Draft of U.S. State Department 2016 Open Government Plan

Preamble

On his first day in office, President Obama signed the Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government and made clear his commitment to “creating an unprecedented level of openness in government.” He laid out the three core principles: transparency, public participation, and collaboration.

With the July release of the White House guidance concerning the 2016 Open Government Plan, the Department of State is preparing publish its fourth Open Government Plan in September. Open Government highlights the importance of public participation in governance and the need for government agencies to engage with the public in an open, transparent manner. Over the years, the Department of State has sought to engage the public, in a variety of fora, on aspects of policy, including specifically Open Government. Now, during these final stages in the preparation of the 2016 Open Government Plan, we are taking advantage of this “GovUp” platform (itself an Open Government initiative) hosted by TechChange, to discuss the range of initiatives being considered for inclusion in the 2016 plan. We also look forward to discussing the State Department’s proposed flagship initiatives, which highlight how Open Government enables us to achieve the foreign policy objectives of the U.S. government more effectively. We look forward to your comments.

We also plan to follow this comment period with a live discussion.

Introduction

The Department of State’s Open Government Plan focuses on the three imperatives of Open Government:

Transparency – providing information to enable the American people to view the Department of State’s activities and products, and ensure accountability for results;
Participation – enabling the public to engage on issues of importance and make their voices heard; and
Collaboration – sharing information and ideas, and working cooperatively with partners around the world to promote the foreign policy interests of the United States.

The Department of State is responsible for carrying out the nation’s foreign policy and representing the United States abroad. It is essential that that we take every opportunity to engage the American people as we do this vital work on their behalf.

Highlighting the level to which transparency, participation and collaboration have been integral to the work of the Department of State since its inception, this Open Government Plan identifies “Open Government” initiatives, such as the public participation in the policy process through the incorporation of a library into the Department of State in 1789, or the promotion of transparency through the timely publication of internal diplomatic documents in the “Foreign Relations of the United States” series in 1861.

The Department of State has a longstanding history and commitment to sharing information with the public about the diplomatic work that we conduct domestically and overseas. The ways in which we communicate internally, with other agencies and organizations, and to the public have changed significantly with the development of new technologies and social media, and they will undoubtedly continue to change as further advances in communication are discovered.

Our era is now one in which, in addition to face-to-face meetings and writing letters or speaking by telephone, people engage with each other and with their governments through digital networks, sharing data and perspectives in real-time, and collaborating effectively in ways that would not have been possible a quarter of a century ago. In this inter-connected era, as noted in the 2015 Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR),” our diplomats and development professionals must focus on strengthening partnerships with civil society, citizen movements, faith leaders, entrepreneurs, innovators and others who share our values.” Many of the initiatives in this Open Government Plan, ranging from traditional “Advisory Councils, Commissions, Committees and Boards” to providing online digital mapping tools and data, highlight the broad scope of the collaborative efforts that support the implementation of our foreign policy.

Public engagement in the work of the Department of State not only provides the Department of State with a wider range of perspectives and expertise than it might otherwise have, but it also serves to exemplify the type of good governance, representative of the democratic values we encourage. Again, as stated in the QDDR, “Societies that allow citizens a say and a stake in their success are more stable, prosperous, and secure.” To facilitate public engagement, the Department of State provides numerous avenues for public participation, whether through posting a comment to one of the numerous policy blogs or social media channels established by the Department of State and U.S. Embassies around the world, commenting on proposed regulation changes via the Regulations.gov websites, participating as a virtual intern or fellow in the Virtual Student Foreign Service or Virtual Fellows Program, or by serving as a “political appointee” in a senior policy position. The Department of State benefits greatly from public engagement, and is continually expanding the mechanisms by which the public’s voice can be incorporated into policy formation.

The Department of State has long recognized the importance of transparency as means of holding government accountable and engendering the public confidence necessary for a well-functioning democracy. Transparency is a key element of the Open Government Partnership, through which the U.S. government, represented primarily by the Department of State, works with other governments, international organizations and civil society organizations to promote transparency, empower citizens, fight corruption, and harness new technologies to strengthen governance. Among the many transparency initiatives the Department of State has in place are the publication of U.S. government assessments concerning human rights practices, terrorism, religious freedom, trafficking in persons and the investment climate. Data concerning foreign assistance, refugee and migration flows, visa and passport issuances, and numerous other Department of State processes are published in machine readable formats. The “No Double Standard” principle has long guided the Department of State in ensuring that it provides private U.S. citizens the same information which it provides to U.S. government employees in safeguarding the welfare of all our citizens. Similarly, in as much as policy decisions within the Department of State are informed by accurate and reliable data, the Department of State seeks to make that same data accessible by the public to better inform public decision making.

Building on flagship Department of State Open Government initiatives from previous years, the Department of State has sought to integrate these initiatives even more closely into its main foreign policy initiatives, such as “Harnessing the Data Revolution for Sustainable Development,” Advancing Democracy and Human Rights, and Strengthening Civil Society,” and “Modernizing the Way We Do Diplomacy and Development.”

Introduction

“The Government continually depends upon the support of Congress and the People, and that support can be expected only in the condition of keeping them thoroughly and truthfully informed of the manner in which the powers derived from them are executed.”

William Henry Seward

Secretary of State, 1861-69

Open Government is part of the Department of State’s DNA. Long before the rise of technology and the advent of the Internet, transparency, participation and collaboration were key to achieving U.S. foreign policy goals. Aspiring to Woodrow Wilson’s goal of "open covenants of peace, openly arrived at," we rely on collaborative effort through treaty negotiation and participation in international organizations. Since the establishment of the Department of State in 1789, our internal library (now the Ralph Bunche Library) has facilitated public input into the foreign policy process. We institutionalized transparency in the Department of State with the inaugural publication of the “Foreign Relations of the United States” series in 1861. In 1967, Secretary of State Rusk launched the Secretary’s Open Forum, encouraging creative thinking on vital policy issues and the presentation of visions and viewpoints that dissented from official policy. Since 1977, the transparency of our annual human rights reports has enhanced our credibility and promoted accountability and consistency in our global engagements.

Every bureau in the Department of State contributes to Open Government, as the range of initiatives geared to transparency, participation and collaboration makes clear. With the environment having changed from one of paper missives and telegrams to cloud-based collaboration, social media and mobile devices, we’ve adapted to meet public expectations and our own needs in order to accomplish our foreign policy mission. With over 80 ongoing Open Government initiatives ranging from Overseas Security Advisory Councils (OSAC) to the Business Information Database System (BIDS) to the Virtual Student Foreign Service (VSFS) to Exchange Programs, to publishing per diem and allowance schedules online, and many more, the principles of Open Government are now the longstanding principles under which we operate.

The Department of State now makes thousands of datasets available to the public on the Internet, ranging from the 242 volumes of the Foreign Relations of the U.S. digitized in full text by the Office of the Historian to digital imagery and maps produced by the Humanitarian Information Unit, to visa statistics, foreign assistance figures, and Inspection reports from the Office of the Inspector General. The State Department has made a number of these datasets, such as the FRUS and Per Diem rates, accessible via Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) so that the data can be embedded in third-party applications.

With the publication of the 2016 Open Government Plan, we survey the current terrain and identify the way forward. There is much we have already done and there is much we are committed to achieving.

New and Expanded Initiatives

Open Data

On May 9, 2013, the Office of Management and Budget set forth an Open Data policy via M-13-13, requiring all agencies to manage data as an asset. The policy’s goals are to increase operational efficiencies at reduced costs, improve services, and increase public access to Government information. For data to be considered open, it must be machine readable using open data standards and licenses, and adhere to a Government-wide common core metadata standard. The five core deliverables of M-13-13 are the following:

Create and maintain an Enterprise Data Inventory (EDI);
Create and maintain a Public Data Listing;
Create a process to engage with customers to help facilitate and prioritize data release;
Document if data cannot be released; and
Clarify roles and responsibilities for promoting efficient and effective data release.

The Department of State creates and disseminates datasets about U.S. foreign policy, international diplomacy, and global issues. The data supports analysis of U.S. foreign policy initiatives and trends and is used by experts in specific issue areas as well as experts in the process of diplomacy. The data is also used by the general public to explore the history of U.S. international relations.

The Open Government initiative provides an opportunity to increase access to and use of the datasets available to the public. Datasets that are currently available are located on the Data.gov website, and new datasets will be published there as they are made available. These datasets may be found by selecting the Department of State from the https://www.data.gov/metrics page. The datasets can also be accessed through the Department of State’s Open Government page at www.state.gov/open.

The State Department has published its policies with regard to implementing data management in volume 5, chapter 639 of the Foreign Affairs Manual (5 FAM 639). The Department of State currently maintains a Department-wide Enterprise Data Catalog, which is a collection of all information assets registered by data owners and system owners. As part of an ongoing process, the datasets associated with existing systems have been populated as system owners update their entries in the Enterprise Data Catalog. System owners are required to enter the dataset information for the new systems as part of their initial Enterprise Data Catalog system registration.

Datasets belong to one of the three following categories:

Public – Data asset is or could be made publicly available to all without restrictions;
Restricted Public – Data asset is available under certain use restrictions; and
Non-Public – Data asset is not available to members of the public. Public data in the EDI is exported to a Public Data Listing (PDL), where anyone can download the index and use it to access the public data. The PDL is also used by Data.gov to create a searchable index to all available public data published by the U.S. Government. The PDL is located on the www.State.gov/data page and contained in a single JSON file. The PDL is refreshed quarterly. The process of collecting and publishing open data is shown in Figure 1: Open Data Concept of Operations.

Open Data Concept of Operations.jpg

For more information on Open Data, including a pointer to the Open Data Plan and Inventory Schedule and a copy of the most recent Public Data Listing, visit the Open Data page at www.state.gov/data. The Department of State is also an active participant in Data.gov, where three application program interfaces (APIs) are available for the public to use: Foreign Per Diem Rates, Office of the Historian eBook Catalog and the Select State.Gov Data tool (SSD) . More information on Data.gov is discussed under the Transparency section of this plan.

Proactive Disclosures

The Department of State continues to employ a well-established procedure for identifying records that have been processed under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) for posting on the public website, (foia.state.gov). After documents are released in response to a FOIA request, the Requester Liaison Division (which manages the Department’s FOIA website) works with the Statutory Compliance and Research Division (which processes the requests) to identify documents to be uploaded. Documents released in response to a Privacy Act request are not posted online. In addition, other bureaus within the Department also post documents of wide public interest on www.state.gov. As a result additional documents are being uploaded onto the FOIA website on a quarterly basis. The amount of information on our FOIA website highlights the Department of State's commitment to transparency and open government. This FOIA Virtual Reading Room contains over 100,000 documents on a wide range of topics that have been released to the public pursuant to FOIA, mandatory declassification review requests under Executive Order 13526, and other declassification reviews. To make posted information easier for the public to discover, each document is converted to the PDF-A format (a version of the Adobe "Portable Document Format" which is specialized for the long-term digital archiving of electronic documents) before the documents go through an optical character recognition process. Documents in the Virtual Reading Room can be retrieved based on the date they were created, the date they were posted to the site, the FOIA case number or a word search of the electronic text of the documents. Approximately 18,000 documents were added to the website in FY-2015, and many more have been added in FY-2016. Various offices in the Department of State collaborate to identify releases in which there is significant public interest for posting on the FOIA website. The site has a wealth of other links to additional information resources inside and outside the Department of State, including a link to the millions of pages of declassified Department of State records available online at the National Archives and Records Administration. The Department of State also provides datasets, in a range of formats, in response to the Open Government Initiative and other requirements.

Privacy

The Privacy Act was passed in 1974 to establish controls over what personal information is collected, maintained, used and disseminated by agencies in the executive branch of the Federal Government. The Privacy Act only applies to records that are located in a “system of records.” As defined in the Privacy Act, a system of records is “a group of any records under the control of any agency from which information is retrieved by the name of the individual or by some identifying number, symbol, or other identifying particular assigned to the individual.” The Privacy Act guarantees three primary rights: the right of individuals to see records about themselves, subject to Privacy Act exemptions; request the amendment of records that are not accurate, timely or complete; and have protection against unwarranted invasion of their privacy resulting from the collection, maintenance, use, and disclosure of personal information.

The Bureau of Administration (A) is the focal point for the many complex and diverse activities relating to privacy protection, promoting consistent implementation of privacy policies and legal requirements. The A Bureau coordinates responses to, and implementation of, White House directives, and leads the Department of State's responses to OMB and Government Accountability Office (GAO) data calls and inquiries relating to privacy policy. It also leads and coordinates multi-functional projects, studies and research activities to identify and address privacy issues, and participates in various inter- and intra-agency boards, committees, and groups. Additionally, the A Bureau reviews legislative and other initiatives proposed by Congress, other agencies and the public, and formulates the Department of State's privacy policy. It provides technical expertise to the Department of State's Privacy Protection Governance Board (PPGB) and the PPGB’s personally identifiable information (PII) coordinators. The A Bureau directs the Core Response Group which addresses data breaches and conducts reviews of privacy impact assessments (PIAs) to ensure that privacy requirements are fully integrated into the Department’s information technology systems. It supports implementation of the E-Government Act of 2002 and relevant portions of the Federal Information Management Security Act (FISMA).

The A Bureau serves as the Department of State's technical expert on the Privacy Act, responding to inquiries concerning privacy issues and concerns by conducting follow-up when necessary. The A Bureau also works with Department of State business owners to assist with the development or alteration of System of Records Notices (SORNs) and coordinates Department of State responses regarding breach notifications to affected bureaus or individuals. For a complete list of the Department of State's records collections systems, go to the Privacy Impact Assessments (PIAs) and the SORNs pages.

