White House Web Site Takes Shape With Web 2.0 Transparency

Posted by K.C. Jones on February 10, 2009 04:54 PM

After a bit of a slow start, the White House Web site is beginning to look more like a Web 2.0 vehicle for government transparency.

It took the new administration 23 hours to post President Barack Obama's inauguration speech and the first few days passed with few blog posts and policy updates. So, I began to wonder if reality would live up to the hype about government transparency and accountability.

Just a few weeks later, it appears that the site is coming along, and delays were likely due to the transition.

In fact, four White House blog posts appeared Tuesday. They include links to video, photos, complete text of speeches, and legislative updates -- all on clean, easy-to-navigate pages.

Though I've taken a few shots at the administration (and the campaign before that), I believe in giving credit where credit is due.

Of course, the Web site still lacks one thing I've been waiting for: word on whether Vivek Kundra, or someone else, will become the nation's first CTO.

While it's important that the nation gain a tech leader -- and the person who fills the post could take on a role that will benefit the U.S. economy -- one could easily argue that it's not as high a priority as other steps, like final approval of an economic stimulus package.

Speaking of which: If I had the power to personally make improvements to the White House Web site, I would make the entire economic stimulus package -- the plan passed by the House and the counterproposal from the Senate -- available so the American people and our business leaders can better judge them.

For now, we'll have to cope with the pace of Thomas, the online source of federal policy information, which generally takes a day or so to post the most recent version of bills.

Maybe someday that, too, will be as fast as those new bloggers at the White House.