Cabinet-level departments and large agencies plan to launch online discussion forums by Feb. 6 using IdeaScale software.

The deal was announced Tuesday by the General Services Administration, which arranged it. Access to the forum technology will be free to agencies.

President Obama ordered agencies to create online forums by Feb. 6 to solicit the public's opinions on what information the government should make more publicly accessible as part of his Open Government initiative.

A GSA spokeswoman said the agency decided upon using IdeaScale after comparing no-cost dialogue tools. Ideascale won out because it provided features, such as allowing citizens to submit their own ideas as well as voting on others' ideas, and because it already had a proven track record at the White House and the Federal Communications Commission. Twenty-one agencies — including all Cabinet-level departments and most of the largest non-Cabinet level agencies — have signed up so far to use the tool, said David McClure, GSA's associate administrator for the Office of Citizen Services and Communications.

Using the same technology at many agencies is ideal, McClure said, because then citizens can participate in multiple forums without having to relearn how to use the forums for each agency.

GSA will initially provide the back-end support for the software, such as technical assistance and training, leaving agency administrators more time to run and moderate the online dialogue, McClure said. If agencies wish to continue using the forums to discuss other topics besides Open Government, they can, but they must take over those back-end support duties, McClure said.

"We view this as the beginning salvo of the public dialogues agencies will conduct on a regular basis," McClure said.