Whistleblower Protection

The Whistleblower Protection Act strengthens protections for Federal employees who believe they have been subjected to unjustified personnel actions in reprisal for their whistleblowing activities. The Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2012 was signed into law in November 2012 and provides that the implementation and enforcement of nondisclosure agreements by the Department shall be consistent with the existing statutory framework for whistleblower protections. The Department of State is committed to ensuring that all employees understand and are aware of the prohibited personnel practices (PPPs) and whistleblower protections.

PPPs are employment-related activities that are banned in the federal workforce because they violate the merit system through some form of employment discrimination, retaliation, improper hiring practices, or failure to adhere to laws, rules, or regulations that directly concern the merit system principles, and are, by statute, forbidden in the Federal Government. The Office of Special Counsel (OSC) is an independent agency that investigates and prosecutes allegations of PPPs. Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 2302(b), Federal employees are prohibited from retaliating against whistleblowers. Whistleblowing involves the act of disclosing information that an employee reasonably believes evidences a violation of any law, rule or regulation; gross mismanagement; a gross waste of funds; an abuse of authority; or a substantial and specific danger to public health or safety. Employees who are aware of these protections are encouraged to come forward to report possible violations.

A complete list of PPPs is available on OSC's website at https://osc.gov, which provides important information about Federal employee rights, PPPs, whistleblowing, and disclosure procedures. The Department of State has not yet been certified through the OSC's Whistleblower Protection Act certification program; however, the Department of State has communicated to its employees through various channels, such as an intranet site and Department Notices on employee rights, how to report complaints alleging PPPs, the role of OSC, and additional information regarding whistleblowing.

Additional information regarding the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2012, including the Department’s obligations regarding the implementation and enforcement of nondisclosure agreements consistent with federal whistleblower protections can be found at http://www.state.gov/s/ocr/205593.htm.

Websites

In compliance with the E-Government Act of 2002, the State Department is developing and continuing to enhance several website features to improve customer service. On May 23, 2012, the Administration launched a comprehensive Digital Government Strategy to deliver better digital services to the American people. The Department of State maintains a web page at www.state.gov/digitalstrategy that contains the status of the milestones of the Digital Strategy initiatives.

The Department is committed to promoting the innovative application of Department data in the public and private sectors. The Department’s Developer Community connects developers with the APIs they need to unlock government data. Their website at http://www.state.gov/developer serves as the main resource for developers seeking Department data and contains mobile applications available for download.

In pursuit of the Digital Government Strategy goals, the State Department is making its web content more mobile-friendly. A mobile solution has been implemented for more than 450 Embassy and Consulate websites around the world (see http://www.usembassy.gov/). These sites support visitor access and browsing on feature phones, smart phones and tablets with the option to view the “desktop” version. m.state.gov is also a mobile website.Those accessing www.state.gov from a mobile device are automatically directed to the m.state.gov mobile-friendly website.

The “Stay Connected” feature is accessible on every http://www.state.gov page, providing quick access to all of the Department’s social media platforms. The Department of State pages also offer customized information dispersal through an e-mail subscription for foreign policy topics of interest.

The Department collects feedback on customer satisfaction in three ways: through a comments section where users are represented by an email address, online surveys, and Google Analytics. Google Analytics is used to collect information on visitor usage, length of time on the site, how the user was directed to the site (social media, e-mail, another website, etc.), along with on what page they ended their session. Google Analytics is installed on approximately 93 percent of the public-facing websites.

Open Innovation Methods

The Department of State promotes open innovation through a range of structured programs:

Virtual Student Foreign Service and Virtual Fellows Program, which crowdsource public input into Department projects;

Alumni Engagement Innovation Fund, which through annual competitions, provides the more than one million current alumni of United States government-sponsored exchange programs opportunities to form partnerships with one another and tackle a broad range of global issues at the local, national, regional, and international levels.

The Global Innovation Through Science and Technology (GIST) Initiative, a citizen science initiative which empowers young innovators through networking, skills building, mentoring, and access to financing to develop startup solutions that address economic and development challenges.
The Diplomacy Lab, which funds analytical solutions from academic institutions.
The Collaboratory, which designs, pilots, and spreads new ways to further educational and cultural diplomacy. Past work has included developing new programmatic tools for the Department, cultivating best practices for the use of technology in exchanges, and coordinating major initiatives like Education Diplomacy. The Collaboratory also works to advance new work methods that allow State Department teams to better perform in today's networked world.

The Department has also actively promoted public engagement through challenges, having posted over a half dozen public challenges on policy issues ranging from software development in Africa, to arms control, to fighting forced labor in global supply chains. The Department has a citizen science coordinator.

Access to Scientific Data and Publications

The following reports may be found at http://www.state.gov/e/oes/rls/rpts/

Report of the U.S.-China Climate Change Working Group of the Strategic and Economic Dialogue

Forging the Path to a Greener Future: U.S.-China Energy and Environment Cooperation under the Ten-Year Framework

2014 U.S. Climate Action Report to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change

Fact Sheet: 2014 U.S. Climate Action Report

U.S. Fast Start Climate Financing in Fiscal Year 2012

U.S. Fast Start Climate Financing in Fiscal Year 2011

Fifth Climate Action Report to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change

Handbook of the Antarctic Treaty System

Fourth Climate Action Report to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change

Senator Paul Simon: Water for the Poor Act of 2005

C-175 Process

AAAS Science and Technology Policy Handbook

White House Climate Change Review -- Interim Report

Open Source Software

Consistent with the Federal government's policy of following technology neutral principles and practices in procuring software, the Department of State selects suitable IT on a case-by-case basis to meet its particular operational needs, considering factors such as performance, cost, security, interoperability, ability to share or re-use, and availability of quality support. Recognizing the benefits of using and contributing back to open source software, the State Department is an active participant in GitHub, a social code sharing service that allows teams to collaborate among themselves or with the general public and has quickly become the go-to social network for the open source community. In addition, State's internal use of Open Source software, such as "Wordpress," "Wikimedia," "Drupal" and "Buddypress" has facilitated internal collaboration efforts. State also uses Wordpress for its numerous external blog sites at blogs.usembassy.gov.

Spending Information

In September, 2015, in compliance with the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2014, Public Law No. 113-110 (the DATA Act) and OMB Memorandum 15-12 "Increasing Transparency of Federal Spending by Making Federal Spending Data Accessible, Searchable, and Reliable," the Department of State submitted its DATA Act Implementation Plan to OMB, which will further enhance the Department's commitment to deliver integrated and detailed data on Department global operations. The Department of State executes federal assistance through a variety of different actions: grants, cooperative agreements, and voluntary and assessed contributions, and other suitable forms. The State Assistance Management System (SAMS), based on the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) GrantSolutions (GS) system, was fully deployed to all 26 Domestic bureaus as of July 31, 2014. SAMS supports the Department's vision from the 2010 Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR) to "equip our people to do their best work, spend our resources efficiently, achieve our objectives effectively, and adapt to the demands of a changing world." Assistance actions processed through SAMS are inherently transparent through links to USASpending.gov and feed the Office of U.S. Foreign Assistance Resources (F) Foreign Assistance Coordination and Tracking System (FACTS) database. SAMS directly supports the Vision and Mission of the A Bureau; Making Diplomacy work & providing effective global support for the people and programs of America's diplomacy. Foreign assistance is the primary method of extending diplomatic efforts to the global community and making Diplomacy work. SAMS directly supports the Joint Strategic Plan mission "...by helping to build and sustain a more democratic, secure and prosperous world..." through the award and execution of foreign assistance throughout the world. Foreign assistance funds are appropriated through 17 key accounts that support over 200 assistance programs at the Department of State. By using SAMS to conduct pre-award, award, post-award, and closeout functions of the assistance life cycle, the Department brings its assistance portfolio in direct alignment with strategic goals (4) Promoting economic growth and prosperity and (5) Providing humanitarian assistance.

Ongoing Initiatives

Participation in Transparency Initiatives

The Department of State is committed to transparency and the benefit it provides to the public. Table 1, State Participation in Transparency Initiatives, indicates the extent to which the Department of State is currently engaged with various transparency initiatives and directives.

Table 1: State Participation in Transparency Initiatives

Data.gov: www.data.gov	State has posted over 100 high value datasets
eRulemaking: www.regulations.gov	State has posted over 170 rules for public comment to the eRulemaking website since 2005. State rulemaking policy, highlighting its commitment to advancing the principles of open government is contained in volume 2, chapter 1180 of the Foreign Affairs Manual (2 FAM 1180)
IT Dashboard: www.itdashboard.gov	State posts monthly IT project and investment data to the IT Dashboard.
Performance.gov: www.performance.gov	State has posted its strategic goals, objectives, and priority Goals, as well regular progress updates towards these goals and other government-wide management initiatives.
Recovery.gov: www.recovery.gov	State reports regular ARRA expenditures.
USAspending.gov: www.usaspending.gov	State has been reporting assistance and grants figures since Feb 2013.
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance: CFDA.gov	State has posted over 70 programs, projects, services, and activities that provide assistance or benefits to the American public on CFDA.gov
Grants.gov: www.grants.gov	State has posted over 100 funding programs, projects, and research for the benefit of the public on Grants.gov
Benefits.gov: www.benefits.gov	State provides funding to Department of Labor to support this site, and provides information about approximately 30 Department of State-managed benefit programs, such as educational exchange, cultural diplomacy, etc., for U.S. citizens.
Foreign Assistance.gov: www.foreignassistance.gov (temporarily beta.foreignassistance.gov)	This website currently contains data from agencies receiving foreign assistance funds including the Department of State and USAID. The Department of State has released foreign assistance budget, obligation, and disbursement data on a transaction level by country, year, and sector.

Public Notice

Regulations.gov

All proposed regulations created by the Department are posted on the Regulations.gov eRulemaking website. This resource serves as an internet portal and document repository, where the public participates in the rulemaking process of the Department. This resource provides the public with a compendium of rules and regulations, while also giving the public an opportunity to provide valuable input into the Department’s rulemaking process.

Public Engagement

The Department uses its public website, www.state.gov, as a resource to share information with the public. This aforementioned information can be viewed in section E of this Plan, under the header, “Websites.” This is often the first place the public seeks information on the State Department’s initiatives. The Department of State communicates to the public its proposed actions, activity, and business principally through the three bureaus within the Office of Public Affairs and Public Diplomacy: Educational and Cultural Affairs, Public Affairs, and International Information Programs, as well as through the Bureau of Consular Affairs.

The Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) works to build friendly, peaceful relations between the people of the United States and the people of other countries through academic, cultural, sports and professional exchanges, as well as public-private partnerships. In an effort to reflect the diversity of the United States and global society, ECA programs encourage the involvement of American and international participants from traditionally underrepresented groups, including women, racial and ethnic minorities, and people with disabilities. Artists, educators, athletes, students, and youth in the United States and in more than 160 countries participate in these academic, cultural, sports and professional exchanges.

The Bureau of International Information Programs (IIP) is the State Department’s foreign-facing public diplomacy communications bureau. It provides and supports the places, content, and infrastructure needed for sustained conversations with foreign audiences to build America’s reputation abroad. The Bureau uses publications, video, and U.S. expert speakers who engage foreign audiences both in person and through virtual programs. IIP manages the infrastructure for all embassy and consulate websites, translations of public remarks by the President and Secretary, and internal websites serving field public diplomacy officers.

The Bureau of Public Affairs (PA) engages domestic and international media outlets to communicate timely and accurate information with the goal of furthering U.S. foreign policy and national security interests. In carrying out its mission, PA employs a wide range of media platforms to provide historical perspective and conduct public outreach. PA plans strategic and tactical communications, conducts press briefings, pursues media outreach, and manages the Department website. PA uses social media and other modern technologies to engage the public and oversees Department's six international Regional Media Hubs, which serve as overseas platforms for engagement of foreign audiences via various media outlets. PA arranges town meetings and schedules speakers to visit universities, chambers of commerce, and communities to discuss U.S. foreign policy. These resources inform the public, the press, and Department bureaus on United States diplomacy and foreign affairs.

The Bureau of Consular Affairs engages with U.S. citizen and non-U.S. citizen publics to provide them with timely and accurate information, shape realistic expectations about consular services, and improve understanding of controversial and/or politically sensitive consular issues. Public engagement helps establish a positive view of consular activities, develop professional contacts, and prepare the consular public with realistic expectations of what to expect when they do apply for services. Consular sections generally reach out to travel agents, professional and educational groups, Chambers of Commerce, the diplomatic and consular corps, and expatriate groups. Consular managers are advised to make certain that the consular information on their post website is current and readily accessible. At some posts with limited access to the Internet, consular sections prepare information sheets, brochures, and other publications on subjects of recurring interest to applicants for both U.S. citizen and visa services. U.S. Embassies also ensure that copies of the Department’s current Country Specific Information sheets, Travel Alerts, application forms, and Travel Warnings are readily available, free of charge in the consular section. CA views the Internet as one of the most effective means of providing information to the public. However, in addition to online communication, consular sections also reach out to U.S. citizens through in-person “town-hall” meetings, in order to address frequently asked questions and specific concerns, while building a strong, mutually beneficial relationship between Foreign Service posts and resident U.S.

Records Management

As mandated by the Federal Records Act and reflected in 5 FAM 400, the Department must create and preserve records containing adequate and proper documentation of the organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, and essential transactions or operations of the Department and U.S. Embassies, Consulates, and Missions abroad.

