Federal agencies to award prizes for open government compliance

The Office of Management and Budget released a memorandum on Monday that outlines ways federal agencies can use prizes and competitions to increase compliance with its December Open Government Directive that set deadlines for agencies to make data available online.

Both the directive and the March 8 memorandum were responses to a memorandum President Obama issued on his first day in office that told agency heads his administration would adhere to new standards of transparency.

Monday’s memorandum "strongly encourages" agencies to consult with legal counsel to establish and implement competitions and prizes to advance Obama’s open government initiative. It said the administration would create a web-based repository within 120 days where agencies can post competition ideas, questions and feedback.