Four major US e-government projects are being hindered by the inability of project managers to collaborate with their federal agency partners, according to official auditors. A critical US General Accounting Office report, published on 12 Nov 2003, warns that if the agencies keep failing to work together they will not meet e-government targets set by the White House.
The GAO's criticisms relate directly to the General Services Administration (GSA), the Interior Department (ID), the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the Small Business Administration (SBA).
The aim of the report was to establish how the agencies had used industry and academic best practice to allow cross organisation collaboration.
"In some cases, the practices were effectively used, whereas in other cases project managers did not take full advantage of them," says the report. "Without effective collaboration on the tasks that remain to be completed, these initiatives may be at risk of not fully achieving their objectives or the broader goals of the President's management agenda."
The report's specific recommendations for the various projects were:
- The ID's Geospatial One Stop project needs to establish formal agreements with partner agencies to clarify their relationships and develop a plan to reach more state and local organisations.
- The OPM was advised to adopt a collaborative process to ensure the development of government wide standards for its e-payroll initiative.
- The GSA must involve the chief financial officers of partner agencies in the decision making process if its Integrated Acquisition Environment project is to succeed.
- The SBA has the most work to do of the four agencies. It must define roles and responsibilities if it is to establish a collaborative management structure within its Business Gateway scheme.
Quelle: Kablenet, 14.11.2003
