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New Information Sharing Effort Promotes Culture of
Transparency, Collaboration, Participation
WASHINGTON –As part of a commitment to increase transparency in government and maintain accountability of taxpayer dollars, the U.S. Department of the Treasury today announced an open government effort that will increase public access to data and information. Under this initiative, Treasury has compiled and will now make available new data on tax returns, more user friendly information on transactions under the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), and a new report on bank trading and derivatives.
"This government-wide effort is the next step in creating the conditions for a permanent culture of openness," said Dan Tangherlini, Assistant Secretary for Management. "As we continue to build a new foundation for our economy through the implementation of financial and economic recovery policies, we remain committed to creating a new foundation of transparency and openness in government practice."
Treasury's open government effort includes making publicly available the following sets of information and reports:
- New Data on Tax Returns. For the first time, Treasury has released Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Statistics of Migration Data. This data set shows migration patterns of tax filers moving across country and state lines. This free information will be of use to local officials, real estate developers, business planners, and researchers.
- New Format for TARP Transaction Report. Treasury's Office of Financial Stability releases a TARP Transaction Report for every new TARP transaction including investments made and funds repaid. In an effort to make the reports more user-friendly, they will now be available in XML format for easy sorting of data.
- Quarterly Report on Bank Trading and Derivatives. This report, made available by the Office of the Comptroller of Currency, provides information on the federal government's supervision of banks as well as the investment activities of financial institutions.
Yesterday, the White House issued an Open Government Directive requiring federal agencies to take immediate, specific steps to open their operations to the public. Called for by President Obama on his first full day in office, the Open Government Directive puts accountability and accessibility at the center of how the federal government operates and sets an unprecedented standard for government agencies, insisting that they achieve key milestones in transparency, collaboration, and participation.
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