The objectives of the E-Government initiatives are not all that different from the goals first envisioned back in the Information Highway days. The E-Government program as currently conceived was initiated in July 2001 with the intent of using information technology to "eliminate billions of dollars of wasteful federal spending, reduce government's paperwork burden on citizens and businesses, and improve government response time to citizens." Sounds great, but to many of us who have been around, it sounds like much of the same.
This time, however, things are looking a bit different. The funding for these initiatives and the administration's backing of them are real and ongoing. This is especially noteworthy when considered alongside the spending and management focus afforded IT spending on homeland security and defense. A status report, released in April, provides a list of the milestones achieved to date as well as future objectives. Just as Steve Cooper is driving many IT changes in his role as CIO of the Department of Homeland Security, Mark Forman is out front in addressing IT efficiencies in government as part of his role as Associate Director of the Office of Management and Budget.
Some of the projects are targeted at citizens (GovBenefits.gov; Recreation.gov; Volunteer.gov), others at businesses (Business.USA.gov; Regulations.gov), and still others at government users (DisasterHelp.gov; vital records sharing). Another group of projects addresses internal government operations (consolidating federal payroll, travel management, and clearance programs).
One of the more prominent initiatives is the FirstGov portal. This portal is meant to serve as the official U.S. gateway to all government information. Currently, it provides access to more than 180 million pages of government information in more than 22,000 federal and state web sites. Originally introduced in 2000, the site was relaunched in 2002 and recently went through its third major upgrade.
The strategy as outlined by the administration calls for increased use of industry best practices and components. The GSA recently awarded a $525,000 contract to Vignette Corp. for software to manage content within the FirstGov portal. Half a million dollars is not a lot of money, especially in government contracting, but the visibility of the portal plus its role as touch point for a host of other federal, state, and local sites, makes it a project worth watching. (And Vignette is a company worth a second look, especially in light of its Epicentric purchase.)
Most people who pay attention to government spending know how the game is played. For every action aimed at reducing costs and eliminating waste, there is another action (driven by elected representatives) that begins another program and awards another contract. But this time may be different. There may be enough energy (and backbone) behind these initiatives to come close to their promised goals. But even if the goals are not completely met, the effort to bring a bunch of legacy operations out of the back-closet and into the light "the attempt to make them enterprise-worthy" is highly welcome indeed.
Quelle: Always on
