GPO Rebrands Itself for the Digital Era

The 154-year-old Government Printing Office has gone the way of linotype, at least in name. Included in the massive governmentwide spending bill signed by President Obama Tuesday night is a provision to change the name of the agency to the Government Publishing Office.

It’s a concession to the digital era long sought by agency CEO Davita Vance-Cooks, now director of the Government Publishing Office.

The bipartisan bill was sponsored by Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., but its passage capped a push from the agency itself to reflect a new era of apps, eBooks and the agency’s Federal Digital System.

“This is a historic day for GPO,” Vance-Cooks said in a statement Wednesday. “Publishing defines a broad range of services that includes print, digital, and future technological advancements. The name Government Publishing Office better reflects the services that GPO currently provides and will provide in the future.”

The last such edit of an agency name was the 2004 switch from the eight-decades-old General Accounting Office to the Government Accountability Office, an update that also preserved the long-standing initials.