In response to the White House's Open Government Directive, Commerce created and released a Department-wide plan for Open Government on April 7, 2010.  Commerce has previously published two versions, 1.0 and 1.5 of the plan that can be found in the plan archive. Commerce is continually working to improve transparency, participation and collaboration. Many of these efforts are identified in the Commerce Open Government Plan Version 2.0 released April 5, 2012.

As outlined in the Directive itself, our Open Government Plan will serve as a "public roadmap that details how [Commerce] will incorporate the principles of the president’s January 21, 2009, Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government into the core mission objectives of [the Department]."

In version 2.0 Commerce talks about 43 programs and initiatives. Previously these programs and initiatives were listed in a single table with the descriptions following laid out under the operating unit responsible for completion. In the new plan, the single table has been separated into tables of initiatives by operating unit with status and estimate/actual completion dates. The operating units have also been added into the table of contents so you can link directly to an operating unit to find its initiatives.

Comments Encouraged

Throughout the process, Commerce's Open Government Team has taken ideas and suggestions from employees and the public. Many of the changes in Commerce initiatives and programs have been generated through this open partnership. As Commerce moves forward in the support of American businesses, it is vital that this communication of ideas continues to grow.  To help Commerce keep the conversation fluid, email your ideas and suggestion to open@doc.gov.