As federal agencies tighten their belts, they’ll be questioning the value of citizen participation initiatives under the Obama Open Government Initiative. Do they lead to better results or reduced costs?

With budget crunches for the foreseeable future, GSA Administrator Martha Johnson says “Tough budgets should trigger innovation, not fear.” And for many government leaders, innovation means transformation of their work and their agencies. The IBM Center has released a leader’s playbook for guiding transformation.

GSA will be offering a 12-week social media training course for government employees starting February 7.

Forty years ago, Congress passed a law to make government agencies more accountable and transparent in how they sought advice from industry and the public. It was called the Federal Advisory Committee Act. But over the years, the way the law was implemented led to less citizen involvement and reluctance by agencies from seeking advice.