Mark Forman, who has served as the Administration's top e-government and information technology official for the past couple of years, will head the new office.
The administration set out an e-government strategy in February 2002. Its goal is to cut through the bureaucracy to make it easier for citizens to apply for benefits and obtain information from federal agencies, while at the same time saving the government money by cutting back on paperwork.
In the past year, the federal government launched "Regulation.gov'', a one-stop shop for citizens to find information on government regulations that affect them or their businesses. In the past, the information had to be obtained by searching paper copies of the Federal Register or going to individual agency Web sites.
A key initiative under the strategy was promoting free online tax filing. A final count for this tax season wasn't yet available, but Forman said the government surpassed its 2.4 million goal last week.
The Office of Electronic Government outlines its 2003 strategy in a document to be released today.
Besides making the government more accessible online, another key initiative is to better coordinate and oversee the money federal agencies are spending on information technology.
"We're not going to be stupid in the way we spend'' money on IT, Forman said in an interview. "If we're going to spend more, it's going to be spent smarter and give us better results.''
One goal for the 2004 fiscal year is to negotiate government-wide software licenses, generating at least $100 million in savings. Another is to reduce redundant IT spending.
Quelle: San Jose Mercury News
