By most available quantitative measures, government secrecy continues to grow in problematic ways, according to a new annual survey (pdf) from the advocacy coalition OpenTheGovernment.org.
While the creation of new secrets (termed “original classification decisions”) actually declined in the past year, total classification activity grew significantly, as did the use of controls on unclassified information, and the costs of maintaining the apparatus of national security classification.
“The current administration has increasingly refused to be held accountable to the public, including through the oversight responsibilities of Congress,” said Patrice McDermott, Director of OpenTheGovernment.org.
See “Secrecy Report Card 2007,” September 2007.
At a time when universities are already facing intense pressure to re-envision their role in the S&T ecosystem, we encourage NSF to ensure that the ambitious research acceleration remains compatible with their expertise.
FAS CEO Daniel Correa recently spoke with Adam Marblestone and Sam Rodriques, former FAS fellows who developed the idea for FROs and advocated for their use in a 2020 policy memo.
In a year when management issues like human capital, IT modernization, and improper payments have received greater attention from the public, examining this PMA tells us a lot about where the Administration’s policy is going to be focused through its last three years.
Congress must enact a Digital Public Infrastructure Act, a recognition that the government’s most fundamental responsibility in the digital era is to provide a solid, trustworthy foundation upon which people, businesses, and communities can build.