Department of State records are organized into three basic file series:

Central Foreign Policy file – contains all telegrams sent or received by the Department of State and selected internal memoranda, written correspondence, diplomatic notes, congressional requests, memorandums of conversations and documents from other agencies.
Post files – the records of U.S. Embassies, Consulates and other diplomatic missions abroad.
Lot files – collections of records generated by offices in the Department of State.

More information about the management of Department of State records can be found at https://foia.state.gov/Learn/RecordsManagement.aspx

The Department of State has established a number of records management procedures and initiatives to ensure the record of U.S. foreign policy is preserved, protected, and made accessible for current and future generations. They include:

Active implementation of the President’s Managing Government Records Directive (MGRD). The Department met all of its 2015 goals as required by the MGRD, which included identifying its unscheduled and permanent records, more than 30 years old, and providing inventories to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). In addition, the Department established an Electronic Records Management Working Group (ERMWG) to address MGRD Requirements 1.1 and 1.2 and identified executive sponsors and participants;
A vibrant Records Liaison Program that includes all bureaus and overseas posts is in place;
A dynamic, easy-to-use intranet website that provides information to Department personnel relating to the effective implementation of records management;
Records Management training courses that are available through the Department’s Foreign Service Institute, including distance learning courses and sections of classroom training. Additionally, numerous records management briefings and training sessions are conducted annually in support of the Department’s records management program and reference materials are available to employees online. These efforts have increased records management awareness throughout the Department, both domestically and at overseas posts;

The Electronic Records Management Working Group – ERMWG — under the direction of the Office of Management Policy, Rightsizing and Innovation (M/PRI) is making steady progress towards meeting email management goals through a combination of policy, technology, and records life-cycle initiatives.

The ERMWG made several policy recommendations in August 2014 to enable the Department to retain the email of a select group of senior officials, as a first step toward meeting the 2016 goal As a result, in February 2015, the Department began journaling the email accounts of senior officials in the Office of the Secretary, including the Secretary, the Deputy Secretaries, Under Secretaries, several senior advisers, and the Secretary's staff, ranging from the Chief of Staff to staff assistants. In late 2015, the Department expanded the journaling process to include Assistant Secretaries, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretaries, and limited number of other senior officials.

The ERMWG also addressed technology and records life-cycle aspects of email management in 2015. The ERMWG directed a study exploring the resource, process, and business implications of implementing the NARA Capstone approach to email management.

The Department is poised to take the steps necessary to implement an email management solution that addresses the policy, technology, and life-cycle aspects of the Directive goal by the deadline.

In addition to journaling hundreds of senior officials' email accounts, the Department is gradually expanding the journaling process to include the full complement of accounts that would fall under the first nine categories of NARA's senior-level Capstone approach. This short-term policy solution continues to facilitate the preservation of the most significant email in the Department until the long-term email management software solution is in place by the end of 2016.

Already in 2016, a team of IT and records management experts have conducted an evaluation of technology and records life-cycle functional requirements against proven product functionality resulting in a recommendation by the ERMWG to purchase Commercial off the Shelf (COTS) software for Department-wide email management. The Department is moving forwards with the procurement process contingent on funding. Additionally, the Senior Agency Official approved the adoption of a new email user interface that would require email senders to determine the record value and sensitivity of an email with one click. These developments will allow the Department to capture email Department-wide in an electronic format and organize the data for electronic access, retrieval and use, and disposition by Capstone designation, record type, sensitivity, and information content.

Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Requests

The Department of State has a centralized Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) program where the Bureau of Administration’s Office of Information Programs and Services (IPS) processes all requests made to the Department for access to records under FOIA, with the exception of requests for records maintained by the Bureau of Consular Affairs Directorate of Passport Services, or by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG). Both Passport Services and the OIG respond to FOIA requests directly.

In July 2013 the Department launched a new FOIA website at https://www.foia.state.gov, in an effort to better fulfill its commitment to transparency and openness. This dynamic, modernized website makes already-public information easier to find and allows the public to file FOIA requests more easily. The website features robust search functions and detailed information and guidance on how to access Department records and information. The website helps public determine whether the information they seek falls within the Department’s mission, includes detailed instructions for submitting requests, and solicits comments to assist the Department in making improvements to the site. By incorporating the feedback from requesters and developing a mutual understanding of best practices among both requesters and agencies, the Department created a model website that assists both first-time and experienced requesters.

In fiscal year 2015, the website hosted, on average, over 1,000 visitors daily, up from approximately 400 daily visitors in FY 2014. In addition, in September 2015, the Department solicited 50 individuals to be temporarily assigned to IPS to assist in responding to FOIA requests and FOIA litigation. As of February 2016, 33 detailees had begun work and IPS expects to have a total of 50 new employees to assist in State’s FOIA-processing efforts in FY 2016.

The website’s Virtual Reading Room contains over 129,000 documents that have already been released to the public and are pursuant to FOIA, mandatory declassification review requests under Executive Order 13526, or other declassification reviews. Approximately 18,000 documents were added to the website in FY-2015, and many more have been added in FY-2016. The site has a wealth of other links to additional information resources inside and outside the State Department, including a link to the millions of pages of declassified Department records available online at the National Archives and Records Administration.

The Department’s FOIA website (www.foia.state.gov) includes the FOIA Virtual Reading Room, collections of declassified documents, and other publicly available information on the Department’s information access programs.

The Department creates and stores records both domestically and at hundreds of posts globally. FOIA requests made to the Department vary in size and scope, and may also request Department records that contain classified national security information. Review of these records often requires coordination with other Federal agencies and a knowledge of declassification reviews before an appropriate release determination can be made. A more in-depth description of the Department’s FOIA program staffing, organizational structure, and process for analyzing and responding to FOIA requests can be found at www.foia.state.gov. The most recent FOIA Annual Report as well as the Department of State Information Access Guide/Manual can also be found on the Department's FOIA website.

IPS will continue to explore new initiatives to increase transparency and efficiencies in the FOIA process and to provide excellent customer service.

Congressional Requests

The Bureau of Legislative Affairs (H) coordinates legislative activity for the Department of State and advises the Secretary, the Deputy, Under Secretaries, and Assistant Secretaries on legislative strategy. It works closely with committees in Congress and individual members, manages Department testimony during House and Senate hearings, organizes member and staff briefings, and facilitates Congressional overseas travel throughout the year. H reviews proposed legislation and coordinates Statements of Administration Policy on legislation affecting the conduct of U.S. foreign policy. The H staff advises individual Bureaus of the Department of State on legislative and outreach strategies and coordinates those strategies with the Secretary's priorities.

The Secretary of State is the principal Congressional Relations Officer of the Department of State. H supports the Secretary by ensuring that the administration's foreign policy priorities are reflected throughout the legislative process. H coordinates the annual testimony provided by the Secretary to Congressional committees with jurisdiction over State programs to explain Department of State priorities and budget requirements. The bureau succeeds in its overall mission by seeking passage of relevant foreign policy legislation and appropriations, obtaining advice and consent to treaties, as well as confirmation of the President's Department of State and Ambassadorial nominees by the Senate. It consists of four offices: the Office of Senate Affairs; the Office of House Affairs; the Office of Regional, Global, and Functional Affairs; and the Executive Office. For more information about the Bureau of Legislative Affairs, please visit http://www.state.gov/s/h/index.htm.

Declassification

The Systematic Review Program is an initiative to make Department of State records that are 25 years old and older available to the public. The Department of State had already been pursuing a declassification program before Executive Order 12958 mandated systematic declassification reviews for all federal agencies in 1995. The Department of State has partnered with the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) to declassify and make our historical records available to the public since 1982, making it the oldest and most successful program for inter-agency declassification in the federal government. To date, the Department of State has reviewed over 90 million pages of records for declassification and transfer to NARA. The electronic Central Foreign Policy File is just one example of a declassified resource on the NARA website. This commitment to the declassification of the Department of State's historic records has enhanced Government transparency and increased the public’s understanding of U.S. foreign policy.

The Department of State is an active participant in the National Declassification Center set up under Executive Order 13526 to expedite the release of NARA’s holdings of agency records. The Department of State has assigned reviewers to other agency facilities to review information in their records in which the State Department is a stakeholder; and we continue our vigorous program of declassifying our own agency’s records and transferring them to NARA. More information about the Department of State's information access programs can be found at http://www.state.gov/m/a/ips/c36436.htm

Public Participation

Participation is a key element to ensure continued transparency in an Open Government. The Department of State actively contributed to the development of the Public Participation Playbook and has drawn on the principles and methodologies it contains in shaping a number of the participation initiatives described below. The Department of State plans to continue to provide and expand a range of opportunities for the public to interact with Department of State officials and offer their opinions, questions, and feedback both in the U.S. and abroad. This is useful for assessing public opinion and tracking reactions to U.S. positions, events and policies. U.S. Embassies engage local audiences as well through a variety of online means.

As noted above, the Department of State is active in the social media arena, and has a sizable following among social media communities and blog users. The Department of State’s goal is to provide a variety of forums through which U.S. citizens can participate actively in their government and U.S. foreign policy.

The Department of State amplifies the reach of U.S. foreign policy to domestic and global audiences through new media and web-based communication technology. The Department of State's three guiding principles for all social media efforts are engagement, transparency, and serving as an alternative to traditional media. These principles guide new expansion efforts and help build lasting relationships with new sectors of the public.

The Department of State utilizes other programs, in addition to social media, to encourage public participation.

Center for Global Engagement

The Center for Global Engagement coordinates, integrates and synchronizes messaging to foreign audiences that undermines the disinformation espoused by violent extremist groups, including ISIL and al-Qaeda, and that offers positive alternatives.The Center focuses on empowering and enabling partners, governmental and non-governmental, who are able to speak out against these groups and provide an alternative to ISIL’s nihilistic vision. To that end, the center offers services ranging from planning thematic social media campaigns to providing factual information that counters-disinformation to building capacity for third parties to effectively utilize social media to research and evaluation.

Diplomacy Lab

Diplomacy Lab (http://diplomacylab.org/) is designed to address two priorities, to engage the American people in the work of diplomacy and to broaden the Department of State’s research base in response to a proliferation of complex global challenges. This initiative enables the Department to partner with students and faculty at universities across the nation. Students explore real-world challenges identified by the Department of State and contribute directly to the policymaking process, while also allowing State to tap into underutilized intellectual capital. Teams that deliver exceptional results are recognized and may be invited to brief senior State Department officials on their findings. This initiative establishes a mutually beneficial relationship that furthers the cause of diplomacy and development.

DipNote/blogs.state.gov

DipNote, the Department’s official blog at blogs.state.gov, gives the public context, clarity, and behind-the-scenes insights on U.S. foreign policy from Department employees who are directly engaged in the work of diplomacy. Department employees post daily entries on critical issues such as climate change and food security, and share the work they are doing in countries from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe with the public.

Exchange Programs

The exchange programs, administered by the Department of State, engage youth, students, educators, artists, athletes, and rising leaders in the United States and more than 160 countries. In addition to exchange programs, the State Department also administers a variety of other initiatives that support cultural understanding by protecting cultural heritage across the globe, and providing educational resources for people interested in learning about American culture and the English language. The Exchange Program website (exchanges.state.gov) highlights these exchange programs and better serves foreign and domestic audiences by being fully accessible and addressing top user questions and concerns. It offers clear pathways to access the available exchange opportunities. The site includes participant stories, rich multimedia content, detailed program information and information on travel and living in the U.S.

Foreign Service Institute/National Foreign Affairs Training Center (FSI/NFATC)

The Foreign Service Institute (FSI) is the Federal Government's primary training institution for officers and support personnel of the U.S. foreign affairs community, preparing American diplomats and other professionals to advance U.S. foreign affairs interests overseas and in Washington. At the George P. Shultz National Foreign Affairs Training Center, the FSI provides more than 600 courses—including some 70 foreign languages—to more than 100,000 enrollees a year from the State Department and more than 40 other government agencies and the military service branches.

The Institute's programs include training for the professional development of Foreign Service administrative, consular, economic/commercial, political, and public diplomacy officers; for specialists in the fields of information management, office management, security, and medical practitioners and nurses; for Foreign Service Nationals who work at U.S. posts around the world; and for Civil Service employees of the State Department and other agencies. Ranging in length from one day to two years, courses are designed to promote successful performance in each professional assignment, to ease the adjustment to other countries and cultures, and to enhance the leadership and management capabilities of the U.S. foreign affairs community.

The Foreign Service Institute draws on internal and external expertise to establish mechanisms to seek best practices, counter parochial tendencies, and ensure a flow of regular counsel and insight. Outside experts are regularly invited to provide their insights and perspectives to FSI students. Regular, sustained contact and cross-fertilization with the broader foreign affairs and educational communities, including academic institutions, language schools, think tanks, nongovernmental organizations, and global corporations, help FSI stay current and outward looking in its curriculum, technology, and management.

Increased Use of Mobile Technologies

In October 2014, The Department of State held an internal event to discuss the future of mobile technologies at State, and posted the proceedings online for public comment. As indicated in the presentations by State Department senior leadership, State is committed to supporting efforts to use mobile technologies as a means for social engagement.

