The Obama Administration’s continued commitment to transparency reinforces a system of public participation and collaboration in government. Treasury embraces the three pillars of open government – transparency, participation, and collaboration – to help further the Department’s mission, vision, values, and goals.
The Department of the Treasury manages the public purse. The nation looks to Treasury for financial guidance, resources, and opportunity. While safeguarding privacy and security, Treasury has taken a number of steps over the past three years to share information with the world. To date, Treasury has designated staff to advocate open government within and beyond its walls, established a web site devoted to open government at http://www.treasury.gov/open/, and brought a renewed focus on process improvement for Freedom of Information Act requests. Treasury’s goal is to foster a culture of transparency throughout all of its functions and activities, so that the concept of open government becomes integral to the Department’s work.
Treasury’s initial Open Government Plan was published in April 2010 with updates in May 2010. This April 2012 updated Open Government Plan 2.0 serves as a roadmap describing how Treasury will continue to implement the principles of open government. The Plan describes recent accomplishments, provides narrative explanations for any items identified by the first plan that are ongoing, and outlines a future plan of action with milestone dates when each achievement will be accomplished. The Plan also describes accomplishments on Treasury’s flagship administrative initiative – Moving to a Paperless Treasury – and identifies challenges and lessons learned.
This Open Government Plan version 2.0 takes Treasury beyond the implementation of the principles of open government; it identifies the framework to put these principles into operation in the Department’s everyday activities.
Maintain a strong economy and create economic and job opportunities by promoting conditions that enable economic growth and stability at home and abroad, strengthen national security by combating threats and protecting the integrity of the financial system, and manage the U.S. Government’s finances and resources effectively.
Treasury remains committed to promoting the principles of open government (transparency, participation, and collaboration) throughout the Department. By setting the standard for the protection, access, and disclosure of information, Treasury can better communicate to and consult with the public about the policies and programs it implements or administers.
The Open Government Plan version 1.0, published in 2010, included existing initiatives that supported the core principles of open government (transparency, participation, and collaboration) and identified new activities to further these goals. The following sections review Treasury’s approach, achievements, and work still underway from version 1.0.
Goal 1: Increase Transparency Efforts
Goal 2: Expand Participation and Collaboration Efforts
Goal 3: Continue Ongoing Efforts on Treasury’s Current Flagship Initiative – Moving to a Paperless Treasury
In accordance with The Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) Open Government Directive, Treasury appointed the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Privacy, Transparency, and Records (DASPTR) the Senior Agency Official for implementing and establishing a governance structure that provides leadership and guidance. The DASPTR chartered the Treasury Open Government Steering Committee to implement open government activities throughout the Department. (The Steering Committee is discussed on page 4 under the section titled “Treasury-Wide Open Government Steering Committee.”)
Treasury aligned its open government strategy with the agency’s strategic plan, particularly with respect to Treasury’s strategic goal of management and organizational excellence. Treasury has demonstrated its thorough commitment to open government by tying the goals of transparency, participation, and collaboration to the mission and strategic goals of the Department.
Treasury’s current Strategic Action Plan for Data Quality, developed in May 2010, focuses on the internal controls implemented over information quality, system process improvements, and integration of the controls within the existing information technology and strategic planning processes. (For more detail on data quality and accessibility, see page 13, et seq.)
The Department of the Treasury has embraced e-rulemaking by posting proposed rules for public comment and final rules on Regulations.gov on a regular basis. This is an e-government initiative that promotes public participation and provides public access to the development of rules and regulations that impact American citizens. E-rulemaking promotes more effective and efficient rulemaking through public participation. (For examples of e-rulemaking postings see “Examples of Successful Participation Initiatives” on page 17.)
Treasury enhanced its internal collaboration efforts with the implementation and production of the enterprise content management platform (ECM) in Fiscal Year 2011. The ECM platform allows Treasury employees to share content and collaborate more effectively across the Department, and better links Treasury’s internal and external platforms. The public can connect with Treasury through the www.treasury.gov website. Treasury’s social media hub includes a Twitter account (@USTreasuryDept) with over 34,000 followers, Facebook, YouTube, and other forms of communication, all available from the Treasury Notes Blog.
In accordance with the Open Government Directive, Treasury developed the first version of the Open Government Plan to inform the public on how the Department will implement the principles of open government. Treasury developed a training module titled “Transparency and Open Government Awareness,” which Treasury staff are required to complete on an annual basis. This online training module assists Treasury employees in understanding the open government principles reflected in the President’s memorandum on transparency, open government, and the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and how these concepts affect Treasury employees in performance of their daily work activities. This training also addresses how Treasury conducts all business, including the administration of its FOIA-related activities, with the presumption of openness. Training is also conducted at Treasury’s Annual Records and Information Management Month (RIMM) event. This event is open to all Federal government agencies. Treasury will continue to identify accomplishments in open government initiatives and identify new opportunities to continue supporting the initiative in compliance with the Directive.
To ensure success in promoting open government across the Department, Treasury established open government performance measures as follows:
1. Release a minimum of three datasets per quarter
2. Track and increase stakeholder outreach efforts
3. Reduce FOIA backlog by a minimum of 10 percent
4. Identify cost savings resulting from open government initiatives
The Deputy Assistant Secretary for Privacy, Transparency, and Treasury Records (DASPTR) was designated as the senior agency official for implementing the Open Government Directive. The Assistant Secretary for Management and Chief Financial Officer was designated by the Secretary of the Treasury to serve as senior accountable official for data quality. In accordance with the Open Government Directive, this official is accountable for the quality and objectivity of, and internal controls over, the Federal spending information publicly disseminated through such public venues as USAspending.gov or other similar websites. The Deputy Chief Financial Officer was designated to develop and implement the framework for data quality. Together, these officials lead Treasury’s work toward a sustainable culture of open government.
The DASPTR established a steering committee to develop guidance and provide leadership on activities across the Department and identify existing data and resources to enable Treasury to provide the public with greater transparency, increased participation, and more collaboration opportunities. The committee is comprised of representatives from each of Treasury’s bureaus. Additional members of the committee include representatives from the offices of Public Affairs, General Counsel, Inspectors General, Management and Budget, Privacy and Records, Deputy Chief Financial Officer, Chief Information Officer, Procurement Executive, and Human Resources.
The DASPTR serves as chairperson for the committee and engages with key Department partners to assist with the development and implementation of effective strategies and activities for implementing open government principles. In addition, the steering committee developed a reporting framework to ensure accountability to the Department and the public. This Treasury-wide governance structure developed processes and identified activities that enabled Treasury to nurture and institutionalize a culture of transparency and openness in the conduct of Treasury mission activities, and to support the quality of Treasury information as well as the presumption of disclosure. Examples of Treasury-wide participation in this structure include:
· The office of Public Affairs works with offices across the Department to communicate with the public, advocacy groups, and key stakeholders the Department's priorities across issues, including its commitment to open government, and actively engages these communities to learn how the Department can better provide information of high interest and value to the public.
· 
The Office of the Chief Information Officer determines the most effective use of technology for creative solutions and active stakeholder engagement, including support of the open government webpage www.treasury.gov/open and other websites available to the public.
· The offices within the Office of Privacy, Transparency, and Records continue to collaborate with both the steering committee and the data quality official to support maximum disclosure of Treasury information while ensuring appropriate protections for individual privacy and security.
New governance councils will be created as needed, and existing governance bodies that have been formally charged with driving and overseeing open government efforts on an ongoing basis will ensure that open government remains a priority and is integrated into the strategic goals of the Department into the future.
Subcommittees
In Treasury’s Open Government Plan version 1.0, six subcommittees were formed to oversee specific lines of activities for the Department to construct and implement the open government strategy. Figure 1 provides an organizational chart of the reporting structure and function of these subcommittees. (Note: In version 2.0, the subcommittees have been consolidated to three to combine functions, focus efforts, and strengthen Treasury’s open government outcomes.)
Figure 2 shows the status of the transparency commitments contained in the Open Government Implementation Tracking Matrix from version 1.0. Below are accomplishments on transparency where Treasury made information to the public readily available online, in machine readable, platform independent formats on various public websites such as Data.gov, Federal IT Dashboard, etc.
