April 7, 2010

Contact:
Gabriela Schneider
Communications Director
The Sunlight Foundation
gschneider@sunlightfoundation.com
202-742-1520 ext 236

FEDERAL AGENCIES TO MARK MILESTONE TODAY FOR OPEN GOVERNMENT

Sunlight Foundation Anticipates New Data Availability to Result

WASHINGTON, DC –Today, under the administration’s Open Government Directive,

federal agencies are required to publish plans that articulate how they will improve their
transparency, collaboration and engagement with citizens. As soon as it has an
opportunity to review the plans, the Sunlight Foundation, which heralded the Open
Government Directive when it was first announced in December 2009, will assess on its
blog—http://blog.sunlightfoundation.com—whether or not agencies have adhered to the
Directive’s data transparency requirements.

The Directive calls for agencies to publish a strategic plan that inventories agency high-
value information currently available for download; fosters the public’s use of this
information to increase public knowledge and promote public scrutiny of agency services;
and identifies high value information not yet available and establishes a reasonable
timeline for publication online in open formats with specific target dates.
(http://www.whitehouse.gov/open/documents/open-government-directive)

Specifically, Sunlight will review agencies’ plans to determine if they have successfully
identified what high-value information they have already made available and what
information they will make publicly available in the future. The release of information under
the Open Government Directive reinforces Sunlight's position that public information must
be online by establishing timely Internet access as a priority for disclosing the operations,
activities and data of the federal government.

“The administration should get credit for undertaking a monumental task that should
ultimately result in dramatic changes in how the federal government makes its work
available and engages with Americans,” said , executive director and co-founder of the
Sunlight Foundation. “Today’s release of agency plans is really where the rubber meets
the road. Are agencies giving us lists of data and precise plans as to when it will be made
available? That’s what Sunlight will review as soon as we can.”

In the coming weeks, Sunlight will also participate in a broader evaluation organized by
OpentheGovernment.org to review agencies’ compliance with the entire Open Government
Directive, including their plans for public collaboration and participation.

The Sunlight Foundation is a non-partisan, non-profit that uses cutting-edge technology and ideas to
make government transparent and accountable. Visit http://SunlightFoundation.com to learn more
about Sunlight’s projects, including http://PoliticalPartyTime.org and http://OpenCongress.org.