On his first day in office, President Obama signed the Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government, declaring: “My administration is committed to creating an unprecedented level of openness in government. We will work together to ensure the public trust and establish a system of transparency, public participation, and collaboration.” With these words, the Obama administration challenged federal agencies to become more transparent, participatory, and collaborative. These three principles taken together form the foundation of the president’s Open Government Directive, issued in December 2009, requiring federal agencies to take immediate and specific steps to achieve its ends. “It has some core things that agencies are expected to do in order to meet its requirements and realize its vision,” says Dr. David McClure, associate administrator of the Office of Citizen Services and Innovative Technologies (OCSIT) at the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA). The success of such an initiative rests on a fundamental change in the culture and operations of federal agencies.