Open Government Commitment |
Type of Commitment |
Page in Plan 1.0 |
Status |
Identify current policies impacted and in need of revision, as well as new policies needed, to support and enable transparency, collaboration and participation activities in support of the Open Government Directive |
General |
Pg. 5 |
The following Treasury orders and directives have been identified and are being revised to address cloud computing, social media, and collaborative work tools:
· TD 80-05, Records and Information Management;
· TD 25-05, Freedom of Information Act Program;
· TD 25-20, Ensuring Compliance with Privacy and Records Management Requirements using social media websites;
· TO 105-19, Declassification Program;
· TD 27-09, Organization and Functions of the Office the Assistant Secretary (Legislative Affairs);
· TD 87-06, Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility under Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. |
Develop a Treasury-wide strategy and network for both disseminating and receiving key information pertaining to Treasury’s implementation of the Open Government Directive activities. |
Transparency |
Pg. 5
|
Treasury has developed a Communications Plan for internal use. |
Revise Data quality plan and process to ensure that security and privacy requirements identified by the Privacy and Security Steering committee are incorporated. |
Transparency |
Pg. 5 |
Treasury published its first plan in Version 1.0 of its Open Government Plan. |
Develop a framework for the structure and content of Treasury’s Open Government Plan to describe how the agency will foster a culture of openness by incorporating the principles of transparency, participation, and collaboration into all facets of the Department’s operations. |
Transparency |
Pg. 5 |
Treasury completed the framework of the Open Government Plan in May of 2010. |
Identify current datasets and information to make available to the public and possibilities for partnerships with other agencies to provide and/or create complementary datasets. |
Transparency |
Pg. 5 |
Treasury exceeded its target of publishing 3 datasets per quarter on Data.gov for a total of 19 datasets added to Data.gov in FY2011. |
Implement an option for requesters to submit FOIA requests to Departmental Offices online |
Transparency |
Pg. 23 |
goFOIA was launched on April 29, 2011, and provides the public the ability to submit FOIA requests and check the status of their requests via www.treasury.gov. |
Implementation of a permanent process for continuous, proactive identification, preparation, and release of data on an ongoing basis. |
Transparency |
Pg. 24 |
Treasury’s process for identification, preparation, and release of data on an ongoing basis is included in the revision of Treasury’s Data Quality Plan in May, 2012. |
Make available in raw, downloadable format the following legal materials:
· Comptroller of the Currency Enforcement Actions
· IRS Actions on Decisions
· IRS Internal Revenue Bulletin
· IRS General Counsel Memoranda
· IRS Private Letter Rulings and Technical Advice Memoranda
· IRS Revenue Bulletin
· IRS Written Determinations
· Office of Foreign Assets Control Interpretive Rulings on OFAC Policy
· Office of Thrift Supervision Enforcement Actions |
Transparency |
Pg. 36 |
These datasets have been submitted to Data.gov for FY 2011. |
Provide greater search capabilities across the Department’s FOIA reading rooms and incorporate public feedback mechanisms. |
Transparency |
Pg. 23 |
The Department’s online FOIA reading room currently employs enhanced search capabilities such as keyword search, which was deployed in January 2012. |
Development of a training module entitled “Transparency and Open Government Awareness” which will help Treasury employees understand the open government principles reflected in the President’s memorandum on transparency, open government, and FOIA; how these concepts affect Treasury employees’ daily work activities; and how Treasury conducts business with the presumption of openness, including the administration of its FOIA related activities. |
General |
Pg. 8 |
This training module was completed and launched on the Treasury Learning Management System (TLMS) in Spring of 2010. |
Figure 3 illustrates ongoing transparency efforts in the Open Government Implementation Tracking Matrix.
Open Government Commitment |
Type of Commitment |
Page in Plan 1.0 |
Status |
Identify current datasets and information to make available to the public and possibilities for partnerships with other agencies to provide and/or create complementary datasets to help drive economic change. |
Transparency |
Pg. 5 |
Treasury continues to identify current datasets to make available to the public and partner with other agencies to create complementary datasets. This will be an ongoing effort to identify new datasets and information that can be made available to the public and possible partnerships with other agencies. |
Eliminate the backlog of FOIA requests in order to ensure the American public has access to as much information as possible. |
Transparency |
Pp. 21-2 |
The Department completed a Lean Six Sigma review of the FOIA process from end to end to identify how we can continue to improve the response time for FOIA processing and reduce the backlog. Backlog reduction continues. |
Post data quality information online, with an emphasis on the contracts and grants data. |
Transparency |
Pg. 24 |
The Department has been and will continue to post data quality information online with an emphasis on contracts and grants data via USAspending.gov and Grants.gov. This is an on-going initiative because the information will be continually updated as new contracts and grants are awarded. |
Engagement in identifying and planning for the use of new technologies as opportunities arise for alignment with mission objectives and open government activities. |
Transparency |
Pg. 32 |
The Department’s electronic content management (ECM) initiative has provided the Department with improved technologies to support Treasury’s mission, objectives, and open government activities. This will continue as new tools are added to the ECM platform to improve the functionality. |
Grants.gov
The Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund publishes its grant opportunities on Grants.gov here. This website, linked from www.treasury.gov/open, allows users to search for Treasury grant opportunities.
Data.gov
Treasury exceeded its Plan version 1.0 goal to submit three datasets per quarter to Data.gov. During FY 2011, the Department submitted 19 datasets to Data.gov in addition to the wealth of information available from other Treasury and bureau public websites. Figure 4 shows the datasets posted in FY 2011. These datasets are considered high value because they accomplish one or more of these criteria: increase agency accountability and responsiveness, improve public knowledge of agency and its operations, further the core mission of agency, create economic opportunity, or respond to an identified public need and demand.
Datasets published in the year following Treasury’s Open Government Plan 1.0 |
1. Bureau of Public Debt – Debt Position and Activity Report |
2. Bureau of Public Debt – Interest Cost on Outstanding Debt |
3. Bureau of Public Debt – Monthly Statement of the Public Debt |
4. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) – SAR Activity Review - By the Numbers (Issue 15) |
5. IRS – Actions on Decisions |
6. IRS – General Counsel Memoranda |
7. IRS – Private Letter Rulings and Technical Advice Memoranda |
8. IRS – Written Determinations |
9. IRS – Internal Revenue Bulletin |
10. Bureau of Public Debt – Average Interest Rate for Treasury Securities |
11. TARP – TARP Transaction Report, Capital Purchase Program (Investments) |
12. Interest Rate Statistics -Daily Treasury Bill Rates (Current Year) |
13. FinCEN – Enforcement Action for Violations of the Bank Secrecy Act |
14. IRS – Individual Income and Tax Statistics, 1916 – 2005 |
15. IRS – Internal Revenue Collections by Type of Tax and State |
16. Bureau of Engraving and Printing – Annual Production Report (1980 – 2010) |
17. Financial Management Service – Financial Report of the US Government |
18. Treasury Recovery Act Data (September 2010) |
19. Financial Management Service – US Treasury Owned Gold |
USASpending.gov
In alignment with the Open Government Directive, which calls for publishing information online to increase accountability and enable the public to stay informed about the use of taxpayer dollars, the Department posts its award information on OMB’s USASpending.gov. USASpending.gov includes the following information for each Federal award posted:
1. Name of the entity receiving the award;
2. Amount of the award;
3. Information on the award including transaction type, funding agency, etc;
4. Location of the entity receiving the award; and
5. A unique identifier of the entity receiving the award.
The Treasury Department uses OMB’s IT Dashboard, a website where the public can track the progress of the Department’s information technology (IT) investments. The Dashboard, located at http://it.usaspending.gov/, is a public-facing website that contains performance measures on multiple dimensions of the IT portfolio – e.g., cost and schedule – and is updated monthly with new IT investments by Treasury’s Office of the Chief Information Officer.
FOIA
Treasury is committed to ensuring that the President’s directive regarding the presumption of disclosure is applied to all decisions involving FOIA, including the increased proactive disclosures and discretionary releases consistent with its legal responsibility to protect national security, personal privacy, privileged records, and other protected interests. Treasury is further committed to an open and transparent government, to provide the American public with access to as much information as possible. Treasury’s FOIA activities will be fully integrated into the Department’s Open Government Plan and implementation efforts.
The Department's FOIA Improvement Plan targets at least a 10 percent reduction in the backlog each year. Treasury’s Chief FOIA Officer Reports include discussions of how Treasury will continue to improve the FOIA database, better utilize emerging technology, support more proactive disclosure, and continue to eliminate the backlog of requests.
The website, www.Treasury.gov/FOIA provides links to Instructions on how to file a FOIA request with the Department, a listing of all the Bureau FOIA Requester Service Centers and FOIA Public Liaisons, Treasury’s FOIA Improvement Plan update, the Department’s Annual FOIA Reports to the Department of Justice, the Chief FOIA Officer reports, and other items of interest such as frequently requested records. These plans and reports are also available on Treasury’s open government web page (www.treasury.gov/open) under the heading "Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)." 
Reduction of FOIA Backlogs
From FY 2009 to FY 2011 Treasury reduced its FOIA backlog by over 43 percent (Figure 6). This accomplishment far exceeds the requirements contained in the Open Government Directive to reduce pending backlogs by ten percent per year.
Treasury is committed to continuing process improvements to achieve total elimination of the backlog. Indeed one bureau, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), successfully lowered its backlog to zero in FY2011. In addition, the Department continues to proactively disclose useful and relevant information about activities to the public such as: FOIA request logs, the Secretary’s and other key officials’ calendars, and Dodd-Frank implementation meetings with senior officials, to name just a few.
