USASpending.gov Site Provides Dashboard, Transparency
The United States is now providing a dashboard of federal IT spending, via a new site just made available at http://www.usaspending.gov. According to the site:
“The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (Transparency Act) requires a single searchable website, accessible by the public for free that includes for each Federal award:
1. the name of the entity receiving the award;
2. the amount of the award;
3. information on the award including transaction type, funding agency, etc;
4. the location of the entity receiving the award;
5. a unique identifier of the entity receiving the award.
USAspending.gov, a re-launch of www.fedspending.org, provides this information to the public, as collected from federal agencies, in an easy to use website.”
Here are the basics:
What is USASpending.gov?: It is a website that makes government spending accessible and understandable to the public. It features multiple graphs about federal IT investment. The site also provides insight into top government contractors and top assitance recipients.
Who’s doing it?: Vivek Kundra, the nation’s CIO, is the public face behind the project. The respective CIOs of myriad government agencies are required to submit the same information that they use in their Office of Management and Budget reports.
Why is it important?: According to Kundra in a piece reported by Good Morning Silicon Valley, “Everyone knows there have been spectacular failures when it comes to technology investments.” This tool is designed to spot such disasters earlier, with the intent of heading problems off as soon as possible.
When is it available?: The site is available now.
Here’s a great video overview, found via the Infosthetics site:
Links and additional resources:
- Good Morning Silicon Valley : “New Dashboard Lets Us See How Much Mileage We Get Out Of Federal IT Spending“
- Sunlight Foundation : “Watching Government Opacity Melt Away Right Before Our Eyes“
- Fierce Government IT : “A Dashboard Makes Everyone Accountable“
- TechCrunch : “Can Open Government Be Gamed?”
I celebrate the creation of this window into Federal IT Spending. It’s perhaps the most ambitious PPM implementation on the planet at this point in time. As is often the case when you create transparency like this, the information leads to more questions, like “How reliable is it? How do we interpret the data? What does this mean? Where does this lead?”
Mr. Kundra, you have taken a big step. Please continue to share your findings as you peel back the layers of obscurity and expose these investments to the light of day.