NEWS
RELEASE

For
Release:
Immediate



Contact:
Mike
Trainor

(401)
252‐1097

mtrainor@chafeeforgovernor.com

www.chafeeforgovernor.com



Chafee
Announces
Open
Government
Rhode
Island

New
Initiative
for
Open,
Transparent,
and
Efficient
State
Government



(Warwick,
Rhode
Island,
October
11,
2010)
Lincoln
Chafee,
independent
candidate

for
Governor,
announced
today
that
as
Governor
he
will
issue
an
Executive
Order
on

Open
Government,
through
which
he
will
implement
a
plan
to
utilize
modern

information
technologies
to
make
government
services
easier
to
use,
government

operations
more
transparent,
and
government
more
efficient
overall.



Chafee’s
Executive
Order
will
also
set
standards
on
the
quality
and
accessibility
of

government
information,
ensuring
that
high‐quality
information
is
shared
both

internally
within
government,
and
externally
between
government
and
citizens.



“Rhode
Island
state
government
must
be
accessible
and
accountable
to
its
citizens,”

Chafee
said.
“For
too
long,
cronyism
and
corruption
have
run
rampant
because
of
a

lack
of
transparency.
My
administration
will
be
based
on
honesty
and
integrity.
My

Open
Government
initiative
will
make
it
much
easier
for
citizens
and
government

employees
to
access
information
and
services
presently
residing
in
obscurity,
and
to

connect
with
and
learn
from
each
other.

Further,
this
initiative
will
cut
costs
by

opening
up
the
procurement
process
to
generate
more
competition
and
increased

compatibility
with
municipal
governments.”



The
initiatives
of
Chafee’s
plan,
called
Open
Government
Rhode
Island,
include:



1.
User‐friendliness
Upgrade
of
RI.gov:
RI.gov,
our
state
government
website,

provides
valuable
resources,
but
those
resources
are
valueless
if
citizens
cannot

understand
how
to
use
them.

Chafee
will
upgrade
RI.gov
to
ensure
that
citizens
can

take
maximum
advantage
of
the
public
services
they
pay
tax
dollars
to
fund.

The

upgrade
will
include
putting
government
services
online
that
currently
require
a

trip
to
state
offices,
such
as
making
DMV
appointments
and
renewing
drivers’

licenses.

This
initiative
will
strive
to
make
online
services
available
for
free.

The

upgrade
will
also
include
increasing
the
usability
of
the
information
in
the

already‐existing
Information
&
Data
Center
(http://www.ri.gov/information),

specifically
by
making
it
more
searchable,
track‐able,
and
usable
to
developers.

In

addition,
new
information
will
be
added
to
the
Information
&
Data
Center,
such
as

clear
information
about
tax
policy
and
the
performance
of
government
programs.



2.
Open
Procurement
Process:
Government
procurement
has
become
synonymous

with
fraud
and
inefficiency.

Chafee
will
eradicate
this
longstanding
trend
by

introducing
transparency
to
the
procurement
process.

Like
the
federal
BetterBuy

Project
(http://www.betterbuyproject.com),
the
Chafee
administration
will
offer

citizens
a
way
to
submit,
comment
on,
and
vote
on
ideas
for
making
our
state’s

procurement
process
more
effective.

Possibilities
for
making
the
state
procurement

process
more
open
include
putting
an
end
to
hurried
"end
of
year"
procurements,

which
have
higher
costs
and
inadequate
competition,
and
building
a
repository
to

share
market
research
across
government,
in
order
to
eliminate
the
existing

duplication
of
the
same
research
efforts.

Chafee’s
administration
will
also
update

the
prices
in
the
state’s
Master
Pricing
List
and
make
it
accessible
to
municipalities.

This
will
create
a
more
open
and
competitive
procurement
process,
resulting
in
an

economy
of
scale
that
will
benefit
taxpayers
at
both
the
municipal
and
state
levels.



3.
Accessibility
&
Collaboration
with
GovLoop:
All
states
in
the
U.S.
face
the
same

major
problems
as
Rhode
Island,
but
our
government
lacks
a
mechanism
for

learning
from
their
solutions.

Chafee
is
dedicated
to
learning
from
the
economic

development
and
job
creation
policies
of
other
states,
and
to
helping
our
state’s

government
employees
better
learn
from
each
other.

For
these
reasons,
he
will
join

GovLoop
(http://www.govloop.com),
a
social
network
site
for
government

employees
that
currently
connects
over
30,000
federal,
state
and
municipal

employees,
and
will
encourage
all
state
employees
to
do
the
same.

Participating
in

GovLoop
will
allow
Rhode
Island
to
learn
from
existing
solutions
and
share
best

practices,
both
externally
and
internally.



4.
Local
Problem‐Solving
with
SeeClickFix:
Too
many
resolvable
neighborhood

issues
go
unresolved
because
the
appropriate
parties
are
not
notified.

Chafee
seeks

to
include
Rhode
Islanders
in
the
process
of
stewarding
their
neighborhoods
by

encouraging
the
use
of
SeeClickFix
(http://seeclickfix.com),
a
free
mobile
phone
and

web
application
that
allows
citizens
to
identify,
report,
and
fix
non‐emergency

issues
in
their
neighborhoods.

As
part
of
announcing
his
Open
Government

platform,
my
campaign
will
organize
a
‘SeeClickFix
Storm,’
whereby
supporters
are

asked
to
spend
a
weekend
logging
local
issues
on
SeeClickFix.

Citizens
will
be

helping
government
help
them,
and
participating
in
the
work
of
government
in
a

meaningful
way.



“My
Open
Government
platform
represents
a
symbolic
shift
towards
freeing

ourselves
from
the
old,
opaque
politics
that
have
crippled
our
state’s
economy.

Together,
with
openness,
transparency,
and
efficiency,
we
can
forge
a
new
way

forward
for
Rhode
Island,”
Chafee
concluded.



Lincoln
Chafee,
former
Mayor
of
Warwick
and
former
US
Senator,
seeks
to
become

the
first
independent
Governor
in
Rhode
Island
history,
running
on
a
platform
of

honesty,
proven
experience,
and
political
independence.