FOIA Process Improvement
The Department completed a review of its entire FOIA process from end to end to identify how we can continue to improve its response time for FOIA requests. The review process assisted in finding opportunities to eliminate redundancies and process gaps and identifying technology solutions that will enable Treasury to respond more quickly to FOIA requests. Treasury’s FOIA improvement process consisted of these concrete steps:
· Conducted a systemic review of the entire FOIA process within the agency to identify roadblocks and to improve timeliness;
· Analyzed the workload involved in responding to FOIA requests and determining the appropriate resource levels and then allocating those resources;
· 
Relied on a broad range of senior-level agency personnel, including Legislative Affairs, Public Affairs, legal and policy staff, and relevant subject-matter experts, to identify material for proactive release;
· Established regular meetings between FOIA professionals and Treasury’s Chief FOIA Officer to ensure an established dialogue between those officials, so that the Chief FOIA Officer can troubleshoot problems and facilitate timely responses; and
· Deployed a cloud-based tracking and reporting tool Treasury-wide that provides ongoing status of FOIA requests at various stages of the process.
Electronic Services Delivery
Even prior to the completion of version 1.0 of Treasury’s Open Government Plan, two key areas of the FOIA process were already under review with the intent to improve the electronic delivery of service to the public. The first process implemented was the option for requesters to submit FOIA requests to Departmental Offices online in addition to continuing the option of submitting FOIA requests in hard copy. The Citizen Web Portal (Figure 7) went live on April 30, 2011. The second improvement created the electronic reading room, a repository of previously released information, including frequently requested items. The Department is now investigating cloud technologies to provide greater search capability across the Department’s FOIA reading rooms and to incorporate public feedback mechanisms.
Treasury utilizes GovDelivery to improve its digital communication with the public and improve transparency, participation, and collaboration opportunities. Treasury currently offers over 370 specific topics by subscription at no cost including Accounting & Budget News, Budget in Briefs, Currency & Coins News, and Daily Treasury Bills Rates for subscribers that receive updates via email.
Treasury’s open government webpage has linked to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) website to show how the Department is meeting its existing records management requirements (Figure 8). These requirements serve as the foundation for the Department’s records management program, which includes such activities as identifying and scheduling all electronic records and ensuring the timely transfer of all permanently valuable records to the National Archives.
Treasury’s Office of Legislative Affairs serves as the principal contact and coordinator for all Department interaction with Congress and the Congressional relations offices in the White House and other Departments and agencies. Legislative Affairs develops strategies to implement initiatives that require legislation, communicates Treasury’s positions to Congress, and keeps the Department informed of Congressional objectives, concerns, activities, and interests. In addition, Legislative Affairs responds directly to Congressional inquiries and facilitates replies from other offices in the Department, monitors the flow of Congressional correspondence to ensure accurate and prompt response, coordinates officials’ testimony before Congressional Committees and advises the Department on Congressional concerns during policy formation. The Open Government webpage links to the Treasury webpage with links to all testimony from senior Treasury officials. All Congressional correspondence addressed to the Secretary or Deputy Secretary is routed through the Office of the Executive Secretariat and the Office of Legislative Affairs prior to creation of a record in Treasury’s correspondence database and transmittal to the appropriate office or program for response. Information on the mission and functions of this office can be found at http://www.treasury.gov/about/organizational-structure/offices/Pages/Legislative-Affairs.aspx and a link to Congressional testimony is on www.treasury.gov/open under Most Requested.
Treasury Order 105-19, “Delegation of Original Classification Authority; Requirements for Downgrading and Declassification,” was updated in 2011 to reflect delegations of both original classification authority and downgrading and declassification authority. Declassification of government information that no longer needs protection, in accordance with established procedures, is essential to the free flow of information. Treasury completed significant declassification activities over the past several years, including allowing, with certain exceptions, classified information to be automatically declassified at 25 years of age. It is important to remember that declassification does not equate to automatic release of the information since there may still be reasons to withhold particular material. Declassification activities are ongoing.
The PRA requires OMB approval for certain information collection efforts. The approval process requires the Department and its bureaus and offices to provide a detailed explanation of why the information requested from the public is critical to their mission requirements. The request for collection is published in the Federal Register with two oportunities for public comments.
Treasury has created a website to provide an additional, easy-to-use tool to elicit ideas from the public on Treasury’s forms and information collections. Treasury implemented www.PRAComment.gov (Figure 9) to engage the public further in the PRA process and to solicit comments on all Treasury information collection activities.
The pilot Treasury form for www.PRAComment.gov was Internal Revenue Service (IRS) form “Application for Recognition of Exemption Under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code,” also called Form 1023. The pilot was very successful so Treasury now allows public comment on 100 percent of its information collection activities on www.PRAComment.gov.
Among its many initiatives to promote transparency, participation, and collaboration, the Open Government Directive requires agencies to address the quality of Federal spending information. Treasury’s plan will address the quality of both financial and non-financial data to be made available to the public.
Data Quality
Treasury submitted its first Open Government Data Quality Plan to OMB in May 2010. This document is being revised to incorporate new guidance from OMB. The current version of this document is used for internal information sharing and process improvements. The Data Quality Plan describes the current processes used within Treasury to ensure the quality of the data posted online, with an emphasis on the contracts and grants data on USASpending.gov. The Data Quality Plan also lays out the additional actions Treasury is taking to improve the quality of Treasury data released to the public.
Treasury’s Data and Information Identification, Integrity and Partnerships subcommittee developed a robust framework to ensure datasets are evaluated and verified for usefulness, accuracy, and completeness. Treasury has developed an internal online Data Quality Checklist for dataset evaluation that supports the “Moving to a Paperless Treasury” initiative. The Records Management office will ensure that the information is retained and archived.
Other Data Activities
Ongoing Data Prioritization and Release Process
Treasury implemented a permanent process for continuous, proactive identification, preparation, and release of data on an ongoing basis – a pipeline which is explicitly incorporated into the strategic planning, IT planning, and budget formulation processes of the agency. Treasury developed a data release process that clearly outlines how security, privacy, quality, and confidentiality risks will be managed before release. The data prioritization process will describe the criteria used to determine how the data is prioritized for release. Criteria may include value of the data with respect to a number of specific dimensions: FOIA requests for data, public interest in the data, resources required to release the data, timeliness of the data, and other similar factors. The process also may provide for a mechanism for agency employees to suggest high-value data sets for release. Treasury’s Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) is working to better coordinate its data and systems to conform to ISO (International Standards Organization) 19115, 11179, 704, 1087, 11404, 19773, and 17442 (Legal Identity Identifiers) standards along with recommendations by the Information Sharing Environment (ISE) and the Federal Enterprise Architecture Reference Models (FEA RM). The FEA RMs can be mapped to planning and control processes and other data management functions within the databases and systems across Treasury. By understanding the internal data architecture, Treasury can better discover and prioritize the potential release of machine-readable and mashable public datasets. The Data and Information Identification, Integrity, and Partnerships subcommittee processed the following initiatives:
· Provided guidance on datasets to bureaus. Treasury has provided guidance on datasets to the bureaus by providing instructions on how to complete the Data Quality Checklist in order to submit datasets to data.gov.
· Sent quarterly requests to all bureaus and offices for new datasets via the mechanisms outlined in Treasury’s Data Quality Plan.
· Worked with the communications subcommittee to cull information and needs about potential new datasets from internal and external stakeholders.
o Treasury’s Open Government Steering Committee has solicited ideas from the communications subcommittee to identify potential new datasets from internal and external stakeholders by engaging the communications subcommittee directly in discussions held in the monthly Open Government Steering Committee meetings. The data and information subcommittee has contributed its expertise to analyze the information collected by the communications subcommittee.
· Released a minimum of three new datasets per quarter to Data.gov totaling 19 new datasets in FY2011.
· Made available to all bureaus the Data Quality Plan, including guidance for timely publication of underlying data for public information maintained in electronic format.
· Identified key audiences for information and their needs, with a goal of publishing high value information for each of those audiences in the most accessible forms and formats. Treasury has accomplished this task by obtaining the most requested information from internal Library, FOIA, and open government communities as well as its public-facing open government website. The information obtained from these sources will guide the publication of Treasury’s high value data. This data is available on the FOIA Library reading room.
Figures 10 and 11 show the status of the participation commitments contained in the Open Government Implementation Tracking Matrix. Accomplishments in the area of participation are circumstances where the government promotes the public to participate throughout the decision-making process.