Live Digital Engagement

The Department of State's Bureau of International Information Programs has an Office of Interactive (formerly known as CO.NX) that ) that works with U.S. Embassies and American Spaces to advance U.S. foreign policy through live, interactive webchats with foreign audiences. Interactive also offers training for Posts on virtual program production. These live-streamed events feature IIP-recruited and other subject matter experts on a variety of topics. The office maintains a suite of production studios within SA5. Additionally, the Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ "Collaboratory" hosts live web chats with, and for, educational and cultural exchange programs and participants on various topics related to their exchange experience. In the past two years, a number of cloud-based interactive tools have been put into practice by these respective offices as well as other Bureaus thus allowing for greater flexibility of speaker location as well as increased ability to view and interact from a number of devices including mobile. Senior Department officials, including the Secretary, have regularly engaged in live interactive events on key Department priority topics one of the many platforms available for use. Secretary Kerry has utilized interactive tools to discuss the foreign affairs budget with the American public. He has also participated in a Google Hangout to discuss the crisis in Syria. Other Department of State Hangouts focused on international travel safety for U.S. citizens, global youth issues, and efforts to combat trafficking in persons.

Micro-blogging

Internet-based micro-blogging services, such as "Twitter," enable quick, frequent information dissemination and engagement. The Department uses Twitter ((http://www.twitter.com/StateDept) to disseminate information during the Secretary’s travels, highlight key points made during the daily press briefings and high-profile public speeches, and communicate directly with the public by responding to their questions. The Department also corrects misinformation using Twitter.

Non-Career Presidential Appointments, also known as "Political Appointees"

Non-Career Presidential Appointments are a long-standing example of public participation in policy-making, providing opportunities for people from outside government to provide their government with the benefits of their collective expertise and information. Non-career appointees are chosen to serve by the president from a variety of backgrounds. Generally, the President appoints a non-career official because that person brings a unique talent or expertise to the particular post or assignment. The president also selects ambassadors based on their contributions, financial and otherwise, to his political campaigns or to his political party. Until the latter half of the twentieth century, most ambassadors were political appointees. They now comprise about 30 percent of the corps of ambassadors.

Official Blogs of U.S. Missions Around the World

Official blogs of U.S. Missions around the world, (blogs.usembassy.gov), similar to the State Department blog (blogs.state.gov) give the public context, clarity, and behind-the-scenes insights on U.S. foreign policy from an ambassador or other mission personnel who are directly engaged in the work of diplomacy. Mission personnel post regular entries, sharing with the public the work they are doing around the world.

PRM-funded Research and Evaluation

The State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) supports humanitarian research in order to: (1) promote evidence-based decision-making on priority protection, assistance, and durable solution challenges; (2) enhance knowledge and develop guidance and tools to improve the performance of PRM and its partners; and (3) disseminate and encourage the use of research findings and recommendations, guidance and tools by other humanitarian stakeholders. Research is instrumental in helping PRM and its partners adapt programs and policy engagement to emerging challenges and priorities, including through the development of tools, operational guidance, and best practices. Applying the knowledge and tools gained through research contributes to sound stewardship of State Department resources. PRM-funded reports are available online at http://www.state.gov/j/prm/policyissues/prmfund/

Ralph J. Bunche Library

Established in 1789, the Ralph J. Bunche Library at the Department of State is the oldest Federal Government library. It was dedicated to and renamed the Ralph J. Bunche Library on May 5, 1997. The Bunche Library supports the mission of the Department of State by delivering the most authoritative, relevant, and timely information, services and resources to Department of State personnel and the international affairs community. Library services within the Department of State are authorized and outlined in the Foreign Affairs Manual (5 FAM 1400). The Bunche Library is currently staffed by 15 full-time Professional Librarians, and 8 full-time Library Technicians. The Library strives to be attuned to concerns and interests of the Department’s leadership and the changing needs of Department personnel.

Secretary’s Open Forum

The purpose of the Secretary's Open Forum is to encourage and bolster internal deliberations and the consideration of a diverse range of perspectives and alternative approaches to the international relations challenges, responsibilities, and opportunities that the United States faces. The Foreign Affairs Manual (1 FAM 022.5) states that the Open Forum “brings new or alternative policy recommendations to the Secretary and other principals from U.S. Government employees at all levels of the Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development” and “provides opportunities for any employee to express professional views (including dissenting views) candidly, free of bureaucratic constraints, and under safeguards against pressures or penalties.”

Social Networking Websites

The Department of State as a whole, several individual domestic bureaus, such as Consular Affairs, and many U.S. embassies and consulates maintain a presence on Facebook, Google+, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, Instagram, Tumblr and other social networking websites.

TechCamp

TechCamp (http://techcampglobal.org/) is a program through which the Department of State organizes interactive, hands-on workshops in various locations around the world to increase digital literacy and technology skills among civil society organizations, NGOs, civic activists, journalists and others who work with tech trainers and experts to apply technology solutions to real-world issues. Each TechCamp includes built-in, dedicated follow-on programs, projects and workshops to keep participants, trainers and Department staff connected and to provide means for participants to realize and achieve their projects. TechCamps advance the Department of State’s diplomatic and development goals in several ways, such as forming networks to catalyze new partnerships among countries and various communities, increasing civil society’s ability to strengthen their reach and impact in an increasingly competitive global environment, and focusing on bridging digital gaps to advance policy objectives. More than 3,000 participants globally have taken part in a TechCamp since the program’s inception in 2010. Inquiries can be directed to TechCamp@state.gov.

Video Sharing

The Department maintains several YouTube video channels featuring public affairs, public diplomacy, and U.S. embassy videos. Videos include remarks by the Secretary, daily press briefings, special video collections based on foreign policy issues and interviews with U.S. diplomats. The main Department channel boasts over 6.8 million video views and 22,000 subscribers and can be found at http://www.youtube.com/user/statevideo.

Virtual Fellows Program (VFP)

The Virtual Fellows Program (http://www.state.gov/m/irm/vfp/index.htm), established in 2014, is working to include the knowledge and expertise of the American public in U.S. Department of State projects. The VFP gives experienced professionals the opportunity to contribute by serving part-time as virtual consultants on issues, problems, or questions faced by the Department of State, domestic and abroad, without requiring physical relocation.

Virtual Student Foreign Service

The Department of State established the Virtual Student Foreign Service (VSFS) (vsfs.state.gov) in 2009. VSFS has grown to become the largest virtual internship program in the world, encompassing more than 30 federal agencies. U.S. college students contribute about 10 hours a week to their government, working on real projects and gaining real experience. VSFS is the smart and transparent way for government and citizens to collaborate on projects. Each May, federal agency colleagues are invited to submit VSFS projects. Between July 2-22, U.S. college students can logon to USAJOBS.gov and apply to their top three projects. Supervisors make their selections in August, and eInterns start in early September. Most projects conclude by the following April.

VSFS eInterns work remotely from their school, apartment, or other locations, reporting by email, phone, or video chat to supervisors throughout the government. VSFS eIntern duties and responsibilities vary according to the location and needs of each VSFS project. VSFS projects may be research-based, contributing to reports on issues such as human rights, economics, or the environment. They may also be more technology oriented, such as working on webpages, or helping produce electronic journals.,To see all the current year's projects, go to http://vsfs.state.gov/projects. eInterns contribute 8-10 hours per week on their projects.

Past projects have asked students to:

Develop and implement a public relations campaign using social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc., to communicate and reach out to youth;
Conduct research on the economic situation, prepare graphic representations of economic data, and prepare informational material for the U.S. embassy website;
Create a system to gather and analyze media coverage on a set of topics including environment, health, and trade;
Research IT-based interventions that have been successful in higher education, particularly in teacher training;
Write and contribute biweekly articles to the U.S. embassy’s Facebook page on topics such as internet, computer science/technology, history, and literature;
Develop a series of professional instructional video clips to be published by the U.S. embassy;
Survey social media efforts of U.S. diplomatic posts, NGOs, and private companies around the world to help establish best practices in a U.S. embassy’s social media outreach business plan.

War Crimes Rewards Program

Under the War Crimes Rewards Program (WCRP), managed by the Office of Global Criminal Justice, the U.S. Department of State offers rewards of up to $5 million (USD) to individuals who provide information leading to the arrest, transfer, or conviction of designated foreign nationals accused by international, mixed, or hybrid criminal tribunals of crimes against humanity, genocide, or war crimes.” The Department of State’s Office of Global Criminal Justice (GCJ) manages the WCRP in close coordination with partners within the U.S. government, foreign governments, international tribunals, and non-governmental organizations. Members of the public may submit tips at https://www.rewardsforjustice.net/english/submit-a-tip.html. More information can be found at http://www.state.gov/j/gcj/wcrp/index.htm'.'

Collaboration

One essential element of diplomacy is collaboration. The Department of State has done much in recent years to go beyond in-person collaboration and use technology in innovative ways; and we have plans to expand these efforts in new directions. The goal is to create and sustain an environment in which collaboration and cooperation are the norm, and a suite of state-of-the-practice tools are readily available to enhance collaboration in many different ways.

A challenge that the Department of State faces in this area is that the work often involves classified and other sensitive information. This requires robust risk management programs and appropriate IT security in place to ensure that Department of State can fulfill its mission and share information broadly, while appropriately protecting sensitive information assets. In late-2015, the Department of State published policies in the Foreign Affairs Manual (5 FAM 1100) establishing a framework to govern the acquisition and use of Cloud Computing products and services in the Department. In addition to increasing network security, the Department's Cloud Policy will facilitate Department's use of technology platforms that improve collaboration. In addition to establishing policies concerning technology, in 2015 the Department of State implemented reforms to its employee performance management system that placed greater emphasis on documenting and recognizing collaborative accomplishments.

The Department of State’s effectiveness is highly dependent on its ability to work in partnership with many different kinds of organizations. The Department of State collaborates actively with the U.S. public, citizens of other countries, other Federal agencies, non-federal Governments (including tribal Governments), non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), and foreign Government agencies.

Advisory Councils, Commissions, Committees, and Boards

A number of advisory councils, commissions, committees, and boards exist to maintain an open dialogue between the U.S. Government and the private sector on various issues. These fora provide the Department with the perspective and expertise of the private sector to inform the Department’s formulation, coordination, and oversight of its broad range of functions. They are typically comprised of members with a wide range backgrounds that include past Government service, military service, academia, think tanks, politics, and business. These committees report their activities to the Secretary and often hold public meetings. For more information and a complete list of the advisory groups with which the Department works, please visit http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/rls/dos/160060.htm.

Alumni Engagement Innovation Fund

The State Department created the Alumni Engagement Innovation Fund (AEIF) in 2011 to support alumni initiatives that promote shared values and innovative solutions to global challenges. The competition provides small grants to teams of past and current participants of U.S. government-sponsored exchange programs to carry out public service projects that utilize skills and knowledge they have gained through their exchange experiences. To participate, alumni must be members of the International Exchange Alumni (IEA) global online community (https://alumni.state.gov/) and form teams of at least four IEA community members (this number includes the team leader). Proposed projects must address one of the AEIF themes.

Business Information Database System (BIDS)

The Business Information Database System (BIDS) is an Internet-based portal built to help U.S. businesses learn about significant international commercial opportunities. The BIDS website (http://bids.state.gov/index.html) features an interactive map that displays descriptions and locations of projects that represent potential contract or tender opportunities for U.S. businesses. The site also connects U.S. business to detailed information about each project as well as information to contact U.S. embassies overseas.

U.S. Government officials upload new procurement opportunities complete with context, commentary, and contact information into BIDS. Through BIDS, U.S. companies can access this basic information and connect directly with U.S. government officials in the field. The technology behind BIDS also enables the State Department to easily curate BIDS data and ensure leads remain fresh and relevant. BIDS directly supports Executive Order 13630 issued December 6, 2012, which, among other things, directs the new Interagency Task Force on Commercial Advocacy to "institute processes to obtain and distribute information about foreign procurement opportunities that may be of interest to U.S. businesses in order to expand awareness of opportunities for U.S. businesses to sell their goods and services to foreign Governments."

BIDS is an open data platform; developers can use BIDS data to support other applications including the development of websites and apps. Over the long-term, BIDS is also designed to create an archive of projects that can be used to analyze development and procurement patterns.

Countering Violent Extremism

Countering violent extremism (CVE) is a pillar of the Administration’s strategic approach to counterterrorism, and is an increasingly critical component of a comprehensive and sustainable counterterrorism strategy that seeks to address the entire life cycle of radicalization to violent extremism. The United States is working with governments and non-governmental partners to address the spread of violent extremism and the conditions that make communities susceptible to violent extremism, including – but not limited to – ISIL/Da’esh’s potent brand of terrorism.

The White House Summit on Countering Violent Extremism in February 2015, and follow-on process, has mobilized international support for a multi-stakeholder action agenda to address the drivers of violent extremism. This action agenda includes partnerships with international organizations, national and local governments, civil society, religious leaders, the private sector and affected communities. Building on this momentum, Secretary of State Kerry has committed to elevate CVE as a priority within the Department of State and to use the Bureau of Counterterrorism as a central locus for enhancing the Department’s CVE efforts. In this regard, the Bureau works very closely with a range of Department stakeholders, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and other interagency partners.

Country Data Collaboratives for Local Impact

The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) have partnered to invest $21.8 million in Country Data Collaboratives for Local Impact in sub-Saharan Africa that will use data on HIV/AIDS, global health, gender equality and economic growth to improve programs and policies. The program will be completed in collaboration with the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data.

Country Data Collaboratives will improve existing data and make it more accessible, strengthen data analysis and visualization, enhance opportunities for citizen contribution to data, cultivate talent, and ensure mutual accountability when implementing development aid so it can make a sustainable difference.

