A flagship initiative is a large project. All departments and agencies that were required to have an Open Government Plan also need to have one flagship initiative for the first version their Open Government Plans. We are all working on our second versions, which will also include at least one flagship per department or agency.
For our first flagship initiative, we are implementing collaboration and knowledge management technologies at OPM. Examples of these technologies include e-libraries, document management tools, collaboration tools, and Web 2.0 technologies. The tools will be accessible virtually by OPM employees wherever they may be working as well as by agencies and the public. These technologies will support a learning culture that will continuously build employees’ knowledge, enable better management of workforce talent, and provide sustainable knowledge documentation, sharing, and collaboration for the public, other agencies, and our own employees.
For our second flagship initiative, we are centralizing our call centers and help desks. Our expectation is to provide seamless, accurate, and timely customer service through a logical, tiered approach. We will make it easier for members of the public to get answers from OPM quickly. Centralizing call centers and help desks will also encourage employees to work together and speak in one voice, and it will produce cost savings over the medium and long terms by reducing duplication of operational functions.
You can read more about our first flagship initiative in version 1 and about our second flagship in version 2 of our Open Government Plan.