Rethinking The Typical Office Of Public Affairs

Comment

Comment by Megan on May 4, 2013 at 1:54pm

The other value to pulling OpenGov out from under the CIO or CTO for IT is that it would better position the agencies to support the OGP country commitments that range from developing tools for citizen-driven legislation, to building expert consulting tools, to improving whistleblower protection, to extractive industries transparency.  Here is my slideshow of the recent OGP meeting in London: http://storify.com/meganesque/ogp-action-plans-april-2013/slideshow

Comment by Megan on May 4, 2013 at 12:00am

At NASA Ames, there is a Directorate that includes PAO, New Ventures (partnerships) and Education I believe.  I would add the OpenGov Office or functional unit there, with FOIA requests, Open Data, Open Innovation (Challenges and Apps contests), etc.  falling into that Office or Division.

There is tremendous potential via open data to instill good governance principles in government, if the focus is on releasing procurement and budget data, decisions rendered in the adjudication of administrative cases, agency policies and administrative staff manuals, and so forth. 

The idea is to empower the employees and vulnerable members of the general public via access to government data and information.  Today, open data released by agencies are often mission/science data sets for apps contests (some very helpful), but that was not the primary focus of OpenGov initially.

Comment by Megan on May 3, 2013 at 11:16pm

I like it but I  think you need to call out a separate OpenGov functional area, different from Public Affairs. 

One of the difficulties I had in my role as the OpenGov Lead for Ames was a disconnect between PAO's approach which is generally to spin everything in a very positive direction, and one of the primary goals of OpenGov which is good governance.  While OpenGov doesn't do this by directly exposing corruption, I found myself covering topics ("Little Recognition Given to Public Servants") that didn't sit well with PAO (and others at NASA).  In addition, the OpenGov functional area (and Leads) must have more leverage to intervene and participate in internal investigations if any headway is to be made in the areas of antibullying and anticorruption.

Comment by Dannielle Blumenthal on May 3, 2013 at 6:23pm

Very briefly--

Public affairs = defensive - respond to inquiries. Generally focus on mitigating potential or actual crises. Not so much about information dissemination other than outreach re specific events or campaigns. Often viewed as a propagandistic function by the public and with disdain internally. Negative image - "spinmeisters." Seen as a necessity. Emphasis on press relations. You don't go anywhere without them. This category does not include New Media, the freaks down the hall who Tweet etc. but who most people still don't understand. (I am proudly part of all these communities BTW.)

Community relations - these are the people who embed themselves in the local community through town halls, youth programs and events, etc. Viewed fondly internally and externally. But also seen as an unnecessary expense. Not so much defensive as ongoing stakeholder engagement. Ear to the ground.

Does that help?

Comment by Ari Herzog on May 3, 2013 at 4:18pm

I perceive public/government affairs as analogous to community relations - contrasted to government relations and lobbying. Do you agree? Or do you view affairs and relations the same?

Comment by Dannielle Blumenthal on February 11, 2013 at 3:11pm

In that first version the focus was on creating a standalone fusion center between IT and public affairs that was a little of both but none of either. Conceptually an Office of New Media but with a Situation Room aspect to monitor crises and such. 

Comment by Dannielle Blumenthal on February 11, 2013 at 3:08pm

I drafted the first iteration of this chart about four years ago and was told it was somewhat offensive to submit. Above my pay grade, outside my scope, not in my swim lane.

Comment by GovLoop on February 11, 2013 at 2:39pm

Love this - I never see enough on how to properly organize offices - and I think structure lays foundation of where you spend energy.

Comment by Joe Flood on January 29, 2013 at 1:43pm

This is great, because it's focused outward, on citizens and their needs rather than internal agency support.

Comment by Dannielle Blumenthal on January 29, 2013 at 6:16am

To the comment about the media or any stakeholder group - I would focus on the practical matter of of understanding what the different interests are, and then optimizing the relationship accordingly.

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