Dot Gov or Dot Org? The Battle of the Public/Private Recovery Sites Happens Today
BY Nancy Scola | Tuesday, May 5 2009

There's an interesting head-to-head happening in Congress today that will once and for all settle the question of whether Washington should leave complex technical projects to those outside of government with the resources, experience, and super ninja skills often lacked in DC. Okay, perhaps that's overstating things. But this afternoon's House Science Committee hearing on "Government and Public Resources for Recovery Act Oversight" should shine some light on the competition between Recovery.gov and Recovery.org, both of which aim to track more than $700 billion in stimulus spending. Testifying on behalf of the public project is Recovery and Transparency Board chair Earl Devaney. And in the company-run site's corner is Onvia VP Eric Gillespie. The Recovery.org team argues that the bureaucrats simply can't handle the job of top-to-bottom, granular oversight of recovery contracts. Devaney and his team say, well...you know, that they can.
Tune in for the death match informational congressional hearing on a matter of considerable public importance (2pm EST).