Back in October Wired Wisconsin hosted our first event, Government 2.0: Utilizing Social Media, with the goal of encouraging elected officials and government agencies to take greater advantage of the collaborative aspects of social media like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter to connect with their constituents.

Using technologies like social media to collaborate, educate, and for outreach is no longer the wave of the future with President Obama releasing the long awaited Open Government Initiative today.

The goal of this new directive is to force government agencies to make their websites more interactive and for government to create an environment of transparency and openness.

As a spokesperson for the Sunlight Foundation said,

“The directive shows the administration has carefully considered how to foster a government characterized by collaboration — a government that engages citizens to participate in decision-making,” foundation spokeswoman Gabriela Schneider said in a press release. “Most significantly, the White House has given all of us the tools we need to hold them accountable for all of this.”

It’s not quite the full leap to using the social media communication channels many of us frequent on a daily, ok hourly basis, but it’s a great step in the right direction! Hooray!

Have some thoughts on what content each agency should include to meet the directive’s goals? Find out more information about how to add your comments here