it, people. Obama’s building a real dream team. Thanks Vivek and good luck.