Open Government Commitment |
Type of Commitment |
Page in Plan 1.0 |
Status |
Develop and implement Treasury’s open government website |
Participation |
Pg. 5 |
Treasury’s open government website was launched in February 2010. While not required, several other Treasury bureaus have launched their own open government websites as well. |
Implementation of a permanent process for continuous proactive identification, preparation, and release of data on an ongoing basis. |
Participation |
Pg. 24 |
A permanent process for continuous, proactive identification, preparation, and release of data on an ongoing basis has been implemented in Treasury’s Data Quality Plan and Data Quality Checklist to ensure that privacy, security, and confidentiality concerns are addressed. |
Implement an effective internal control and review process of information and datasets to be made public to ensure the accuracy, timeliness, and usefulness of this data, including proper review for privacy and disclosure compliance before release. |
Participation |
Pg. 5 |
Treasury’s Data Quality Plan and processes enabled Treasury to exceed the target of 3 datasets per quarter for posting on Data.gov. |
Provide greater search capabilities across the Department’s FOIA reading rooms and incorporate public feedback mechanisms. |
Participation |
Pg. 23 |
The Department’s treasury.gov website redesign and Enterprise Content Management (ECM) projects included requirements for on FOIA and eDiscovery along with the discovery tools for datasets inventory compilation. TTB has developed an online FOIA request tool and a FOIA reading room. DO’s FOIA e-library was originally launched in 1996, accessible to all bureaus and the public, and upgrades were completed during the summer of 2011. |
Development of an infrastructure to support employees participating in open government activities at all levels of the Department. |
Participation |
Pg. 34 |
Treasury developed the ECM platform in fiscal year 2011 which provides a department wide collaboration workspace. In September 2011 Treasury launched “theGreen”, the ECM based Department wide collaboration platform. The Assistant Secretary for Management implemented the “IdeaXchange” platform where DO employees can participate by contributing ideas for solutions of various Departmental challenges. |
Open Government Commitment |
Type of Commitment |
Page in Plan |
Status |
Increase open government public participation through vendor outreach sessions. |
Participation |
Pg. 5 |
Treasury’s Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization Programs will continue to conduct vendor outreach sessions to educate the public on Treasury’s procurement requirements. This will be an ongoing effort to advertise procurement requirements to the public. |
Elicit innovative ideas for promoting openness and transparency |
Participation |
Pg. 5 |
Treasury will continue to promote open government to employees by continuing the open government “Road Show” to communicate the plan, activities and key principles of open government to all Treasury bureaus. This is an ongoing effort to educate the Treasury employees about the principles of open government. |
Implementation of a series of open work sessions with various stakeholder segments and the public to share information with the public regarding their concerns and areas of interest. |
Participation |
Pg. 29 |
Treasury will continue conducting press conferences and making them available at http://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases. A table of Stakeholder outreach sessions is also available in the appendix E of this document. |
Conduct outreach to key segments of the public via a number of other means, including periodic outreach to members of the open government advocacy groups and library communities regarding information they would like to have Treasury make publicly available. |
Participation |
Pg. 13 |
Treasury will continue outreach efforts to key segments of the public and post the information on Treasury’s open government public facing website at www.treasury.gov/open. . BPD has enhanced the Treasury Direct application to add entity accounts and a payroll savings plan module to make it easier for individuals to purchase electronic securities using funds from their pay. BPD will continue to communicate to a broader audience by maintaining their Twitter accounts. |
Build on existing prizes and challenges experiences to develop an inter-departmental proposal centered on the challenges of maintaining a historic structure. |
Participation |
Pg. 18 |
Treasury will continue to build on relationships with different offices to develop challenges and experiences to the employees.
|
Participation in several interagency work groups to analyze how the various datasets and information provided by each agency can be leveraged to help develop greater benefits to the public in key areas. |
Participation |
Pg. 30 |
Treasury will continue participating in job initiative interagency working groups to analyze how various datasets and information provided by agencies can be leveraged to help provide greater benefits to the public in key areas. Treasury is currently participating in the jobs initiatives interagency working group with Commerce. Treasury will also continue participating in leading practices interagency working groups to help evaluate federal agencies open government plans. |
Regulations.gov
E-rulemaking is an e-Government initiative that promotes public participation and provides public access to the development of rules and regulations that impact American citizens. E-rulemaking promotes more effective and efficient rulemaking through public participation. The Department of the Treasury has been in compliance with the e-rulemaking requirement by posting proposed and interim rules for public comment on Regulations.gov on a regular basis. Treasury links to regulations.gov in the footer on every page of Treasury.gov.
Title |
Document |
Agency |
ID |
Posted Date |
Acquisition Regulations
|
Rule
|
TREAS |
TREAS_FRDOC_0001-0130 |
7/18/2011 |
Amendment to the Bank Secrecy Act Regulations: Defining Mutual Funds as Financial Institutions |
Rule |
TREAS |
TREAS_FRDOC_0001-0091 |
4/14/2010 |
Analysis by the President’s Group on Financial Markets on Long-term Availability and Affordability of Insurance for Terrorism Risk – Comments due August 2, 2010, 11:59 p.m. |
Notice |
TREAS |
TREAS-DO-2010-0004-0001 |
6/17/2010 |
Opportunities to Participate in Existing Treasury Efforts
Treasury incorporated the strategic goals and objectives of its Open Government Plan into the existing Strategic Plan Framework. The performance measures framework for open government initiatives is aligned with the agency’s overall performance framework, enabling specific open government activities to be assessed. As Treasury moves forward with the next strategic plan update process (Figure 11), Open Government questions will be included in the senior leadership interview process to ensure the Department's open government activities are aligned with the Department's overall strategic objectives.
Existing Measure |
Incorporation of Open Government Objectives |
Routinely scheduled Q&A with top management |
Include questions on definition and level of priority of open government initiatives |
Quarterly reviews of departmental offices and bureaus by top management |
Require quarterly reporting of open government measures, such as number of datasets produced for open government disclosure, etc. |
Communication channels with public stakeholders |
Invite comments re: open government initiatives/issues/concerns |
Figures 14 and 15 show the status of the collaboration commitments contained in the Open Government Implementation Tracking Matrix. In this section of the Open Government Plan Treasury will highlight the Open Government accomplishments in the area of collaboration where the government cooperates with Federal and non-Federal governmental agencies, the public, non-profit and commercial entities in fulfilling the agency’s core mission activities.
\Open Government Commitment |
Type of Commitment |
Page in Plan |
Status |
Identify needed functionality to enable collaboration and participation |
Collaboration |
Pg.5 |
Treasury launched a website utilizing enhanced technology allowing for greater use of social media tools such as blogs, twitter and YouTube. Treasury deployed an electronic content management tool to electronically capture, store search/analyze, collaborate, share and manage documents. A Treasury-wide portal, theGreen was launched in October 2011 and Treasury’s re-designed and more user-friendly public-facing web page was launched in the first quarter of 2010. |
Identify current datasets and information to make available to the public and possibilities for partnerships with other agencies to provide and/or create complementary datasets to help drive economic change. |
Collaboration |
Pg.5 |
Treasury compiled dataset inventory utilizing technology and determined partnership opportunities with other agencies to leverage existing tools to publish datasets. Treasury published 19 datasets in FY 2011. |
Implementation of a permanent process for continuous, proactive identification, preparation and release of data on an ongoing basis. |
Collaboration |
Pg. 24
Para 2 |
A permanent process for continuous, proactive identification, preparation and release of data on an ongoing basis was implemented. The process will remain manual until an appropriate technology solution is evaluated and selected that will assist with continuous identification, preparation for release and provide a comprehensive dataset inventory. |
Development of an infrastructure to stimulate and support employees participating in open government activities at all levels of the Department |
Collaboration |
Pg. 34
Para 1 |
Treasury deployed a Department wide electronic content management tool to electronically capture, store search/analyze, collaborate, share and manage documents in FY 2011. In September 2011, Treasury launched “theGreen,” a department wide collaboration platform. BPD launched an enterprise wiki on September 30, 2011 to increase collaboration within Public Debt by allowing document sharing, blogs by Senior Executives and information on the Bureau’s history. The Public Debt History Center keeps track of items of historical significance and employees can add items as necessary. A blog by the BPD Commissioner was created to keep employees informed of upcoming events. The Assistant Secretary for Management implemented the “IdeaXchange” platform where Treasury employees can contribute ideas to help provide ideas and solution for various Departmental challenges. |
Open Government Commitment |
Type of Commitment |
Page in Plan |
Status |
Formalize processes for accepting input, providing data review and approving website content. |
Collaboration |
Pg. 5 |
Standard operating procedures will continuously be revised for posting information to the websites. |
Identify current datasets and information to make available to the public and possibilities for partnerships with other agencies to provide and/or create complementary datasets to help drive economic change. |
Collaboration |
Pg. 5 |
Treasury’s Data Quality subcommittee will continue evaluating options for compiling datasets. |
Implementation of a series of open work sessions with various stakeholder segments and the public to share information with the public regarding their concerns and areas of interest. |
Collaboration |
Pg. 29
Para 2 |
Treasury will continue to conduct meetings with the public to release current information. Treasury will also continue to post information on websites that the public can easily access. |
Conduct outreach to key segments of the public via a number of other means, including periodic outreach to members of the open government advocacy groups and library communities regarding information they would like to have Treasury make publicly available. |
Collaboration |
Pg. 13
Para 1 |
Treasury will continue outreach efforts to key segments of the public via websites such as www.treasury.gov/open, and other Bureau websites such as the TreasuryDirect KIDS website at the Bureau of Public Debt. Other Bureaus will also continue outreach efforts to make collaboration easier with the public. |
Build on its existing prizes and challenges experience to develop an inter-departmental proposal centered on the challenges of maintaining a historic structure. |
Collaboration |
Pg. 18
Para 3 |
The Office of the Curator will continue to work with the Facilities Management Office to maintain the historic fabric of the Main Treasury Building as a resource. |
Treasury will continue to promote Collaboration Activities including:
· Proposals to use technology platforms to improve collaboration among people within and outside the agency.
