GOVERNMENT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Office of Unified Communications

PUBLIC SAFETY
PUBLIC SERVICE

Open Government Report 2014
To institutionalize a culture of transparent and open government, accountability, and to expand
opportunities for resident participation and collaboration, this Report describes how the Office of
Unified Communications (OUC) has and will continue to develop and enhance transparency,
public participation, and collaboration. In accordance with Mayor’s Order 2014-170, this report
addresses the following topics:

Transparency
Government should be transparent. Transparency promotes accountability and provides
information for citizens about what their government is doing. Information maintained by the
OUC belongs to the people of the District of Columbia. OUC will take appropriate action,
consistent with law, policy and the Mayor’s directive on open government, to disclose
information rapidly in forms that the public can readily find and use. OUC will harness new
technologies to put information about how this agency operates and how decisions are made
online. OUC will also continue to solicit public feedback to identify information of the greatest
use to the public.

Public Engagement and Participation
Public engagement enhances the OUC’s effectiveness and improves the quality of its decisions.
Knowledge is widely dispersed in society, and public officials benefit from having access to that
dispersed knowledge. OUC offers the public many opportunities to interface and share thoughts
on how the agency can better serve the residents of the District of Columbia. OUC maintains a
robust community engagement calendar. OUC partners with the DC Office on Aging to bring
Smart 911 to District Seniors. OUC has worked tirelessly to provide new avenues to reach
seniors, often bringing onsite registration to the senior facilities. OUC also utilizes the Grade DC
platform, where citizens can provide online feedback on their experiences with both 311 and
911. (www.grade.dc.gov) Our 311 call takers solicit feedback from citizens and we actively
contact citizens to troubleshoot and resolve concerns.
OUC currently has 3,280 Twitter followers (@311DCgov). The agency has garnered positive
feedback, adding another real-time reporting avenue for citizens with city service issues and
concerns.
In FY14, OUC was one of the few District government agencies to score 12 out of 12 on the
Language Access Compliance Scorecard. This was a direct result of our increased community
Unified Communications Center

2720 Martin Luther King, Jr. Ave, SE Washington, D.C. 20032
www.ouc.dc.gov

GOVERNMENT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Office of Unified Communications

PUBLIC SAFETY
PUBLIC SERVICE

outreach schedule, and also because of our vital documents were not only translated for our
agency web site, but also were printed and made available during our outreach efforts. OUC
recently trained representatives at the Office of Latino Affairs on Smart911 registration so that
they can assist in bringing this important OUC initiative to the Hispanic population in the
District of Columbia.
OUC hosted 23 Operations tours as the agency continues to be on the cutting edge of call center
technology. The Agency hosted tours for public safety dignitaries from South Korea, China,
Australia, Ireland, as well as local community groups.

Collaboration
Collaboration actively engages residents in the work of their District government. OUC works
collaboratively with the Metropolitan Police Department, the Fire and Emergency Medical
Services Department, the DC Office on Aging, the Department of Parks and Recreation, the
Office of the Chief Technology Officer, the Office of Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs, and the
DC Senior Foster Care Program to engage the public and to solicit public feedback to assess and
improve the services we provide to the public. OUC has used these partnerships to sign up
nearly 500 District seniors for Smart911 and to provide information to more than 2000 people at
18 separate events.

Unified Communications Center

2720 Martin Luther King, Jr. Ave, SE Washington, D.C. 20032
www.ouc.dc.gov

Unified Communications Center

2720 Martin Luther King, Jr. Ave, SE Washington, D.C. 20032
www.ouc.dc.gov