OMB to cut two transparency programs, suspend others

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Two transparency initiatives and numerous improvements to open government programs will be scrapped as a result of a 75 percent funding cut lawmakers agreed to in April to avert a federal shutdown, officials said.

Federal Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra's office will cancel Fedspace, a collaborative site where government officials could network and share thoughts, concerns and best practices related to technology projects, according to a letter Kundra sent to Sen Tom Carper (D-Delaware), chairman of the subcommittee on Federal Financial Management. Kundra's office will also stop work on a planned citizen-services dashboard, which would have gathered and posted their feedback on federal websites and other Web-based services, the letter said. The letter was in response to correspondence Carper sent Kundra in April seeking details about the likely cuts. The government's most visible and popular transparency initiatives will stay in operation, such as USAspending.gov, which tracks government spending on contracts, and the IT Dashboard, which details spending on information technology projects. But planned improvements will be put on hold.


OMB to cut two transparency programs, suspend others