· Descriptions of and links to appropriate websites where the public can learn about existing collaboration efforts of the agency.
· Innovative methods, such as prizes and competitions, to obtain ideas from and to increase collaboration with those in the private sector, non-profit, and academic communities.
The open government team is also leveraging the existing networks within Treasury to enhance the communication of Treasury's open government values and efforts, such as the various executive councils (e.g., CIO, CFO, Privacy, FOIA, and Human Capital Councils), and intra-agency work committees. Through these collaboration efforts within the Department, Treasury effectively combines available resources to present a uniform effort toward open government. Highlights of some of these efforts include:
· FinCEN continued outreach efforts to financial institutions to comply with their responsibility to report information and suspicious activities to FinCEN. It also supports FinCEN’s responsibility to ensure useful information is made available to law enforcement. FinCEN plans to issue a public report on its meetings with the prepaid access industry in the Spring of 2012. FinCEN’s reports on its outreach to the financial industry are published on http://www.fincen.gov/news room/rp/financial institutions outreach initiative.html.
In accordance with the Open Government Directive, Treasury has dedicated a website to highlight Treasury’s Open Government efforts at: http://www.treasury.gov/open/. The website invites the public to contact Treasury and provides contact information for key officials responsible for the Open Government effort. The website offers e-mail subscriptions and Really Simple Syndication (RSS) Feed, a method of receiving web updates on topics of choice as an alternative to email subscriptions.
Treasury also conducted outreach to key segments of the public via a number of other means, including periodic outreach to members of the open government advocacy groups and library communities regarding information they would like to have Treasury make publicly available. Treasury's Office of Public Liaison is a key partner in identifying specific interest groups for Treasury's various program activities.
The Treasury bureaus also have identified key segments of the public that are interested in the bureau-specific program activities. A variety of interest groups such as the financial institutions and currency exchanges, gaming industry, journalists, banknote equipment manufacturers, law enforcement, and the retail industry, are targeted through various program specific websites such as www.newmoney.gov. Figure 16 includes other key examples from several of Treasury’s bureaus
Bureau |
Description |
Bureau of Public Debt (BPD) |
Provides information to public on how to do business with BPD at http://www.publicdegt.treas/gov/vendorinfo/vendor_info.htm and how to invest in Treasury securities at http://www.treasurydirect.gov |
Financial Management Service (FMS) |
Provides ongoing training opportunities to federal employees and the public at http://www.fms.treas.gov/calendar.html |
Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force (FFETF) |
Established in November 2009 to hold accountable those who helped bring about the last financial crisis and to prevent another crisis from happening. FinCEN is actively involved with financial regulators and Federal, state and local law enforcement, The Department of Justice’s Executive Office for U.S. Attorney and the Training and Information Sharing Committee. Website: http://www.fincen.gov/fraudenttaskforce.html |
FinCEN |
Collaborative Efforts to Fight Mortgage Fraud – FinCEN Analysts works with the Federal Bureau of Investigation on major initiatives involving mortgage fraud investigations. They also work closely with the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s office of the inspector General to raise awareness of an apparent increase in fraudulent activity involving reverse mortgages. Website – http://www.fincen.gov/newsroom/rp/mortgagefraud.html |
FinCEN |
Use of Innovative Technology – FinCEN is actively engaged in identifying and planning for the use of new technologies. Examples include FinCEN’s webinar service which presents a time efficient and cost effective way to facilitate online communication with up to 1000 participants. |
Treasury, Federal Reserve and U.S. Secret Service |
The advanced Counterfeit Deterrence (ACD) Steering committee coordinated counterfeit deterrence activities of the government agencies involved in U.S. currency efforts. New designs are introduced every 7 – 10 years. |
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) |
OCC’s Public Affairs office promotes public awareness of OCC’s mission of ensuring the safety and soundness of America’s national banks and federal savings associations by conducting, producing and distributing public service advertisements, maintaining online subscription-based email service and operating two public web sites – http://www.OCC.gov and http://www.HelpWithMyBank.gov |
U.S. Mint |
The Mint provides information for the public as well as businesses at: http://www.usmint.gov/consumer. They also provide information for educators and students at http://www.usmint.gov/kids/teachers |
Office of Financial Stability (OFS) |
This office was established under the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) to purchase troubled assets after the financial crisis. To maintain transparency and accountability the redacted investment contracts for future transactions are listed on the following website: http://www.officeoffinancialStability.gov |
Office of Financial Research (OFR) |
The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act established the Office of Financial Research (OFR) within the Treasury Department to improve the quality of financial data available to policymakers and facilitate more robust and sophisticated analysis of the financial system. OFR’s mission, goals, and objectives are available at: http://www.treasury.gov/connect/blog/Pages/Treasurys-Office-of-Financial-Research-Releases-FY-2012-2014-Strategic-Framework.aspx |
OFR |
The OFR Working Paper Series offers staff and their co-authors an opportunity to disseminate their preliminary research findings in a format intended to generate discussion and critical comments. The goal is to inform and improve the quality of the analysis conducted by the OFR. |
Regardless of the method or technology used, Treasury adheres to sound policies and practices to ensure that security, privacy, and confidentiality risks are identified and mitigation strategies developed for all information handling. Part of the strategy for each method will include how Treasury will provide feedback to the public regarding how the input is evaluated and/or incorporated into Treasury operations. The efficacy of the various methods for engagement will also be measured.
Treasury's flagship administrative initiative, Moving to a Paperless Treasury, is designed to improve the public's experience interacting with Treasury while effecting operational efficiencies of several key Treasury activities. These activities range from disbursement and collection of select federal government payments and receipts, to improving electronic tax return filing capabilities. The desired outcome of paperless disbursement and collection activities are cost savings or avoidance for the government and improved flexibility and response to customers.
· Completed – Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS) - Requires businesses to pay taxes electronically. Effective January 1, 2011, businesses with quarterly tax payments greater than $2,500 that were previously permitted to use paper Federal Tax Deposit (FTD) coupons are required to make deposits electronically through the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS).
· Completed – Electronic issuance of Treasury Savings Bonds – Eliminates new issues of paper savings bonds. The Bureau of the Public Debt (BPD) eliminated the sale of paper savings bonds through employer –sponsored payroll savings plans on January 1, 2011. The Bureau of the Public Debt stopped issuing paper savings bonds sold over-the-counter at financial institutions on December 31, 2011. The web-based TreasuryDirect® portal has become the primary retail system for investors to buy marketable securities and conduct business electronically.
· Completed – BPD TreasuryDirect® - Internet-accessed, account-based system through which the public can purchase and hold any of Treasury’s retail securities products in electronic form. These products include savings bonds, Treasury bills, notes, and Treasury inflation protected securities (TIPS). This project was enhanced in 2011 to improve two factor authentication processes for security. Benefits include: providing a more user-friendly interface, increasing communication with customers, and improving security measures (security enhancement was completed in November 2011).
· Completed – BPD “Kids” web site - Launched a web site in 2010 for 6th to 12th graders to educate them on BPD, the role of borrowing to fund the federal government, and saving and investing with Treasury securities. Benefits include: educating the public in fun and interactive ways. Project was completed in August 2010.
· Completed – BPD RSS Feeds for Treasury Auction Announcements and Treasury Auction Results -Implemented in January 2010 to promote transparency and the use of social media and to provide customers with an alternative method for obtaining auction data. Benefits include: lowering costs and increasing communication with customers.
· Completed – Departmental Offices (DO) Wiki Pilot for Paperwork Reduction Act Information Collection - Encourages public participation via a wiki with the IRS information collection 1545-0056, Application for Recognition of Exemption under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Public comments for information collections via the Federal Register process are minimal to none. Benefits include: increasing participation from the public, reducing paperwork burden hours, reducing cost of publishing Federal Register notices, and reducing cost of producing and distributing the form.
· Completed – DO Office of Financial Stability (OFS)Financial Recovery Information Transparency - Provides the public with information on financial stability programs through www.financialstability.gov, www.makinghomeaffordable.gov, and an upcoming presence on YouTube. Benefits include: increasing communication with the public, and improving transparency, accountability, and effectiveness of programs.
· Completed – TTB Online Tutorial: How to Get Started in a TTB-Regulated Industry Online Tool - The tool went live on October 6, 2010, and it gives step-by-step instructions and illustrations for getting started in any of the TTB regulated industries. Benefits include: reducing telephone calls and other inquiries to Bureau personnel on the process for starting a business, simplifying industry members’ process by providing instructions in plain language on how to start a business, and increasing public knowledge of TTB requirements.
