Businesses that thrive know that customer's concerns can generate new opportunities and improvements to existing products and services. Successful businesses also formulate business goals and strategies using a range of information technologies to gather and assess information from customers. These techniques also apply in government practice--publicly voiced concerns and public participation aided by information technology can lead to improvements that assist agencies in meeting their missions.

This paper examines U. S. Office of Management and Budget Circular No. A-130 (A-130) also known as "The Management of Federal Information Resources." The paper addresses the policy shift from 1985 to 1994 in A-130 that has resulted in multiple public information access and dissemination points. Access and dissemination of government information is the focus of this paper because government is a chief producer and aggregator of information and information is viewed as a valued resource by a growing number of citizens. The paper discusses (1) incremental change in government and (2) potential assessment opportunities introduced by A-130. We conclude that A-130 is an evolving and incremental step toward making government information widely accessible through proactive dissemination practices and that engaging the public in user assessment will promote the efficiency, effectiveness, and public good.

A circular, in government parlance, is a policy directive that guides Federal agencies in the implementation of laws and Presidential policies. OMB Circular No. A-130 provides the policy framework for Executive Branch Federal agencies concerning (1) information management and (2) information systems and technology management. It was first released in 1985 (U.S. Executive Office of the President. Office of Management and Budget, 1985), with subsequent revisions in 1994 (U.S. Executive Office of the President. Office of Management and Budget, 1994), and 1996 (U.S. Executive Office of the President. Office of Management and Budget, 1996). It links directly to the broader Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1980, 1986, and 1995, which was an outgrowth of the 1977 Commission on Federal Paperwork that identified costly, wasteful, and overlapping practices in the production of Federal government information. The 1985 Reagan Administration version of A-130 addressed the need to become more efficient through elimination of wasteful duplication of effort and red tape in government paperwork and the need to become effective through reduction of the paperwork burden placed by the government on its citizens and small businesses. It also encouraged private sector information dissemination by requiring agencies to avoid dissemination of information that could be disseminated by the private sector.

When the 1994 revision of A-130 was published, the technological environment had shifted and so had the Presidential Administration. Computing capabilities in 1994 were significantly more powerful, widespread, interconnected, and less expensive than in 1985. The 1994 A-130 reflects this fact by including requirements that Federal agencies disseminate information to the public consistent with their mission in the electronic information age, partner with state and local governments in ways that reduce the burden of Federal data collection activities, and measure effectiveness using measures of performance that assess whether the agency mission is being met. The 1996 revision of A-130 addresses the security of Federal information systems. With the 1994 and 1996 revisions, the Federal information resources management policy expanded its emphasis on effectiveness, including improved service delivery and proactive dissemination of information. It highlighted planning for information technology as an integral part of agency information resources management strategic planning as well as communication with members of the public. Both revisions maintain emphasis on efficiency through oversight and reduction of program administration costs.

The 1994 A-130 guidance significantly expands the Federal Executive agencies’ role in dissemination of information to the public. It moves from simply providing access when the public requests information toward proactive agency-initiated dissemination of information in an equitable and timely manner. This evolution from an emphasis on access to an emphasis on proactive information dissemination has been slow to arrive, but change in government is more often than not incremental and can take time. Lindblom, who writes about incremental change, points out that it can be speeded up "A fast-moving sequence of small changes can more speedily accomplish a drastic alteration of the status quo than can an only infrequent major policy change" (Lindblom, 1979). During the Clinton-Gore Administration, a series of rapid, small changes, including 1994 A-130, altered Federal information resources management policy on more than one front. Legislative initiatives included the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA), the reauthorization of the PRA of 1995, the Information Technology Management Reform Act of 1996, and the Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendment of 1996. Concurrent Presidential initiatives included the National Information Infrastructure and the National Performance Review. These legislative and Presidential initiatives between 1985 and 1994 combined to significantly influence policy and provide improved access for the public through multiple access and dissemination channels, an example of altering the status quo through a rapid sequence of small changes. The rapidity of these changes also resulted in inconsistencies between policy documents and initiatives and created confusion about the priorities to be pursued among the many demands for a limited supply of resources that agency directors must manage.