Direct Line for American Business

The Direct Line for American Business program (http://www.state.gov/e/eb/directline/) provides a unique opportunity for American businesses, particularly small- and medium-sized enterprises, to engage directly via webcast with U.S. Ambassadors overseas. The program is open to U.S. companies – whether they are already in the country where the Ambassador serves or if they are interested in expanding their businesses there. Webcasts vary in topic according to the specific needs for business in a given country.

English Language Programs

The Office of English Language Programs engages English language professionals and students abroad by promoting the teaching of English, managing English language exchange programs, leveraging new technology to reach teachers and students of English to improve the teaching and learning of English overseas, supporting the professional development of teachers and teacher trainers through

exchanges;
developing multi-media resources and publications for teachers and learners;
consulting with foreign ministries of education, universities, and nongovernmental organizations to strengthen the teaching of English throughout the world.

The programs, overseen by Regional English Language Officers abroad and the State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) program officers in Washington, foster mutual understanding, strengthen teachers’ and students’ teaching and language skills, develop critical thinking capabilities, and convey balanced and accurate information about the United States

Feed the Future

During the 2009 G-8 Summit in Italy, President Obama called on global leaders to reverse the decades-long decline in investment in agriculture and strengthen global efforts to reduce poverty, hunger and under-nutrition. To lead the way, the United States pledged $3.5 billion to this effort over three years, which helped leverage an additional $18.5 billion in support from G-8 members and other donors. The U.S. contribution to this global commitment came to be called “Feed the Future” (https://www.feedthefuture.gov/) Along with this increase in resources, donors also committed to 'do development differently' and follow the Rome Principles for Sustainable Global Food Security, a set of aid effectiveness principles adopted by the global community.

Feed the Future has progressed significantly since then. In September 2012, the U.S. Government met its initial monetary pledge of $3.5 billion. Feed the Future also issued its first progress report and scorecard in October 2012 and second in June 2013.

In May 2012, with African heads of state and corporate and G-8 leaders, President Obama led global food security efforts to the next stage by announcing the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition, a shared commitment to achieving sustained and inclusive agricultural growth and poverty reduction in Sub-Saharan Africa. As with the 2009 global food security commitment, Feed the Future is the principal vehicle through which the United States contributes to the G-8 New Alliance.

Global Enterprise Registration

In a formal public-private partnership with the Kauffman Foundation’s Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the Department of State is promoting simple online administrative processes around the world, specifically through the Global Enterprise Registration (GER.co) portal. Using the working assumption that, at a minimum, users need informational websites that explain the mandatory steps to register their businesses, links to necessary downloadable forms, legal justifications for the required steps, and a contact point for questions and complaints, the GER green dot rating system indicates which websites provide these basics, so entrepreneurs can process their application online, or at least know what to do, why to do it, and how to do it.

The public is encouraged to evaluate the ease of use of the governmental business registration websites through an online rating process. Under the proposed partnership, EB will coordinate with GEN and UNCTAD to promote simple online administrative processes, starting with business registration procedures. The partners will work together to develop, maintain and expand the GER.co website. They will promote the Go Green by 2019 campaign, which is built on the GER.co website; it aims to inspire the 62 governments that haven't yet put their business registration processes online to do so by 2019, and the rest of the world to make their websites more user-friendly by 2019.‎

Putting business registration online globally and making governmental websites more user-friendly will create clear processes and opportunities for the 1.8 billion people working in the informal economy (60 percent of the global workforce) to move into the formal economy. While varying from locality to locality, the informal economy may consist mainly of formal firms and workers that under-report their income to tax authorities, or that use undeclared labor in certain business domains. GER will enable more small and medium sized-businesses, which do not have the resources to navigate complex or opaque procedures, to expand their businesses through international trade and investment. Increased business registrations will expand tax revenues, which can fuel economic growth through improving infrastructure and services. Numerous studies indicate that when governments combine simple online procedures with communications campaigns about the new services, citizens' satisfaction with their governments increases. Efficient interactions with governmental service providers and visible improvements to infrastructure create positive attitudes towards government that are the essential underpinnings of stable, vibrant, inclusive democracies.‎ GER.co is intended to be a catalyst for better governmental services and economic growth, everywhere.

Global Innovation Through Science and Technology

The Department of State’s Global Innovation through Science and Technology (GIST) initiative (https://www.gistnetwork.org/) empowers young innovators through networking, skills building, mentoring, and access to financing to develop startup solutions that address economic and development challenges.

Since 2011, GIST has engaged with science and technology innovators and entrepreneurs in 135 emerging economies around the world, providing training and resources to help them build successful startups. This is done through competitions, startup boot camps, and interactive online programs, implemented by VentureWell and AAAS.

Harnessing the Data Revolution for Sustainable Development

"Harnessing the data revolution" is a critical enabler of the global goals—not only to monitor progress, but also to inclusively engage stakeholders at all levels – local, regional, national, global—to advance evidence-based policies and programs to reach those who need it most. Data can show, for example, where girls are at greatest risk of violence, so that it can be prevented more effectively; where forests are being destroyed in real-time, so they can be better protected; and where HIV/AIDS is enduring, that efforts to combat it can have the greatest impact. Data can catalyze private investment; build modern and inclusive economies; and support transparent and effective investment of resources for social good.

With the State Department taking the lead in coordinating at the international level, the U.S. Government has advanced priorities and targeted investments toward increasing the availability and application of public data that span many parts of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted by the UN Sustainable Development Summit in 2015. Numerous other State Department managed or supported collaboration and data sharing initiatives mentioned elsewhere in the Open Government Plan, such as MapGive and Project 8, also contribute to supporting the Sustainable Development Goals.

Imagery to the Crowd and MapGive

A lack of quality geographic data handicaps government and non-government organizations attempting to respond to critical humanitarian and development needs. To address this problem, the Department of State’s Humanitarian Information Unit (HIU), within the Office of the Geographer and Global Issues (GGI) of the Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR), collaborated with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the non-governmental Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT) to launch an initiative that relies on crowdsourcing to create better geographic data.

First, the HIU created the Imagery to the Crowd (IttC) initiative to help support the use of OpenStreetMap (OSM) for humanitarian response, disaster risk reduction, and sustainable development. IttC addresses significant data gaps for humanitarian and development needs by publishing high-resolution commercial satellite imagery purchased by the United States government in a format that public volunteers (“the crowd” e.g. individual volunteers, students, professionals, etc.) can easily map into OSM. To date, mapping projects have been completed in support of disaster risk reduction in Nepal, disaster response in the Philippines, community resilience projects in Uganda, humanitarian logistics in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, refugee camp planning in Ethiopia and Kenya, and malaria prevention in Mozambique.

Second, in order to grow the crowd, the HIU and the Bureau of International Information Programs (IIP) created MapGive, a State Department educational and public diplomacy initiative to bring people around the world into the OSM community by teaching them about the importance of creating open map data, giving them the skills to map, and helping them get connected with mapping efforts through a user-friendly website. New volunteers are engaged in creating open geographic data that can help empower organizations and communities to make decisions across a range of environmental, economic, and crisis management themes through http://mapgive.state.gov/ and @MapGive on Twitter.

The data created is made freely and available to the public through the Open Data Commons Open Database License 1.0. There are many other free maps on the Internet, but most have legal or technical restrictions preventing others from using the data openly. With OSM, both the maps and underlying data can be downloaded for free, for developers or anyone to use or redistribute. Additionally, in many places of the world where there is no commercial motivation to develop this data, OSM is often the best available resource. During a crisis response, digital volunteers can be mobilized quickly to create new data, with their efforts coordinated by HOT.

International Exchange Alumni

International Exchange Alumni (https://alumni.state.gov/) is a dynamic and interactive networking website for past and current participants of U.S. government-sponsored exchange programs.

Overseas Schools

The mission of the State Department's Office of Overseas Schools is to promote quality educational opportunities at the elementary and secondary level for dependents of American citizens carrying out our programs and interests of the U.S. Government abroad.

The goal of this office's efforts is to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries by upgrading educational institutions which serve to demonstrate American educational principles and methods employed in the United States. In addition to the collaboration that occurs between a U.S. embassy or consulate and State Department-assisted school, both informally and formally through embassy representation on the school board, the Department of State established an Overseas Schools Advisory Council in 1967. This Advisory Council was created to seek the advice of American leaders from the business, foundation, and educational communities in pursuing the goal of assuring quality education for American children attending Department-assisted schools overseas.

Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC)

The Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC) (https://www.osac.gov) was created in 1985 under the Federal Advisory Committee Act to promote security cooperation between American private sector interests worldwide and the Department of State.

The OSAC is comprised of 34 private and public sector member organizations that represent specific industries and agencies operating abroad. The member organizations designate representatives to serve on the Overseas Security Advisory Council to provide direction and guidance to develop programs that most benefit the U.S. private sector overseas. A primary goal of OSAC is to develop an effective security communication network, consequently, OSAC invites all U.S. businesses, academia, faith-based groups, and non-governmental organizations to become constituents.

President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)

Led by the U. S. Global AIDS Coordinator at the Department of State, PEPFAR (http://www.pepfar.gov/) is the U.S. Government initiative to help save the lives of those suffering from HIV/AIDS around the world. This historic commitment is the largest by any nation to combat a single disease internationally, and PEPFAR investments also help alleviate suffering from other diseases across the global health spectrum. Recognizing that partnerships are needed to sustain programs for the long-term, Congress authorized PEPFAR to promote public-private partnerships (PPP) as a priority element of U.S. strategy to combat the HIV/AIDS pandemic and other global health crises. PEPFAR has fostered public-private partnerships that support and complement its prevention, care, and treatment work. PEPFAR is driven by a shared responsibility among donor and partner nations and others to make smart investments to save lives.

Public-Private Partnership Programs

As the private sector has dramatically increased its share of development aid, the Department of State has had to adapt to this changing landscape. The Office of Global Partnership’s Global Partnership Initiative (GPI) (http://www.state.gov/t/pm/wra/partners/) facilitates collaboration between the Department and the public, private, non-profit sector, and civil society. The GPI’s mission is to build public-private partnerships that strengthen diplomacy and development outcomes by convening people from across regions and sectors, catalyzing new projects and new solutions by providing training and technical assistance, collaborating closely with partners, and cultivating new partnerships by providing space, access to networks and capital, and mentoring assistance. Since 2009, the Office of Global Partnerships has cooperated with over 1,600 partners from around the world. Specifically, the Department has partnered with the Global Alliance for Clean Cook stoves, LAUNCH, and 100,000 Strong Education Exchange Initiatives to name a few of the many public-private partnerships.

Secondarycities.state.gov

Secondary Cities (http://secondarycities.state.gov/) is a field-based initiative of the Department of State's Office of the Geographer to map for Resiliency, Human Security, and Emergency Preparedness.

This initiative seeks to accomplish these goals by

Building partnerships with local government officials, universities, and non-governmental organizations.to create geospatial data on secondary cities, i.e. non-primary cities that often serve as regional hubs and are generally experiencing rapid and unplanned urbanization.
Enhancing understanding of secondary cities through data and mapping.
Building local capacity in geospatial science-based decision making.
Providing open geospatial data solutions.
Facilitating long-term secondary city partnerships and networks.

Sustainable Energy for All initiative

The State Department participates on the Advisory and Executive Committees of the Sustainable Energy for All Initiative (http://www.se4all.org/). The Sustainable Energy for All initiative is a multi-stakeholder partnership between governments, the private sector, and civil society. Launched by the UN Secretary-General in 2011, it has three interlinked objectives to be achieved by 2030:

Ensure universal access to modern energy services;
Double the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency;
Double the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix .

Trafficking in Persons International Grants Program

The State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (J/TIP) manages the only foreign assistance program dedicated solely to combating human trafficking outside of the United States. Our foreign assistance targets both sex trafficking and labor trafficking through implementation of the “3P” paradigm of Prevention (including demand reduction), Protection of victims, and Prosecution of traffickers. A fourth P, Partnership, is also a critical element in the majority of our programs. the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons partners with foreign governments, international organizations, and civil society to develop and implement effective strategies for confronting modern slavery.

Transparency

Agency Financial Report

The Department of State’s Agency Financial Report (AFR) (http://www.state.gov/s/d/rm/rls/perfrpt/index.htm) provides an overview of financial and performance data to help Congress, the President, and the public assess the State Department's stewardship over the resources entrusted to it. The AFR provides financial and performance information for the fiscal year beginning October 1 and ending on September 30, with comparative prior year data, where appropriate. It demonstrates the agency’s commitment to its mission and accountability to Congress and the American people, and candidly presents the Department’s operations, accomplishments, and challenges.

Certificates of Competency

Under the Foreign Service Act of 1980, Certificates of Competency must be presented to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for each candidate nominated by the President to serve as a bilateral Ambassador overseas and for the candidates for Ambassador to the European Union (EU), the African Union (AU) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). In 2014, the Department of State began making the Certificates of Competency available online at (http://www.state.gov/m/dghr/coc/index.htm)

Consular Information Program

The State Department’s Office of American Citizens Services and Crisis Management (ACS) administers the Consular Information Program (https://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/country.html), which informs the public of conditions abroad that may affect their safety and security. Country Specific Information, Travel Alerts, and Travel Warnings are vital parts of this program.

In administering the Consular Information Program, the Department of States applies a “no double standard” policy to important security threat information, including criminal information. Such information, if shared with the official U.S. community (generally defined as Americans working for the U.S. government abroad), must be made available to the wider American community if the threat applies to both official and non-official Americans.

The Consular Information Program provides Country Specific Information for every country of the world. Members of the public will find the location of the U.S. embassy and any consular offices, information about whether a visa is necessary, crime and security information, health and medical considerations, drug penalties, localized hot spots and more.