· Completed – TTB Formulas Online Webinar Series - Free online Web seminar (Webinar) to demonstrate the Formulas Online system and provide a high-level overview of its features. The first webinar was held on May 12, 2011. TTB trained more than100 people on the new system. Benefits include: opening lines of communication between TTB and the industry, increasing taxpayer compliance, promoting e-government, and supporting open government initiatives.
· Completed – IRS Preparer Taxpayer Identification Number - Implements a web-based program to require paid tax return preparers to register. Completed September 2010. Benefits include: increasing taxpayer compliance and ensuring uniform ethical standards for preparers.
· Completed – IRS Federal Student Aid (FSA) Datashare - Supports the simplification of the Department of Education’s online Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) process by providing applicants with 14 IRS data elements needed to complete the FSA forms. Completed January 2010. Benefits include: improving accuracy, reducing applicant burden, and reducing program costs.
· Completed – IRS Web-Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) - Online web application for taxpayers to obtain their AGI information for multiple purposes, such as filing electronically and mortgage verification. Completed January 2010. Benefits include: streamlining taxpayer ability to obtain AGI tax information, reducing call center wait times for taxpayers, providing information in English and Spanish, and rolling project into electronic filing pin.
· Completed – Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) MoneyFactoryStore.gov - New web site launched in November 2009 that was developed and deployed using the Software as a Service (SAAS) cloud computing model, including a Pay.gov payment gateway that allows the public to easily and securely buy products from BEP using credit cards. Benefits include: increasing online orders for products and decreasing transaction costs.
· Completed – Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) Online Customer Complaint (OLCC) - Provides consumers with the option of submitting complaints via the internet. Prior to the launch of OLCC, complaints were received via U.S. mail, fax, and email only. Benefits include: reducing paper processing, reducing data entry errors, reducing personally identifiable information (PII) required to file a complaint, reducing costs, and promoting a paperless Treasury.
· In Progress – Permits Online - Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) launched a new online system on February 14, 2011, that allows applicants to draft, submit and track original and amended applications to operate alcohol and tobacco businesses and to register to make tax free sales of firearms and ammunition. TTB has replaced its paper intensive manual permit application process with a new electronic filing system. TTB expects to improve customer service and decrease the cycle time to grant permits to those small businesses qualified to operate, which will facilitate the startup of new businesses and support economic growth and job creation in the domestic economy.
· In Progress – Formulas Online - TTB released Formulas Online in January 2011, a web-based system that members of the alcohol industry can use to draft and submit alcohol product formulas for TTB approval. The review of formulations is both critical in terms of applying the appropriate tax rate and in terms of properly labeling an alcohol beverage product. This e-Gov system also met with customer approval, with more than 500 industry members registering to use Formulas Online within the first weeks of operation. Registrations continue to rise and, to date, more than 30 percent of formulas are received electronically, saving both the industry and TTB time and resources in fulfilling this regulatory requirement. The Bureau reported increases in the percent of electronically filed COLA applications, which in FY 2011 reached 88 percent of all applications.
· In Progress – Electronic Benefits Payments - The Financial Management Service have taken steps to eliminate paper check payments. By March 1, 2013, federal beneficiaries and retirees will receive payments electronically, either through direct deposit into a bank account or Treasury’s Direct Express debit card. The elimination of paper checks will provide timely, accurate, and efficient disbursement of federal government payments, minimize the costs associated with postage and the re-issuance of lost or stolen checks, and protect against fraud and identity theft.
· In Progress – E-file - The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has focused on better ways to do business by eliminating paper processes. IRS will continue to encourage more taxpayers to file their returns electronically through e-file.
· In Progress – Paperless Statements of Earnings and Leave (SELs) - IRS is eliminating paper documents sent to its employees serviced by the National Finance Center (NFC). On February 22, 2011, NFC converted 60,994 employees to paperless Statements of Earnings and Leave (SELs) and is working to convert the remaining 52,000 employees that continue to receive paper SELs, which will eliminate 2.8 million paper forms by enhancing its Single Entry Time Reporting (SETR) system and by automating its Leave Bank and Leave Transfer Programs.
· In Progress – UNAX electronic certification process - Allows employees and contractors to digitally and securely confirm completion of the mandated training and eliminate more than 250,000 pieces of paper per year.
· In Progress – Treasury Library Digitization - In support of Treasury’s flagship initiative and in the spirit of open government, the Departmental Offices Treasury Library began digitizing over two million pages of library documents in July of 2010. The digitized library documents are comprised of legislative histories and historical reports and documents that were originally published by Treasury. The goal is to make every page both available online and searchable by the general public. To accomplish this goal, the Treasury Library is collaborating with Treasury’s FOIA office to make all documents available to the public through Treasury’s FOIA reading room website located at http://www.treasury.gov/FOIA/Pages/reading_room.aspx. The Library digitization efforts came to a halt in fiscal year 2011 due to lack of funding. These efforts will resume in fiscal year 2013 pending availability of fiscal year 2013 funding.
· In Progress – Bureau of Public Debt (BPD) GOVerify - The GOVerify business center provides automated tools, including a web-based single entry access portal, which federal agencies can use to gain access to an array of data sources to assist in determining whether an individual or entity is eligible to receive federal payments or engage in federal contracts or grants. This initiative was developed in 2011 and became available to federal agencies in January 2012. GOVerify will benefit any federal agency that enters into a financial transaction with a person. During the pre-award process GOVerify allows agencies to verify benefit program eligibility and ensure contract or grant eligibility. During the pre-payment process agencies can re-verify program eligibility for recurring payments and research irregularities based on the match results. During the post payment process agencies can utilize the GOVerify Data Analytics Services to perform analytics, fraud detection and payment recaptures.
· In Progress – BPD Summary Debt Accounting Modernization - The purpose of summary Debt Accounting (SDA) modernization project is to increase governance over the debt accounting environment to ensure the collection, verification, and dissemination of all debt accounting information is accurate, appropriate, flexible and standardized and that more data is available to the public. This initiative started October 1, 2010 and is scheduled to be completed by October 1, 2013. Benefits include: providing real time data retrieval options, increasing collaboration and operational integration, improving customer service due to the flexibility of shared service solutions, producing 100 percent of daily financial statements within three business days, and leveraging best practices and common functions across system users. Scheduled for completion by October 1, 2013.
· In Progress – Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) Electronic processing for license applications pursuant to the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000 (TSRA) - To respond to the increase in the number and complexity of applications submitted to OFAC pursuant to TSRA, OFAC is upgrading the technology and remodeling the software application logic. This initiative introduces a public-facing electronic license application. Benefits include: increasing in the number of applications processed annually, increasing ease of use by the public, and moving away from paper based process.
· In Progress – Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) New Web Page - New web page that will provide a listing of entities registered with FinCEN as money services businesses (MSBs). This new web page will allow MSBs, banks, regulators, law enforcement, and the general public to more efficiently access, search, verify, download, and print MSB registration information. Benefits include: enhancing search capability and search time for information.
· In Progress – FinCEN Paperless Initiatives - Agency is discontinuing the sending of paper letters to MSBs to confirm their registration. Registration can be confirmed via the new MSB web page. Benefits include: facilitating electronic filing, thereby reducing paper flow. All FinCEN reports (with the exception of the Report of International Transportation of Currency or Monetary Instruments filed by individuals crossing the U.S. Border) will be electronically filed by June 30, 2012.
· In Progress – FinCEN Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) Information Technology (IT) Modernization - Enables efficient capture, dissemination, and proactive/reactive analysis of Bank Secrecy Act data which is critical to assuring the stability of the nation’s financial system. Quickens response to changes in the financial industry and patterns of criminal activity. Benefits include: reducing costs and simplifying stakeholder interaction for filing.
The open government initiative is a major effort to bring together federal agencies, state and local agencies, financial institutions, and the business community, to participate in sharing information. These efforts include:
· Creating technologies that are compatible and improve the flow of information.
· Obtaining resources in the form of funding and human capital to design, test, and put into production the equipment required to allow the flow of information across a spectrum of agencies or businesses.
· Ensuring that information and data released to the public does not create unintentional exposure of personally identifiable information and does not present a national security risk, while ensuring that we are able to release as much information as possible.
· Having defined social media usage policies in place for information governance.
· Updating the information technology manual to include accessibility information ensuring that all people have access to information posted on websites and social media, including those with disabilities.
· Updating Treasury websites to ensure that non-English speaking individuals will be able to access information and that the information on the websites is useful to them.
· Establishing a culture of open government and communicating the three principles of open government to senior management executives by continuing road shows to all bureaus.
· Continuing to build out and enhance the electronic content management platform so that all Department employees can participate and collaborate using records management and other, more efficient workflows.
Treasury’s goals for version 2.0 of the open government plan build on those in version 1.0 to strengthen the framework and practices for incorporating open government initiatives into Treasury’s day-to-day activities.
