Two Ideas for "High-Value Data Sets"

One of the new requirements under yesterday's Open Government Directive is that executive branch agencies identify and publish at least three "high-value data sets" within 45 days. Here are two data sets we'd love to see made publicly available: the Department of Defense's (DoD) revolving door database and the General Services Administration's (GSA) database on federal contractor performance and integrity — the Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System (FAPIIS).

Unfortunately, right now both databases are slated to remain off-limits to the public. The DoD just recently denied our request for public access to the revolving door database, and back in September, the proposed rule to implement FAPIIS specified that the contractor integrity and performance database would be accessible only to government personnel and contractors wishing to view their own information.

As we wrote in our public comment on the rule to implement FAPIIS, "any databases developed by the government for the purpose of reducing fraud and waste in federal contracting should be accessible to the public. The public has a right to know the past performance and responsibility backgrounds of the contractors that receive hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars each year." And as for the revolving door database, what’s the harm in seeing a list of former government officials who are now working for defense contractors?

During yesterday's announcement of the Open Government Directive, US Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra invited the public to help hold agencies accountable. Opening up these two databases would be a great way to allow the public to do just that.

-- Bryan Rahija

Comments

[Dfens]

What good is access to these databases going to for the US public? We all watched as Boeing bought its way into the C-130 AMP. We all watched as Darlene Druyun went to jail while nothing at all happened to Boeing. We all watched as they drug out the program though incompetence. We all watched as they jacked the price of the development program from $1 billion to $15 billion. We all know they made $150 million in profit off a program that will provide the US taxpayer nothing, absolutely nothing. You won't do anything about that. Why should any of us believe you'll do any more with access to this "super secret" database?

It's all smoke and mirrors. POGO is as much a part of the game as the defense contractors themselves.