Electronic
government is one of the five key elements in the President's
Management and Performance Plan. The President's Budget outlined
how we will focus our e-Government initiatives on reforming the
Government so that it is citizen-centered. This memorandum describes
our plan to establish a task force to begin implementing the President's
initiative and asks for your assistance and support in these efforts.
Within our
organizations, staff already know of many potential opportunities
for using information technologies to improve the service we provide
to citizens. Our approach, modeled on the best practices of the
private sector, is to tap into that knowledge and use it to identify
applications of Internet technologies to reform the way our organizations
do business.
Because e-Government
is at the core of the President's management agenda, I recently
created the position in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
of Associate Director for Information Technology and e-Government
to lead the effort in achieving the President's e-government vision.
I have asked Mark Forman, the new Associate Director, to lead
an interagency task force to define an action plan and road map.
We ask your help in establishing this task force of knowledgeable
individuals to identify high payoff e-Government opportunities
and set in motion a transformation of government around customer
needs. The task force will identify priority actions to achieve
strategic improvements the following four areas of service:
- Service
to individuals: deploy easy to find one-stop shops for
citizens, including single points of easy entry to access high
quality government services;
- Service
to businesses: reduce burden on businesses by using Internet
protocols and consolidating the myriad of redundant reporting
requirements;
- Intergovernmental
affairs: make it easier for States to meet reporting requirements,
while enabling better performance measurement and results, especially
for grants; and
- Internal
efficiency and effectiveness: improve the performance and
reduce costs of Federal government administration by using e-business
best practices in areas such as supply chain management, financial
management, and knowledge management.
The task
force will operate as an interagency working group over a period
of five to six weeks, beginning later this month. I have asked
Mark Forman to act as the project executive for the task force
and report progress to me and an executive steering committee.
The task force will be successful only if it comprises individuals
knowledgeable in their agency programs and experienced in government
reform initiatives.
To assist
in this effort, I ask that you identify a senior e-Government
leader who reports directly to you, to work with Mark in establishing
the task force. Specific time commitments for individuals participating
from your Department or agency will be determined on the basis
of a discussion between your e-Government leader and Mark. Please
have your Department or agency provide names and contact information
for your e-Government leader to Mr. Alex Wilson (mailto:(wwilson@omb.eop.gov) at
202-395-3787. If you would like more detailed information, Mark
Forman can be reached at 202-395-1148.