The goals include:
Goal 1: Continue to increase transparency
Goal 2: Continue to expand participation and collaboration
Goal 3: Continue flagship initiative one: Moving to a Paperless Treasury
Goal 4: Implement Treasury’s new flagship initiative: www.Treasury.gov Accessibility Portal
Treasury continues to receive public feedback via OPEN@do.treas.gov e-mail address and for 60 days following the report, will use a public collaboration tool linked from Treasury’s Open Government webpage – IdeaScale – for feedback on version 2.0. For programs and activities that require detailed feedback, we will utilize additional forms of engagement, including discussions with key stakeholder groups, panel discussions, and interactive forums. In an effort to update the current Open Government Plan and promote collaboration and participation at Treasury, the Open Government Plan 2.0 version will be made available on Treasury’s internal collaboration site for all Treasury employees to provide input across the Department.
Treasury will continue to support and drive open government principles throughout the Department. Version 2.0 of Treasury’s Open Government Plan is a renewal of the Open Government commitments. This plan will focus on incorporating the open government principles into the daily activities of all Treasury employees. Treasury will also strengthen efforts to identify activities that employees are already doing in their daily jobs that promote the principles of open government.
Objectives - Goal 1: Continue to Increase Transparency
· Enhance Participation in Data.gov and Increase High-Value Datasets
Treasury is in compliance with Data.gov requirements. Treasury publishes a minimum of three datasets per quarter on Data.gov. In fiscal year 2011, Treasury exceeded this target by publishing 19 new datasets on Data.gov. Treasury is aspiring to increase the number of datasets published per quarter.
· Develop a Plan for Future Publication of High-Value Datasets
Treasury has developed a plan to publish future high-value datasets by targeting specific program offices to publish its data of ongoing operations on Data.gov.
· Continued Publication on Grants.gov
The Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI is a grant-issuing entity within Treasury). CDFI’s mission is to provide grant resources to underserved communities to stimulate economic growth and to create jobs. Grants are also extended for Native American assistance. CDFI announces grants through the Department of Health and Human Services Grant.Gov initiative.
· Continued Publication on USAspending.gov
Treasury published contract and grants information regarding each award, providing the amount, name and location of the receiving entity, transaction type, and funding agency.
· Continued Publication on Federal IT Dashboard
Treasury used OMB’s IT Dashboard to allow the public to track the progress of investments. The Dashboard (http://it.usaspending.gov/) is a public-facing website to gauge the health of its portfolio. Each month, the Office of the Chief Information Officer evaluates the Department’s 49 major investments on cost and schedule performance metrics.
Objectives - Goal 2: Continue to Expand Participation and Collaboration
· Enhance feedback tools and practices for public engagement
Treasury will explore more advanced feedback tools and reviewing existing policies to increase or enhance the use of more robust feedback tools and practices.
· Enhance Participation in e-Rulemaking
The Department was an early participant in the e-rulemaking initiative, Regulations.Gov, and has numerous proposed and interim rules and other materials posted for public comment and review on that site. The Department uses the Federal Register to publish notices on its rulemaking activities. In addition, it posts its proposed and final rules to Regulations.Gov, the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. The public can review, read, and comment on all the Departments postings on the Portal.
· Use technology platforms to improve collaboration among people within and outside of the agency
Treasury implemented the Electronic Content Management (ECM) technology to improve collaboration capabilities and functionality within and outside the department.
· Enhance description and links to websites for public participation
Treasury is re-designing the public facing website as well as the internal Treasury collaboration site to include more descriptions and links to information regarding participation efforts.
· Continue Ongoing Training and Education on Principles of Open Government
Continue conducting Open Government Road Shows with the remaining bureaus.
Objectives - Goal 3: Continue Flagship Initiative One – Moving to a Paperless Treasury
· Identify additional paper-based processes for conversion to electronic workflows
Treasury will utilize the Enterprise Content Management (ECM) review process to identify suitable candidates for conversion from paper-based to electronic workflows.
· Continue to track progress of previously identified paperless efforts
The Paperless initiative is designed to improve the public's experience interacting with Treasury while effecting operational efficiencies of several key Treasury activities. These activities range from disbursement and collection of select federal government payments and receipts, to improving electronic tax return filing capabilities. The desired outcome of paperless disbursement and collection activities are cost savings/avoidance for the government and improved flexibility and response to customers. Treasury currently monitors the progress of multiple paperless and electronic service delivery efforts across the department.
Objectives - Goal 4: Implement Treasury’s New Flagship Initiative: Treasury.gov Accessibility Portal
· Create a one-stop portal for both language and disability accessibility for Treasury information
Treasury has outlined a two-year plan for implementing the accessibility portal as described later in this Plan.
The Senior Agency Official for implementing the Open Government Directive continues to provide leadership and direction of the open government efforts Treasury-wide. The senior official continues to chair the Open Government Steering Committee, which has oversight over the various open government subcommittees, including Open Government Communications, Data and Information Identification Integrity and Partnerships, and the Policy and Guidance subcommittees.
In version 1.0 of the Open Government Plan, six subcommittees were formed to oversee specific lines of activities for the Department. These subcommittees report progress on open government actions to the Treasury-Wide Open Government Steering Committee. In this new version of the plan, these subcommittees have been reduced from six to three (Figure 17) to combine functions and strengthen open government efforts.
Open Government Communications
This subcommittee enhances and implements a Treasury-wide strategy and network for both disseminating and receiving key information pertaining to Treasury’s implementation of the Open Government Directive activities, elicits innovative ideas for promoting openness and transparency, and provides status reports on progress. Through outreach, education, and engagement, the subcommittee ensures that Treasury employees at every level incorporate transparency, accountability, public participation, and collaboration into their daily work. This subcommittee identifies necessary tools to enable collaboration and participation; and it also formalizes the process for accepting input, providing data review, and approving website content.
Data and Information Identification, Integrity, and Partnerships
This subcommittee continues to identify information to make available to the public, as well as opportunities for partnerships with other agencies to provide and create complementary datasets to promote efficiency. They have implemented an effective internal control and review process of information and datasets to be made public to ensure the accuracy, timeliness, and usefulness of this data, including proper review for privacy and disclosure compliance before release by following the requirements outlined in Treasury’s Data Quality Plan and Checklist for submitting datasets to Data.gov. These documents will be made available in the appendix section of Treasury’s Open Government Plan version 2.0.
Policy and Guidance
This subcommittee identifies current policies impacted, as well as new policies needed, to support and enable transparency, collaboration, and participation activities in support of the Open Government Directive. This subcommittee will also update the Open Government Plan every two years at a minimum.
Treasury’s Open Government performance measures remain the same as they were in Open Government Plan 1.0, but the targets have been updated:
· Increase the number of datasets released per quarter by 2 beginning in July 2012
· Identify stakeholder outreach efforts by December 30, 2012
· Reduce in FOIA backlog by 30 percent by December 30, 2012
· Identify cost savings resulting from open government initiatives by December 30, 2012
Tracking, reporting, and accountability will be monitored closely via the Open Government Tracking Matrix and the Open Government Steering Committee meetings. Results will be reported monthly in those meetings via the assigned subcommittees responsible for reporting the required information.
Treasury will be involved in several projects stemming from President Obama’s National Action Plan for Open Government (National Action Plan), including the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), the Smart Disclosure New Initiative, and the Foreign Assistance Dashboard.
The senior official for open government has also been designated as the senior agency official for implementing the records management initiative in support of the President’s memorandum dated November 28, 2011, Managing Government Records, which mandates agency-wide review of current records management practices. This effort also builds on Executive Order 13589 of November 9, 2011 (Promoting Efficient Spending), which directed agencies to reduce spending and focus on mission critical functions. Having the same senior official managing both of these important efforts provides increased opportunities to ensure effective records management practices enhance Treasury’s transparency.
The SAO sponsors the Department’s Records and Information Management Month (RIMM) activities every April and provides a broad range of Treasury-wide training and education sessions to increase employee understanding of the full information management life cycle, including records management, disclosure, and transparency. Managing records effectively and efficiently facilitates the completion of Treasury’s work, preserves official agency records, and ensures access to Treasury information. Previous RIMM events were successful in providing education and awareness to over 2100 Treasury and other Federal government employees. This year’s event is entitled “Records Modernization: Reducing Our Carbon Footprint,” and is designed for participants to learn about the objectives as outlined in the Presidential Memorandum.
In summer 2011, the Office of Privacy, Transparency, and Records conducted a triennial assessment of Treasury bureau records management programs. These assessments will be used to identify gaps between practices and generally accepted recordkeeping principles, assess risks based on identified gaps, determine whether additional information or analysis is necessary, develop priorities, and assign accountability for further program development.
The online Citizen’s Web Portal launched in spring 2011 has become the preferred method for FOIA request submissions to the Department’s headquarters. Treasury will continue to make improvements to the online submission capability as well as improvements to the public facing FOIA electronic library. Improvements in development include enhanced search capability and links to the Treasury Library’s digitized information collection.
Efforts to promote access to the beneficial ownership information of legal entities is one key element of Treasury’s strategy to enhance financial transparency in order to strengthen efforts to combat financial crime, including money laundering, terrorist financing, and tax evasion. To that end, on March 5, 2012, FinCEN issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) to solicit public comment on a wide range of issues related to the possible application of an explicit Customer Due Diligence (CDD) obligation for financial institutions, including a requirement to collect the beneficial ownership information of their accountholders. Comments on the ANPRM must be received on or before May 4, 2012.