The policy guidance in the 1994 A-130 encouraged both collaboration and competition. This A-130 maintained emphasis on providing the private sector with the opportunity to compete in the marketplace but directed increased attention to electronic collection and dissemination of information using intergovernmental collaboration. It also directed agencies to consider the burden they place on state, local, and tribal governments and find ways to reduce that burden and share information across agencies resulting in wider use of information and combined efforts.

Competing interests among branches of government resulted in additional access and dissemination points using growing electronic and telecommunication infrastructures. FedWorld, GPO Access, and THOMAS became available, increasing the array of information access points and expanding access far beyond the traditional reach of the Federal Depository Library Program. This array of publicly available access and dissemination points could be considered a fine example of duplication of effort that points to the need for collaboration and coordination across government agencies. In this instance, however, the competing interests between branches of government has resulted in very different real-world applications and products and has introduced the opportunity to collect data on public preferences and to compare and contrast usability features in all four services. A tensioned balance between competition and collaboration can inspire informed and focused improvements in centralized, coordinated oversight and policy direction in the management of the nation’s information resources and lead to improved and more efficient and effective delivery mechanisms. Connections between information technology, information resources management, and wider information dissemination also invite increased public participation and more efficient, effective, and socially responsive government.

The "Putting People First" movement initiated in the Clinton-Gore Administration encourages initiatives at the local level, construction of public-oriented directories to services and information at all levels, pre-planning for future service delivery alternatives, and strategic partnering between the public and private sectors (Clinton & Gore, 1993). The policy direction in 1994 A-130, bolstered by the GPRA of 1993, calls for systematic thinking in the planning process, direct, easily discernable ties between agency mission and accomplishments as a performance measurement, and consultation with citizens who are using the services. These directions are aimed at achieving government accountability and effectiveness. They involve people who have very real information needs for government information as an essential component in performance measurement.

Zuboff, Davenport, and other researchers have pointed out that people-based concerns need to be at the center of information management and technology planning. Bell, addressing the National Association of Government Archives and Records Administrators, illustrated the relationship between technology and people when he said, " Information technology can help you listen better, but information technology cannot listen. It can record noises, but it can not remember the past or produce interpretations about its implications for the future" (Bell, 1997). People do listen and produce interpretations and that is an essential part of the use of technology, the part that addresses democratic participation in government.

The 1994 A-130 encourages this participation through its requirement that agencies establish and maintain communications with the public and with State and local governments in order to create and disseminate products that meet the needs of users, which is in turn directly tied to efficiently accomplishing the mission of the agency. The process of engaging people in the iterative redesign and implementation of that design is a part of the A-130 policy guidance that requires the use of strategies beyond soliciting public comment. It requires civic engagement in the design and planning of agency missions, strategies, products, and services to align the work government performs with the needs and concerns of citizens and others seeking government information and services. The many new information technology channels available now enable people to engage, participate, and influence policy direction, but remain largely untapped as a mechanism for improving and influencing government.

This paper has examined OMB Circular No. A-130, noting differences between the 1985 and 1994 versions of the policy document that guides Federal Executive agencies in the management of information resources and the systems and technologies used to manage those resources. The policy directions in A-130, when combined with other initiatives and Public Laws, influence important and controversial public interest aims such as providing universal access to government information, providing public spaces for communication and democratic participation, protecting individual privacy, promoting commerce and economic development benefits, and securing system integrity across complex networks.

The policy in A-130 has evolved from one that is largely focused on the internal mechanics of efficiency and effectiveness to one that is more outwardly focused. A-130 demonstrates incremental change in government and has been bolstered by a number of initiatives from both the Executive and Legislative branches of government. Agencies have produced new information access points, dissemination techniques, and information products inspired by a need to be both collaborative and competitive. These products are ready for user assessment using the growing and advancing range of information technologies in the marketplace. Through user assessment, agencies can improve their products and become more effective and efficient as they follow the iterative process of matching services to the outcomes expected by the public. This collaborative effort holds the agency accountable for accomplishing its mission and also can lead to improvements and adjustments on an ongoing basis that will satisfy the needs of people for government information and the social aims and ambitions of the nation.