The change has improved transparency from the perspective that previously you had to wait seven or eight months after the fiscal year to have this information. This is recognized by the PBO.
It's one step, one initiative, but you're quite right that there's a lot of work left to be done. InfoBase, which is a tool for citizens and for parliamentarians to get more timely information about government activity and expenditures, is helpful. We want to improve it in terms of its user-friendliness, and we want to expand it in terms of what it actually covers.
I have to tell you, there are other countries.... I look at Performance.gov, the website that was established under the Obama administration. You can go through departments and agencies, and they are graded and rated on whether or not they are meeting their objectives. There are clear objectives for each department and agency, and citizens and legislators in the U.S. can easily hold departments and agencies to account. That creates an alignment between people on the political side, the citizenry, and the public service to get it done and to ensure that we meet our objectives.
Our results policy, which was launched last July, is something that is already making a difference in terms of departments and agencies defining what they do, why they're doing it, and how well they're doing in terms of the results and metrics. We're in the early stages of this, but we want to do a lot more. This committee can be an important partner as we move forward, and I look forward to returning as we strengthen this reportage.