President Obama released the Open Government Directive to encourage participation and collaboration while developing a more transparent government.

The Open Government Directive required all federal government agencies to receive public feedback and integrate advice and ideas from average citizens. The Directive was designed to make government think more strategically and function more efficiently while improving the overall availability and accuracy of information.

The first version of the Dashboard tracks agency progress on the deliverables set out in the Directive and links to each agency’s Open Government Webpage. You can see a full timeline of Directive milestones and deadlines here.

The U.S. General Services Administration has provided the technology, powered by IdeaScale under a free citizen engagement license, to make it easier for you to interact with each federal agency.

The Agency Contact Information for IdeaScale is a list of all agencies and their contact information. Ideas and comments submitted via email, phone, or other means will be posted on the agency’s website by moderators which will allow others to comment and vote on these ideas.

Americans are also encouraged to use social networking tools like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

By now you’ve heard that Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, was hit by a magnitude-7 earthquake on Tuesday. The Creole- and French-speaking Caribbean country was still struggling to recover from the 2008 catastrophic storms when disaster unexpectedly struck again.

Many schools, hospitals and other buildings collapsed and now fires are spreading quickly with no water to contain the flames. The numerous deaths and destruction have only contributed more suffering to an already impoverished nation. Haiti needs immediate aid and will continue to need aid to rebuild.

The support of the online community has been overwhelming between people using Twitter and  Facebook to share information on ways to help and ways to donate and the U.S. Department of State’s use of their blog and Twitter to provide updates and attempt to reunite families.  Organizations like the Red Cross and musician Wyclef Jean’s nonprofit Yele acted quickly by accepting donations through cell phone text messages.  Rescue teams from the D.C. metro area,  in particular Fairfax County,VA and Prince George’s County, MD, united with other organizations from across the country to support our brothers and sisters in Haiti during this time of need.

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Mother Nature Network created a beautiful slideshow of America’s national parks. The amazing natural beauty and impressive preservation is an asset most communities would love to have. As America’s economy continues to struggle, attracting tourism could be as simple as touting nature’s artwork.

The list includes:

• Yellowstone National Park
• Carlsbad Caverns National Park
• Everglades National Park
• Grand Canyon National Park
• Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
• Mammoth Cave National Park
• Mesa Verde National Park
• Olympic National Park
• Great Smoky Mountains National Park
• Yosemite National Park
• Glacier Bay National Park
• Redwood National Park
• Crater Lake National Park
• Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve
• Congaree National Park