Yesterday, the Des Moines Register published an op-ed calling for greater online access to government information. The op-ed is written by Jerry Brito, a research fellow at George Mason University's conservative-minded Mercatus Center (the former home of OIRA administrator Susan Dudley). Brito discusses a few new websites which allow the public to sort through government data more completely and more efficiently than ever before. One of those sites is the federal government's new contracts and grants database, USASpending.gov, which was modeled on OMB Watch's successful FedSpending.org website. Brito also mentions the need for online access to regulatory dockets. The crux of Brito's argument is that information is vital to democracy and that internet access and technological advances provide new opportunities for the public to be informed. Read the op-ed here: "Put More Government Data Online" (Des Moines Register).