Consistent with the requirements stated in the National Action Plan, Treasury will collaborate with the Department of the Interior and other federal agencies to work with industry and citizens to develop a sensible plan for disclosing relevant information and enhance the accountability and transparency of revenue collection efforts.
As part of the National Action Plan for providing greater transparency regarding foreign aid, Treasury is collaborating with the Department of State and USAID in order to produce datasets to communicate information to the public about international aid. Foreign aid transparency empowers citizens to hold their government accountable for the use of foreign assistance funding. Agencies will be responsible for providing timely and detailed datasets regarding budgets, disbursements, and project implementation. The data will be released in an open platform and made available on a central portal known as the Foreign Assistance Dashboard. Treasury anticipates providing a link to the Foreign Assistance Dashboard from Treasury’s public facing Open Government web page.
Treasury is currently participating in an interagency task force on “Smart Disclosure” in support of the National Action Plan and to comply with OMB guidance on disclosing data to the public to encourage informed decision-making in areas such as searching for insurance options for an individual’s specific needs. Over the next year, Treasury will work to provide standardized data in machine-readable formats that enable consumers to make informed decisions. Several Treasury employees attended a conference on Smart Disclosure to learn about ways to further this initiative.
Flagship Initiative: Treasury.gov Accessibility Portal
Treasury’s objective is to create a one-stop portal that will provide both language accessibility and disability accessibility for public facing Treasury information. The language disability portion will have different language interpretations for the Limited English speaking individuals to access information from Treasury’s website. The site will contain information regarding access to low-vision IRS forms (with a link), information about the money readers for the blind, and information about how to request an interpreter when visiting an IRS Taxpayer Assistance Center. The initiative will result in improved access to Treasury’s information by Limited English proficient (LEP) individuals and persons with disabilities by providing a one-point access portal.
Transparency: This initiative will increase transparency by providing additional access to LEP individuals and persons with disabilities who otherwise will have problems accessing the information. As part of the initiative Treasury will determine the information of interest to the key groups and make it available on the portal. Relevant information will be published in appropriate languages and in accessible formats.
Participation: This initiative addresses participation by ensuring that LEP individuals and persons with disabilities have an equal opportunity to participate in Treasury’s open initiative. The initiative will result in an increase of the availability of information in accessible formats and languages. The portal will provide a contact e-mail address to a dedicated mailbox, to ensure LEP individuals and persons with disabilities have the ability to contribute ideas and comments about the initiative and Treasury’s programs and services.
Collaboration: This initiative will address improving collaboration between Treasury and the public by providing LEP individuals and persons with disabilities with an accessible way to provide feedback to the agency about the information available, and the types of information relevant to them.
Treasury will track the progress toward completion according to the following timelines:
First Year
Phase 1 – Began February 14, 2012 - Determine vision and mission of this initiative and conduct inventory of current language and accessibility information available from all Treasury bureaus – projected timeline 60 days – to be completed by April 15, 2012.
Phase 2 – Began March 1, 2012 - Determine additional information that needs to be available to the key groups (limited English proficient (LEP) individuals and persons with disabilities) – 90 days – to be completed by June 3, 2012.
Phase 3 – Began February 29, 2012 - Develop additional content. Content will be offered in alternative accessible formats and in Spanish – 120 days – to be completed by September 30, 2012.
Phase 4 – Beginning July 29, 2012 - Design web portal – 90 days – to be completed by October 30, 2012
Second Year
Phase 5 – Beginning September 30, 2012 - Determine and develop structure to regularly maintain and review content – 90 days – to be completed by December 30, 2012.
Phase 6 – Beginning February 1, 2013 - Develop solutions to make existing content available in the top five LEP languages – 150 days (June 30, 2013).
After analysis, design, and update of the existing FOIA Reading Room powered by Share Point, an enhanced FOIA online library went into production January 2012. The Department can generate usage metrics for on-demand and periodic reporting to management in an effort to identify high value document sets. The design facilitates access in an independent open standard, FOIA records in a publicly available information exchange reading room which readers can access and search for recent releases by the agency.
Enhancements include public search and easy download of FOIA documents via the web. The Department of the Treasury can generate usage metrics for on-demand and periodic reporting to management in an effort to identify high-value data sets. The new design facilitates access to an independent open standard, FOIA records in a publicly available information exchange (reading room) which readers can access and search for recent releases by the agency.
Treasury’s library has been making progress on the digitization project of key items from their collection and has been able to make some of their print materials available online for public access. The Statements of the Public Debt are now available online in a text searchable format starting with the year 1869 through the present at http://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/reports/pd/mspd/mspd.htm. Future releases of information will include legislative histories and the historical exchange rates. The library is developing a public facing portal to be launched by summer 2012.
The OFR’s mission is to serve the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), FSOC member agencies, and the public by improving the quality, transparency, and accessibility of financial data and information, by conducting and sponsoring research related to financial stability, and by promoting best practices in risk management.
In the spirit of open government, OFR will provide the public with key data and analysis, while protecting sensitive information.
The OFR continues to expand its Working Paper Series, available on its website, which offers an opportunity to disseminate preliminary research findings in a format intended to generate discussion and critical comments. The goal is to inform and improve the quality of the analysis conducted by the OFR.
As part of its mission managing the U.S. Government’s finances, the Department of the Treasury serves millions of customers. As required by Executive Order 13571 on Streamlining Service Delivery and Improving Customer Service, the Department has developed this plan, which identifies specific actions and initiatives which will further advance Treasury’s customer service over the next year, focusing on one signature initiative and three key service areas. Treasury strives to be a citizen-centered organization and serve customers in the most efficient, expedient, and convenient manner possible.
Electronic transcript Delivery Application on IRS.gov
This initiative enables a taxpayer to securely send a transcript to an authorized third party from an online application on IRS.gov. As a result of this effort, taxpayers will gain access to their tax records with greater efficiency and decreased burden.
Participation: Third parties such as banks, credit unions and other financial institutions have been integral partners in the planning and development of this service. Once the service is deployed, third parties will be able to introduce better processes that serve their end customers with easier access to Agency services.
Collaboration: Treasury will maintain a dialogue with stakeholders through discussions, webinars, electronic communications, and other public forums. Treasury will be collaborating directly with mortgage lenders, banking associations and Income Verification Express Services (IVES) vendors to iteratively add functionality.
Electronic Payments to Beneficiaries – Financial Management Service
The Financial Management Service (FMS) is supporting the effort by fostering a prudent use of taxpayer resources by providing timely, accurate, and efficient disbursements of federal payments. FMS is working to pay federal beneficiaries electronically rather than via paper checks. This is called the GoDirect campaign.
Participation: FMS will foster participation by working with the federal beneficiaries to ensure they have accounts set-up and understand how to convert from paper checks to electronic payments.
Collaboration: FMS will continue nationwide GoDirect campaign to convert current check recipients to direct deposit. Additionally, FMS will enable the GoDirect call center to process both direct deposit and Direct Express enrollments via a single toll free telephone number or a single website and expand the Direct Express card to multiple benefit payment types.
Video Communications Technology as a Service Delivery Alternative – IRS
The IRS will test the use of video communications technology to provide a service delivery alternative outside of IRS facilities. This service will increases access to face-to-face service where it is currently unavailable and improve the timely delivery of services and case resolution for taxpayers.
Participation: The IRS will deploy the video communications technology to a segment of the taxpaying population who has become accustomed to an in-person channel of service. This will test the viability of interacting with taxpayers in a virtual environment.
Collaboration: The video communications technology will be deployed in more than a dozen customer-facing locations where taxpayers can walk-in to receive services. The customer facing locations will be supported by 27 locations where IRS employees will deliver services. This will leverage established partner sites as an alternate service delivery location. It will establish a virtual presence in geographic areas with no staff or few staff. It will also supplement with virtual service delivery option at sites that are understaffed and sites that have high taxpayer traffic.
The open government team is continuing to leverage the existing networks within Treasury to enhance the communication of Treasury's open government values and efforts, such as the various executive councils (e.g., CIO, CFO, Privacy, FOIA, and Human Capital Councils), and intra-agency work committees. Through these collaboration efforts within the Department, Treasury effectively combines available resources to present a uniform effort toward open government.
Various bureaus already have taken the initiative to use technology to promote open government goals. The chart below highlights some of Treasury’s Bureau specific new innovative projects.
Grants.gov
The Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund will continue to publish grant opportunities at this link:
http://www07.grants.gov/search/search.do;jsessionid=9JycPh8GHd35hgLfDYcYZKb4Pxc3xLS2QzhhJb8G6pYDs1WLC9dt!-408580364. This link provides search capabilities for Treasury grant opportunities. Figure 18 includes some of the opportunities that exist for Treasury on the Grants.gov website for FY2012 to date.