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices

The Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 requires that the U.S. government take a country’s human rights record into account when providing assistance to that country. To provide greater transparency into the assessment of a country's human rights record, the Trade Act of 1974 requires that the Department of State submit to Congress “a full and complete report” on the human rights practices of all countries receiving U.S. assistance and all United Nations member states. The first volume of the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices covered the year 1976 and was released in 1977. These annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices – the Human Rights Reports (http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/) – cover internationally recognized individual, civil, political, and worker rights, as set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international agreements. The Department of State has redesigned and reformatted the popular Human Rights Reports in a format that is more useful to the end users.

Country Reports on Terrorism

Country Reports on Terrorism (http://www.state.gov/j/ct/rls/crt/) are submitted in compliance with Title 22 of the United States Code, Section 2656f (the “Act”), which requires the Department of State to provide to Congress a full and complete annual report on terrorism for those countries and groups meeting the criteria of the Act.

Department of State by State Map

The Department of State by State ( http://www.state.gov/r/pa/map/index.htm) initiative provides an interactive U.S. map that shows how the Department benefits each U.S. state. The contextualized data provided on this website illustrates how the Department’s work matters to each state’s education system, economy, travel, and security, etc. The webpage also has information and links for Department careers, the Business Information Database System (BIDS), the Direct Line Program for American Businesses, the U.S. Diplomacy Center, and ForeignAssistance.gov.

Such information increases the Department’s transparency and helps inform the public of the many varied tasks conducted by the Department, building a connection between taxes paid and services received, and, through this transparency, fostering trust in government. The Department will update the information in the Department of State by State map as new programs and initiatives are implemented. The state.gov application programming interfaces (APIs) “Select State.gov Data” also includes data from the State by State map. See http://www.state.gov/developer.

Digest of United States Practice in International Law

The State Department's Office of the Legal Adviser publishes the annual Digest of United States Practice in International Law (http://www.state.gov/s/l/c8183.htm) to provide the public with a historical record of the views and practice of the Government of the United States in public and private international law. Following a hiatus from 1989-1999, publication of the Digest recommenced with calendar year 2000. Since then, annual volumes for 2000 through 2010, a two-volume set covering 1991-1999, and a volume for 1989-1990 have been published online and in hard copy. A cumulative index for the years 1989-2008 was released in the spring of 2010. A brief history of the Digest and explanation of the current format of the book is provided in the Introduction to the Digest of United States Practice in International Law 2000. A supplemental note, dated October 1, 2010, provides updated information on Internet citations included in the Digest. Beginning with the 2011 Digest, the official version of the Digest is published exclusively on-line.

Downloadable audio and video files (e.g. "podcasts")

The Department of State produces downloadable audio and video files (e.g. "podcasts") for download on popular platforms such as Soundcloud, iTunes and Youtube. On YouTube the Department maintains several video channels featuring public affairs, public diplomacy, and U.S. embassy videos. These audio and video "podcasts" include remarks by the Secretary, daily press briefings, special audio and video collections based on foreign policy issues and interviews with U.S. diplomats.

End-Use Reports

End-Use Reports (http://www.pmddtc.state.gov/reports/enduse_reports.html) describe the actions the Department of State has taken under 22 U.S.C. 2785 of the Arms Export Control Act (AECA) to implement, services, and related technical data subject to licensing under 22 U.S.C. 2778 of the AECA.

FAIR Act Inventory

The Federal Activities Inventory Reform (FAIR) Act of 1998 (P.L. 105-270), requires Federal agencies to prepare and submit to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) inventories of commercial activities performed by Federal employees. OMB Circular A-76, Performance of Commercial Activities, further requires agencies to submit inventories of their inherently governmental activities to OMB. Agencies are required to submit their inventories to OMB by June 30.

The annual inventory submission, accessible online at https://csm.state.gov/content.asp?content_id=96&menu_id=71, includes all government full-time equivalent (GFTE) authorized positions categorized on the basis of the type of work performed vs. who is performing the work. Agency submissions comprise a list of the inherently governmental and commercial activities that “reasonably equate” to budgeted FTE totals.

The FAIR Act process is a key way to track the number of GFTE currently working at the Department of State and gain a better understanding of how Federal employee labor is being used to carry out the Department’s mission. The ongoing guidance emerging from OMB also requires Federal agencies to create a Service Contract Inventory, which will catalog the number of contractor full-time equivalents (CFTE). The Service Contract Inventory together with the FAIR Act Inventory provides a snapshot of the Department’s workforce by bureau and function.

Fiscal Transparency Report

Since 2008, the State Department has conducted fiscal transparency reviews of governments receiving bilateral allocations of assistance funded under the State Department Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Acts. Since fiscal year 2012, the Department has annually published fiscal transparency reports, as required by annual appropriations acts. The release of the report is an opportunity for citizens to consider their government’s level of and approach to fiscal transparency, and to engage in discussion of how to improve budget transparency, public participation in the budget process, and fiscal policy. The reports are available online at http://www.state.gov/e/eb/ifd/oma/fiscaltransparency/index.htm

Foreign Affairs Manual and Foreign Affairs Handbook

The Foreign Affairs Manual (FAM) and associated Handbooks (FAHs) (both at (https://fam.state.gov/Fam/FAM.aspx/) are a single, comprehensive, and authoritative source for the Department's organization structures, policies, and procedures that govern the operations of the State Department, the Foreign Service and, when applicable, other federal agencies. The FAM (generally policy) and the FAHs (generally procedures) together convey codified information to Department staff and contractors so they can carry out their responsibilities in accordance with statutory, executive and Department mandates. Currently, there are over 25,000 pages of policies and procedures published in 16 volumes of the FAM and 38 corresponding sections of the FAH.

ForeignAssistance.gov

The ForeignAssistance.gov site (http://foreignassistance.gov/) was created in response to the principles of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness and President Obama’s Open Government Initiative. As part of the efforts to pursue greater transparency in government, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released Bulletin 12-01 on the collection of U.S. foreign assistance data, which provides U.S. agencies guidance on providing data to ForeignAssistance.gov. The U.S. government is committed to making information on foreign assistance programs more transparent, accessible, and compatible with international standards. ForeignAssistance.gov is also a commitment in the U.S. National Action Plan of the multi-national Open Government Partnership, where it is specifically highlighted in the plan as a means to increase the transparency of foreign assistance. The goal of ForeignAssistance.gov is to standardize and improve aid reporting to make all U.S. foreign assistance information available in an accessible, machine readable and easy-to-understand format on one public website. The website offers data in multiple ways: through pre-defined charts and graphs, through downloadable datasets, and through XML files prepared in the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) format. All of the data can be downloaded in xls, csv, or machine readable XML. The visualizations and downloadable data enable a wide variety of stakeholders to examine, research, and track U.S. government foreign assistance investments and compare them against other donors and organizations.

ForeignAssistance.gov is also the primary coordinating mechanism to report data in the form of the International Aid Transparency Initiative standard (IATI). The U.S. government adopts a whole-of-government approach by reporting data in a consolidated and standardized manner from all U.S. agencies with foreign assistance funding in their portfolios. Data is received from agencies in a variety of styles and formats. Once received, it is processed and stored in the ForeignAssistance.gov database. The information contained in the database is used to generate the IATI XML files which are ultimately uploaded to the registry. Users of ForeignAssistance.gov are able to pull IATI files either directly from the website or from the IATI registry.

The Department is committed to making foreign assistance data available to the public to enable the following:

Make foreign aid more useful for development. Greater aid transparency accomplishes this objective by assisting recipient governments to better manage their aid flows and by empowering citizens to hold governments accountable for how assistance is used.
Increase the efficacy of our foreign assistance. With a clearer understanding of what we are doing, where, and to what effect, the United States will be better positioned to maximize the impact of our resources and investments.
Increase international accountability. Greater access to information about assistance will help developing country governments and international civil society to hold donors accountable for the quantity and quality of aid flows.

ForeignAssistance.gov continues to evolve and increase the availability and quality of the data for the public. The site currently contains data on planning, obligations, and disbursements on a transactional level. Performance data and descriptive narrative data are the most recent additions for State and USAID. Of the 22 agencies with foreign assistance funding in their portfolio, ten are currently reporting to the site. These ten include USAID, the Department of State, Department of Defense, and Department of the Treasury, Department of Health and Human Services, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, U.S. African Development Foundation, Inter-American Development Foundation, the Peace Corps, and Department of Agriculture. The ForeignAssistance.gov team is currently leading efforts to add agencies to the site to continue to complete the portfolio.

It is a Department priority to improve the quality of the data from reporting agencies and expand the number of reporting agencies. In addition to leading the overall effort of the development of ForeignAssistance.gov, the Department will work to improve its own reported data. Improvements can only be made with the support of the entire Department. To this end the Foreign Assistance Data Review (FADR) was chartered in September 2014 to evaluate how the Department captures foreign assistance activity from budgeting, planning, and allocation through obligation and disbursement. The Department has multiple systems housing this data, but they are not fully utilized to track or capable of reporting on foreign assistance programs to the level needed for transparency, Congressional, and management purposes. The initial recommendations document was shared with the public in December 2015. Implementing a standard foreign assistance business process to capture foreign assistance activity will improve the Department’s ability to track and report on its foreign assistance programs and funds at the level demanded by internal and external stakeholders. The Department will also see dividends in its ability to manage activities, coordinate with others effectively, make data-driven decisions, and meet transparency commitments.

Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS)

The Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS) (https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments) series presents the official documentary historical record of major U.S. foreign policy decisions. The series began in 1861 and now comprises more than 480 individual volumes.

Foreign Relations volumes contain documents from the Presidential libraries, Departments of State and Defense, National Security Council, Central Intelligence Agency, Agency for International Development, and other foreign affairs agencies as well as the private papers of individuals involved in implementing U.S. foreign policy.

The Office of the Historian offers ebook editions of a growing number of volumes from the Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS) series. Far lighter and more portable than printed editions of FRUS, the ebook edition offers the full content of each volume and makes use of the full-text search and other reading features of most ebook devices and applications, including bookmarking and note-taking. Unlike the web-based edition of FRUS, the ebook edition, once downloaded, can be accessed even without internet connectivity.

These ebooks can be downloaded in a number of ways, either directly from this website or by using an ereader application that embeds the ebook catalog

Hometown Diplomats Program

The Hometown Diplomats Program (http://www.state.gov/r/pa/pl/hometown/) facilitates programs for Department of State Foreign Service staff and Civil Service employees to travel back to their hometowns to address American audiences about their careers and experiences. Since the program began in 2002, about 1200 Department employees have traveled to places around the country, from New England to California to inform the American people about the work of the Department of State. Hometown Diplomats speak to high school and college students, social and professional organizations, and make themselves available for media interviews. They speak on topics including the role of the Department of State, how a U.S. embassy functions, their career paths, and their cross-cultural experiences. Hometown Diplomats also provide information to local citizens on how to join the Foreign Service and the Civil Service and how to participate in internships with the Department.

HumanRights.gov

To further the U.S. Government's human rights agenda, the Department of State established a HumanRights.gov website on the Internet. This site serves as the Federal Government’s focal point for information sharing and collaboration with external partners on human rights issues.

This effort was initiated by the Administration and the White House’s National Security Council in order to improve the quality and availability of human rights information, and to help strengthen outreach and engagement on human rights matters. Currently a great deal of human rights information is scattered among the web sites and databases of numerous Federal agencies, making it difficult to find and obtain. There is no central repository or web site, and no central U.S. Government Internet presence for engagement on human rights issues. This new HumanRights.gov web site provides such a central repository and enhanced engagement platform.

Improving Public Access to Air Quality Information

On April 29, 2013, the Department launched StateAir (www.stateair.net), which unified all Mission China air quality monitoring and publishing under a single software platform to help protect the health of American citizens abroad. In addition to improving and standardizing the presentation of Mission China air quality monitoring data, the new system makes it possible to analyze historical air quality data from every post. The public is able to use dashboards to view current and historical air quality information for Beijing, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Shenyang. Additionally, the public is able to sign up to receive real-time information from social media microblogging service and Rich Site Summary (RSS) feeds. The next step is expanding this or a similar system to our Missions around the world.

Intercountry Adoption Statistics

In addition to the annual reports to Congress on Intercountry Adoption required by Section 104 of the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000, which provide statistical data and other information on inter-country adoptions, the Department of State's Bureau of Consular Affairs has made accessible on the Internet (travel.state.gov/content/adoptionsabroad/en/about-us/statistics.html) a database of intercountry adoption statistics, searchable by country, state, year or visa type and displayed as a table or chart.

Interactive Travel Map

The State Department's Bureau of Public Affairs created an interactive map to track the Secretary’s foreign travel (http://www.state.gov/secretary/travel/.). To date, he has traveled more than a million miles as Secretary. The map enables users to see where the Secretary is at any given time, calculates miles traveled (throughout the trip and cumulatively), displays photos from the road and features the Secretary’s remarks and blogs.

International Parental Child Abduction Reports and Data

The International Child Abduction Prevention and Return Act (ICAPRA) provides that the Department will submit an Annual Report on International Parental Child Abduction to Congress. The Department will submit a subsequent report to Congress on the actions taken towards those countries determined to have been engaged in a pattern of noncompliance in the Annual Report on International
Parental Child Abduction. As with most reports submitted by the Department of State to Congress, these are public documents, published on travel.state.gov.

The Bureau of Consular Affairs publishes International Parental Child Abduction data on travel.state.gov.

