For the first time in American history, a President is seeking to utilize the latest in communication technologies to directly connect the government with its people. On December 8th, a memorandum went out to executive departments and agencies, informing them of the specific steps required by the Open Government Directive (OGD).
What is the Open Government Directive?
Based on transparency, participation and collaboration, the OGD is meant to put an end to a culture of secrecy that has dominated Capital Hill. The Directive requires executive departments and agencies to open their data records to the public, improve the quality of that data, and encourage public engagement with policy-makers. One example is the IT Dashboard, an interactive graph that shows federal IT spending. The December 8th memorandum requires specific outcomes after 45, 60, 90 and 120 days. 120 days to establish a culture of openness and accountability is an aggressive timeline, made possible with the help of Open Source platforms like Drupal.
Open Government, Open Source and Drupal
On a technical level, Open Source and Open Government not only sound good together, they work well together. Open Source platforms like Drupal allow developers and government agencies to share code with one another, enabling faster site builds and easier interfacing between sites. And now that agency spending will be posted online, Open Source platforms could offer a more affordable option.
Drupal is an excellent tool to be utilized for government use. First, it is easy to use - so content editors do not need to know programming languages, though HTML is helpful. Government officials themselves can enter content, increasing transparency between the government and the public. Second, Drupal is fully extensible via PHP. Programmers could do any necessary customizations without having to re-invent the wheel (so to speak).
Government development in Drupal could also help the Drupal.org community as new modules are contributed, based on customizations required by different federal departments.
New York State Senate
The New York State Senate is one example of Drupal applied in an Open Government context. 
Each Senator has their own page that lists blog entries, latest news, television appearances, reports and events related to the Senator and their initiatives. The nysenate.gov/open web page gives users the ability to browse legislative information, session and floor calendar. Users can also search for their Senator by typing their zip code into a field in the left column of the site. Easy navigation and a clean design also promote openness and help users quickly find the information they seek.
All in all, Drupal and Open Government go hand in hand. With the help of Open Source technology, an Open Government is within reach.
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