International Religious Freedom Report

The annual Report to Congress on International Religious Freedom – the International Religious Freedom Report (http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/) – describes the status of religious freedom in every country. The report covers government laws and policies on violating religious belief and practices of groups, religious denominations and individuals. It also includes information on violations of religious freedom by governments and society as well as improvements in the protection of religious freedom, and U.S. policies to promote religious freedom around the world. The U.S. Department of State submits the reports to Congress in accordance with the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998.

Investment Climate Statements

Investment Climate Statements (http://www.state.gov/e/eb/rls/othr/ics/) provide country-specific information and assessments prepared by U.S. embassies and diplomatic missions abroad on investment laws and practices in those countries.

Office of the Historian (history.state.gov)

The Office of the Historian maintains a public website at history.state.gov, as well as Twitter and Tumblr feeds, at @HistoryAtState and historyatstate.tumblr.com respectively, which provide in-depth information to the public on the history of U.S. foreign policy. In addition to a full text archive of the Foreign Relations series, the website includes valuable encyclopedic content on the history of U.S. relations with states around the world, a database of the Department’s principal officers and chiefs of mission, and special tools and resources for students and teachers.

In keeping with the Open Government Directive’s principle of transparency, participation, and collaboration as the cornerstone of an open government, the Office of the Historian has begun preparing many of its rich historical publications in a raw data format that can be accessed through data.gov.

Office of the Inspector General Inspection Reports

The State Department Office of the Inspector General (https://oig.state.gov) inspects each of the approximately 260 U.S. embassies, diplomatic posts, and international broadcasting installations throughout the world to determine whether policy goals are being achieved and whether the interests of the United States are being represented and advanced effectively. Additionally, the OIG performs specialized security inspections and audits in support of the Department’s mission to provide effective protection to our personnel, facilities, and sensitive information. The OIG also audits Department and BBG operations and activities to ensure that they are as effective, efficient, and economical as possible. Finally, the OIG investigates instances of fraud, waste, and mismanagement that may constitute either criminal wrongdoing or violation of Department and BBG regulations. Versions of the reports that have been redacted to remove classified or sensitive information are published online on the OIG website.

Open Source Platform for State.gov and Embassy Websites

The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Information Programs Bureau (IIP) manages over 450 websites in 70 languages for U.S. embassies and consulates abroad. These sites are the public face of the United States for foreign publics, receiving over 150 million site visits and 600 million page views annually. IIP is modernizing the global infrastructure, design, security and usability of these websites, which have not been updated since 2009.

Technological advances have changed the way our target audiences receive and consume information. Using data to drive decisions, IIP is designing the new sites to be extremely flexible, allowing use in low-bandwidth environments and optimizing for access via mobile.

The new website structure is built on WordPress, the system that powers nearly a quarter of all Internet websites, has no ongoing software licensing fees, and is more flexible than current systems. The platform allows for increased opportunities for public engagement on foreign policy content, presenting a professional picture of the United States and its bilateral relationships. The new platform provides a more flexible, efficient, and accessible system to State’s network of more than 1,000 web managers in the field. Finally, the new platform is a secure, stable, and scalable digital infrastructure that enables future system growth and safeguarding against existing and future threats.

New websites were launched at pilot posts; all overseas State Department missions will be live on the new system by migrated to the new system by early 2017.

Per Diem, Allowances and Standardized Regulation

The Office of Allowances in the Bureau of Administration develops and coordinates policies, regulations, standards, and procedures to administer the government-wide allowances and benefits program abroad under the Department of State Standardized Regulations (DSSR).

The office compiles statistics of living costs abroad, quarters allowances, hardship differentials, and danger pay allowances and computes the established allowances to compensate U.S. Government civilian employees for costs and hardships related to assignments abroad. The office is also responsible for establishing maximum per diem rates for foreign areas.

A/OPR/ALS publishes its allowance and per diem tables online at https://aoprals.state.gov/ where they can be used by private companies in determining their own allowances and per diem rates.

Plans, Performance and Budget Documents

Located online at http://www.state.gov/s/d/rm/c6113.htm

Congressional Budget Justification

The FY 2017 Congressional Budget Justification – Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs describes the funding required for State and USAID to carry out our missions worldwide.

State Dept Agency Financial Report

The FY 2015 Agency Financial Report provides an overview of the Department’s financial and performance data to help Congress, the President, and the public assess our stewardship over the resources entrusted to us.

State Dept Joint Summary of Performance and Financial Information

The FY 2015 Joint Summary of Performance and Financial Information describes the performance and accomplishments achieved by State and USAID toward the highest U.S. diplomatic and development objectives.

FY 2016 Annual Performance Plan and FY 2014 Annual Performance Report

The FY 2016 Annual Performance Plan and FY 2014 Annual Performance Report describe the diplomacy and development efforts of the Department of State and USAID to achieve the strategic objectives and performance goals set forth in the FY 2014-2017 Deportment of State and USAID Joint Strategic Plan

FY 2014-2017 U.S. Department of State and USAID Strategic Plan

The Department of State and USAID Strategic Plan for FY 2014-2017 presents how the Department and USAID will implement U.S. foreign policy and development assistance.

Department of State and U.S. Agency for International Development Foreign Assistance Programs Federal Program Inventory

This document describes the foreign assistance programs of the Department of State and U.S. Agency for International Development, as well as how each program supports the Joint State-USAID Strategic Goals and Strategic Objectives.

U.S. Department of State Federal Program Inventory List

This document describes each of the Department of State’s 22 State operations programs across 43 bureaus/offices, as well as how the program supports the Department’s broader Strategic Goals.

State-USAID Agency Priority Goals for Fiscal Years 2012-2013 for U.S. Department of State and U.S. Agency for International Development

The State-USAID Agency Priority Goals for Fiscal Years 2012-2013 for the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development.

ForeignAssistance.gov

ForeignAssistance.gov makes it possible to explore how the U.S. Government invests in countries around the world.

State Dept Inspector General Audits and Reports

The Office of Inspector General conducts independent audits, inspections, and investigations that advance the missions of the Department of State and the Broadcasting Board of Governors.

Government Accountability Office (GAO) Reports

GAO reports on all federal agencies to help improve the performance and ensure the accountability of the federal government.

Press Briefings and Interviews

The Press Office responds to press queries, conducts media interviews, monitors media for breaking international events, and coordinates special press briefings and conference calls. In addition, the Press Office coordinates interview requests from the national media for senior State Department officials other than the Secretary of State. The staff proactively promotes interviews on a wide variety of issues to national media outlets and places editorials in major U.S. newspapers. Daily press briefings are made accessible to the public in both transcript and video format at http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/index.htm

Privacy Impact Assessments

Section 208, Privacy Provisions of the E-Government Act of 2002 requires agencies to meet specific requirements to ensure sufficient protections are in place for the privacy of personal information. As agencies implement citizen-centered electronic Government. Privacy Impact Assessments (PIA) confirm that the government uses the personal information provided to it for the purpose intended; that the information remains timely, relevant, accurate and complete; and, that it is protected while in the government has it and that it is maintained it only as long as the government needs it.

PIAs ensure that:

The public is aware of the information we collect about them
Any impact these systems have on personal privacy is adequately addressed
Only personal information necessary to administer our programs is collected, and no more
Adequate system safeguards are in place to protect the personal privacy of individuals in accordance with Department of State standards

The Privacy Impact Statements for the various State Department Systems that collect personal information are available online at https://foia.state.gov/Learn/PIA.aspx.

Regional Geographic Products

The Humanitarian Information Unit serves as a USG interagency center to identify, collect, analyze and disseminate unclassified information critical to USG decision makers and partners in preparation for and response to humanitarian emergencies worldwide, and to promote best practices for humanitarian information management. The HIU contextualizes data geospatially by mapping population displacements in the Middle East, HIV-related information in Africa, transnational impact of man-made and natural disasters, etc. It publishes its products in the following categories: Africa, Central Asia, East & Southeast Asia, Global & Transnational, Latin American & the Caribbean, Middle East, PEPFAR, Papers & other analysis, South Asia. The products are accessible online at https://hiu.state.gov/Pages/Products.aspx. Many, but not all of these datasets are cataloged on data.gov.

Salary Schedules

Foreign Service salary schedules are made accessible to the public at http://www.state.gov/m/dghr/pay/index.htm

Section 655, Annual Military Assistance Report

Section 655 Annual Military Assistance Reports cover defense articles and defense services licensed for export under 22 U.S.C. 2778 of the Arms Export Control Act (see the AECA Web page here). These reports are provided annually to Congress pursuant to Section 655 of the Foreign Assistance Act and, as required by that Section, these reports show for a fiscal year the aggregate dollar value and quantity of defense articles and defense services authorized as direct commercial sales to each foreign country http://www.pmddtc.state.gov/reports/655_intro.html

Status Pending Congressional Notifications (CNs)

Section 36(f) of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2778) mandates that notifications to the Congress pursuant to sections 36(c) and 36(d) must be published in the Federal Register when they are transmitted to Congress or as soon thereafter as practicable. Prior to transmission to Congress, the State Department's Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, Directorate of Defense Trade Controls publishes a matrix, updated weekly, of the status of pending CNs, online at http://www.pmddtc.state.gov/reports/CNs/CN_Matrix2016.pdf

System of Records Notices

A System of Records Notice (https://foia.state.gov/Learn/SORN.aspx) is intended to inform the public about what kinds of personal information federal agencies maintain; to limit the uses and disclosures of the information to those compatible with the law permitting its collection; and to describe how an individual might request access to their information or to seek redress otherwise.

U.S. Citizen Deaths Overseas

Sec. 204(c) of P.L. 107-228, the Foreign Relations Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2003, mandates that, to the maximum extent practicable, the Department of State collect and make available on the Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs Internet web site certain information with respect to each United States citizen who dies in a foreign country from a non-natural cause. The information required is:

§ (1) the date of death;

§ (2) the locality where the death occurred; and

§ (3) the cause of death, including, if the death resulted from an act of terrorism, a statement disclosing that fact. Whenever possible, the Department provides a more specific cause of death (e.g., Drowning-Ocean, instead of Drowning).

The information on the web site must be listed on a country-by-country basis, and must cover deaths occurring since the date of enactment of the legislation on September 30, 2002, or occurring during the preceding three calendar years, whichever period is shorter. The information is updated every six months and is available online at travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/statistics/deaths.html.

U.S. Passport Application and Issuance Statistics

Statistical data is available on the number of U.S. Passports issued by year, valid passports in circulation by year, passport applications received by year, and passports issued by state. The data is available at http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/passports/statistics.html

Video.state.gov

The Department of State provides video for video.state.gov, U.S. embassy websites, and several blogs. Video is also made widely available on social networking platforms such as YouTube, Google+, and Facebook. These video products cover a variety of subjects through senior staff remarks and briefings and videos that feature elements of U.S. public diplomacy

Visa Appointment and Processing Wait Times

The travel.state.gov website, at travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/general/wait-times.html/, provides the following data to enable visa applicants to plan their travel and to provide the Bureau of Consular Affairs with greater insight into visa operations at consular posts:

Wait Time for Interview: The estimated wait time to receive an interview appointment to apply at a U.S. Embassy or Consulate.

Wait Time for Processing: The typical wait time for visa processing refers to the time it typically takes for a visa to be ready for pick-up or delivery by courier after the consular officer has made the decision to issue the visa.

Note: These Visa Wait Times estimates do not include time required for administrative processing, which may affect a small number of applications.

Visa Reciprocity and Civil Documents by Country

Nonimmigrant visa applicants from certain countries or areas of authority may need to pay a visa issuance fee after a consular officer approves their application. These fees are based on the principle of reciprocity: when a foreign government imposes fees on U.S. citizens for certain types of visas, the United States will impose a reciprocal fee on citizens of that country or area of authority for similar types of visas.

Immigrant visa applicants must submit certain civil documents as part of their visa application, such as birth certificates and police records. (Nonimmigrant visa applicants do not routinely need to submit civil documents as part of their visa application.)

The Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs publishes reciprocity tables and civil documents by country online at travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/fees/reciprocity-by-country.html.

Each Reciprocity Page provides detailed information about visa reciprocity for that country, as well as information about how to obtain required civil documents from the selected country.

Visa Statistics

The Report of the Visa Office is an annual report that provides statistical information on immigrant and nonimmigrant visa issuances by consular offices, as well as information on the use of visa numbers in numerically limited categories. The reports are online at travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/law-and-policy/statistics.html.

Flagship Initiatives

New Flagship Initiatives

The Department of State is committed to advancing a transparent, collaborative, and participatory Open Government and, in doing so, its mission. In this year’s Open Government Plan, the Department has designated three new initiatives as “Flagship Initiatives,” specifically:

Harnessing the Data Revolution for Sustainable Development
Advance Democracy and Human Rights, Strengthening Civil Society
Modernize the Way We Do Diplomacy and Development

The Department of State engages with the public and interested stakeholders with regard to foreign policy initiatives, among which is Open Government, through a range of fora and mechanisms, many of which have been described in this document -- including participation in the Open Government Partnership, engaging with civil society to both strengthen civil society and provide data that civil society needs in order to partner effectively in accomplishing shared goals, utilizing social media platforms to engage with the public, and developing policy documents such as the QDDR through open and transparent processes that incorporate a two-way dialogue.

Each of these initiatives has the potential to change the way that the Department does business, which is the intention of the Open Government Directive – to change the way that the Government interacts with citizens, how agencies collaborate internally, and how much information is available to the public.

Harnessing the Data Revolution for Sustainable Development

On September 27, 2015, the member states of the United Nations agreed to a set of Sustainable Development Goals (Global Goals) that define a common agenda to achieve inclusive growth, end poverty, and protect the environment by 2030. The Global Goals build on tremendous development gains made over the past decade, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, and set actionable steps with measurable indicators to drive progress. The availability and use of high quality data is essential to measuring and achieving the Global Goals. By harnessing the power of technology, mobilizing new and open data sources, and partnering across sectors, we will achieve these goals faster and make their progress more transparent.

Harnessing the data revolution is a critical enabler of the global goals—not only to monitor progress, but also to inclusively engage stakeholders at all levels – local, regional, national, global—to advance evidence-based policies and programs to reach those who need it most. Data can show us where girls are at greatest risk of violence so we can better prevent it; where forests are being destroyed in real-time so we can protect them; and where HIV/AIDS is enduring so we can focus our efforts and finish the fight. Data can catalyze private investment; build modern and inclusive economies; and support transparent and effective investment of resources for social good.

The following programs (described in detail earlier in this document) support this flagship initiative:

Country Data Collaboratives for Local Impact
Feed the Future
FIND
Foreignassistance.gov
Imagery to the Crowd
Improving Public Access to Air Quality Information
MapGive
Open Source Platform for State.gov
PEPFAR
Secondarycities.state.gov
Sustainable Energy for All

Advance Democracy and Human Rights, Strengthening Civil Society

Protecting human rights and advocating democracy is an integral part of a U.S. foreign policy that seeks to end oppression, combat terrorism, and advocate democratic ideals and freedoms worldwide. The Department of State seeks opportunities to cooperate with human rights advocates and policy makers to engender positive change in countries that strive for democracy and human rights and to challenge those that routinely ignore international human rights or selectively uphold them. In this effort, the Department utilizes the full range of diplomatic and programmatic tools. Multilaterally, the Department of State engages in fora such as the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR), the Community of Democracies, the International Labor Organization (ILO), and regional organizations, such as the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the Organization of American States (OAS), to advance these democratic ideals. The Department’s annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices serve not only to inform Congress, but also to raise awareness of human rights across the globe.

The following programs (described in detail earlier in this document) support this flagship initiative:

Exchange Programs
HumanRights.gov
TechCamps

Modernize the Way We Do Diplomacy and Development

In the 21st century, effective engagement with international partners, stakeholders, customers, and audiences requires fundamental shifts that involve applying new technologies and innovative approaches for strengthening collaboration, coordinated and integrated strategic planning linked to budget priorities, and expanding our internal and external networks. Whether promoting transparency through open and accountable government and open data initiatives, meeting increased customer demand for passports and other consular services, expanding our digital media to reach a rapidly growing audience, or eliminating inefficiencies and reducing costs through business process reform, the Department and USAID are working together to amplify the effectiveness of our diplomatic and development professionals. Modernizing how the Department and USAID operate is key to bolstering the U.S. government response to the range and magnitude of foreign policy and development challenges. In accomplishing our mission, we stand committed to becoming more efficient, effective, transparent, and flexible organizations while maintaining accountability to the American people in managing government resources.

The following programs (described in detail earlier in this document) support this flagship initiative:

GovUP
Live Digital Engagement
Virtual Fellows Program
Virtual Student Foreign Service

Ongoing Flagship Initiatives

Innovating with Geographic Data

Geographic data can augment and enhance the ability to analyze, communicate and share relevant information. The Department of State recognizes the benefits of disseminating this useful information to the public and has undertaken multiple initiatives to provide these services to the public. Initiatives that demonstrate this commitment to providing geographic data include MapGive and the Department of State by State.

Imagery to the Crowd and MapGive

In many places, a lack of quality geographic data handicaps local governments and organizations attempting to respond to humanitarian and development needs. To address this problem, the Department of State's Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) began a project in collaboration with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT) that relies on crowdsourcing to create better map data.

The INR Office of the Geographer’s Humanitarian Information Unit (HIU) created the Imagery to the Crowd (IttC) initiative to help support the use of OpenStreetMap (OSM) for humanitarian response, disaster risk reduction, and sustainable development. IttC addresses significant data gaps for humanitarian and development needs by publishing high-resolution commercial satellite imagery purchased by the United States Government in a format that public volunteers (“the crowd”) can easily map into OSM. To date, mapping projects have been completed in support of disaster risk reduction in Nepal, disaster response in the Philippines, community resilience projects in Uganda, humanitarian logistics in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and refugee camp planning in Ethiopia and Kenya.

In order to grow the crowd, the HIU and the Bureau of International Information Programs (IIP) created MapGive, an educational campaign bringing people around the world into the OpenStreetMap community by teaching them about the importance of creating open map data, giving them the skills to map, and helping them get connected with mapping tasks through a user-friendly website. Through MapGive.state.gov and @MapGive on Twitter new volunteers are engaged in creating open geographic data that can help empower organizations and communities to make important decisions across a range of environmental, economic and crisis management themes.

The data created is made freely and available to the public through the Open Data Commons Open Database License 1.0. There are many other free maps on the Internet, but most have legal or technical restrictions preventing others from using the data openly. With OSM both the maps and underlying data can be downloaded for free, for developers or anyone to use or redistribute. Additionally, in many places of the world where there is no commercial motivation to develop this data, OSM is often the best available resource. During a crisis response, digital volunteers can be mobilized quickly to create new data, with their efforts coordinated by HOT.

Department of State by State Map

The Department of State by State initiative provides an interactive U.S. map that shows how the State Department benefits each U.S. state. It illustrates how the Department’s work matters to each state’s education system, economy, travel, and security, etc. The webpage also has information and links for State Department careers, the Business Information Database System (BIDS), the Direct Line Program for American Businesses, the Global Partnership Initiative, the U.S. Diplomacy Center, and ForeignAssistance.gov.

Such information increases the Department of State’s transparency and helps to educate the public on the many and varied tasks conducted by the Department. These details often elude the public understanding, so the map serves to connect services to taxes and consequently builds trust in government. The public can also utilize the information in the map for research or innovation purposes. The Department of State will update the information in the Department of State by State map as new programs and initiatives are implemented.

The Department of State by State interactive map can be viewed at www.state.gov/statebystate. The state.gov API “Select State.gov Data” also includes data from the State by State map. See www.state.gov/developer.

Embracing Technologies and Platforms to Increase Public Access to Information

Improving Public Access to Air Quality Information

On April 29th 2013, the Department of State launched StateAir (www.stateair.net), which unified all Mission China air quality monitoring and publishing under a single software platform to help protect the health of American citizens abroad. In addition to improving and standardizing the presentation of Mission China air quality monitoring data, the new system makes it possible to analyze historical air quality data from every post. The public is able to use dashboards to view current and historical air quality information for Beijing, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Shenyang. Additionally, the public is able to sign up to receive real-time information from social media microblogging service and Rich Site Summary (RSS) feeds. The next step is expanding this or a similar system to our Missions around the world.

Open Source Platform for State.gov

In support of the President’s Open Government Directive to publish information online in an open format, the Office of Website Management (PA/WM) is migrating the current, proprietary Content Management System used for the Department of State’s website, state.gov, to an open source platform. This will allow users to easily repurpose any code developed for state.gov. The Directive also requires agencies to use modern technology to disseminate useful information. PA/WM is developing more Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to allow users to access and disseminate our data more easily, thereby extending the reach of our information. The Department of State estimates that this migration will be completed in 2015.

Virtual Student Foreign Service

The Virtual Student Foreign Service (VSFS) Program was established on a pilot basis during the summer of 2009. For the 2013-2014 VSFS eInternship program, 511 students are virtually interning on 276 projects with eight federal agencies. VSFS eIntern duties and responsibilities will vary according to the location and needs of the VSFS projects identified at the sponsoring domestic or overseas diplomatic office. VSFS projects may be research-based, contributing to reports on issues such as human rights, economics, or the environment. They may also be more technology oriented, such as working on web pages, or helping produce electronic journals. Selected students are expected to work virtually on an average of 5-10 hours per week on VSFS eInternship projects. Students apply in the summer and, if selected, begin the eInternship that fall lasting through spring. Most work and projects are internet-based and some have language requirements. Past projects have asked students to:

Develop and implement a public relations campaign using social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc. to communicate and reach out to youth;
Conduct research on the economic situation, prepare graphic representations of economic data, and prepare informational material for the U.S. Embassy website;
Create a system to gather and analyze media coverage on a set of topics including environment, health, and trade;
Research IT-based interventions that have been successful in higher education, particularly in teacher training;
Write and contribute biweekly articles to the U.S. Embassy's Facebook page on topics such as internet, computer science/technology, history, and literature;
Develop a series of professional instructional video clips to be published by the U.S. Embassy; and
Survey social media efforts of U.S. diplomatic posts, NGOs, and private companies around the world to help establish best practices in a U.S. Embassy’s social media outreach business plan.

More information on the VSFS program can be found at http://www.state.gov/vsfs/.

ForeignAssistance.gov

The ForeignAssistance.gov site was created in response to the principles of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness and President Obama’s Open Government Initiative. As part of the efforts to pursue greater transparency in Government, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released Bulletin 12-01 on the collection of U.S. foreign assistance data, which provides U.S. agencies guidance on providing data to ForeignAssistance.gov. The U.S. Government is committed to making information on foreign assistance programs more transparent, accessible, and compatible with international standards. ForeignAssistance.gov is also a commitment in the U.S. National Action Plan of the multi-national Open Government Partnership, where it is specifically highlighted in the plan as a means to increase the transparency of foreign assistance.

The goal of ForeignAssistance.gov is to standardize and improve aid reporting to make all U.S. foreign assistance information available in an accessible, machine readable and easy-to-understand format on one public website. The website offers data in multiple ways: through pre-defined charts and graphs, through downloadable datasets, and through XML files prepared in the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) format. All of the data can be downloaded in excel, csv, or machine readable XML. The visualizations and downloadable data enable a wide variety of stakeholders to examine, research, and track USG foreign assistance investments across the USG and comparable against other donors and organizations.

ForeignAssistance.gov is also the mechanism used to deliver a unified U.S. report that meets the IATI standard. The U.S. Government is implementing a whole-of-Government approach by reporting data in a consolidated and standardized manner from all U.S. agencies that possess a foreign assistance portfolio. This is to standardize the information across the USG, ensure consistent USG reporting, and improve data quality. The IATI format is a specific international standard for which the USG has developed a crosswalk to ensure the Government is presenting its data in a unified and consistent manner to primarily benefit development in assisted countries. Data submitted to ForeignAssistance.gov is converted to the IATI XML format and registered to the IATI registry with no delay. Making foreign assistance data public enables us to pursue the following objectives:

Make foreign aid more useful for development. Greater aid transparency accomplishes this objective by assisting recipient Governments to better manage their aid flows and by empowering citizens to hold Governments accountable for how assistance is used;
Increase the efficacy of our foreign assistance. With a clearer understanding of what we are doing, where, and to what effect, the U.S. will be better positioned to maximize the impact of our resources and investments; and
Increase international accountability. Greater access to information about assistance will help developing country Governments and international civil society to hold donors accountable for the quantity and quality of aid flows.

Ten agencies have onboarded to ForeignAssistance.gov, representing 98% of the U.S. Government’s foreign assistance portfolio. An additional five agencies are beginning to use a new onboarding toolkit to prepare them to fully provide their data to the site. The Department of State is working with all of these agencies to help them improve their data quality and fill gaps in their data reporting, improving the usability and functionality of ForeignAssistance.gov, and consulting with agency and civil society stakeholders. The redesigned version of ForeignAssistance.gov launched in June 2015. The Department of State executed a launch plan that included blog posts, online hang-outs, social media campaigns, and collaboration with universities. The Department of State continued to engage with civil society stakeholders throughout 2015.

ForeignAssistance.gov is still in development. The goal is to have budget, financial, and programmatic data in a standard form from all 22 USG agencies receiving or implementing foreign assistance by the end of 2015. Nine agencies – USAID, the Departments of State, Defense, and the Treasury, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, U.S. African Development Foundation, Inter-American Development Foundation, the Peace Corps, and Department of Agriculture – are currently reporting data. The addition of the Department of Health and Human Services’ data in the summer of 2014 will represent about 98 percent of all U.S. foreign assistance data available on ForeignAssistance.gov.

It is a Department of State priority to improve the quality of the data from reporting agencies and expand the number of reporting agencies. In addition to leading the overall effort of the development of ForeignAssistance.gov, the Department will work to improve its own reported data.

Data gaps are a known concern within State’s published data. The source of the data is the Department’s centrally-managed financial system, which was not created with the purpose of tracking data according to the current international transparency standards. The data required by ForeignAssistance.gov is spread through multiple internal State systems, is not standardized, or does not exist. Efforts are underway to improve both the quality and scope of data reporting across the entire Department.

The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), administered through the State Department’s Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator, has embarked on an ambitious plan to deliver a comprehensive set of program data to the public via the PEPFAR.gov Analytics Dashboard, co-hosted by ForeignAssistance.gov.

The Analytics Dashboard was unveiled in June 2014 with the Planned Budgetary module on Foreignassistance.gov. The Dashboard will later include PEPFAR Targets and Results module and the Expenditures module, both of which follow the ‘dynamic drill-down’ charting paradigm. The program is actively developing data resources at the site level and plans to make this level of detail available as well in the coming months. The website is designed specifically to provide total program transparency and to demonstrate the impact that can be achieved by delivering quality services at reasonable costs.