New
E-Government Strategy is Roadmap to Better Service
24 New Initiatives Help Millions Who Access the Government Online
Washington,
DC -- The Office of Management and Budget released today the E-Government
Strategy, an action plan for implementing the President’s management
initiative of expanding Electronic Government to make it easy for citizens
and businesses interact with the government, save taxpayer dollars and
streamline business to government transactions. The 24 E-Government initiatives,
detailed within the strategy, are designed to improve the efficiency and
effectiveness of the federal government’s transactions through the
use of improved technology. These E-Government initiatives will eliminate
redundant systems, and significantly improve the government’s quality
of service for citizens and businesses.
Office of
Management and Budget Director, Mitch Daniels, explained, "One of the
President’s five management initiatives is to apply the tools of
E-Business to create ‘E-Government’: to make it much easier
for citizens to work with their government, to pay their taxes, to book
a trip to a national park, to apply for grants or even to learn if they're
eligible in the first place, and much more. This is what the President
meant by ‘citizen-centered’ government."
The initiatives
streamline service delivery to citizens, reduce paperwork burdens on businesses,
and apply the best commercial practices to improve government operating
efficiency. These projects have the potential to generate several billion
dollars in savings by reducing operating inefficiencies, redundant spending
and excessive paperwork. Federal information technology (IT) spending
in the United States will exceed $48 billion in 2002 and $52 billion in
2003. This level of spending provides enormous opportunities for the federal
government to become citizen-centered through the use of E-Government.
Examples of the 24 E-Government initiatives include:
E-Grants:
Creates a single grant portal to simplify the application process
and increase awareness of grant opportunities resulting in a reduction
of time spent preparing and searching for grants. It will save $1
billion in federal funds currently devoted to the administration of
grants.
Disaster
Assistance and Crisis Response: Creates a one-stop portal with
information applicable to public and private organizations involved
in disaster preparedness and response. Accurate and timely data may
result in saved lives and reduction of property damage, as well as
saving millions of dollars by eliminating redundant programs and agency
costs.
EZ
Tax Filing: Creates an easy and free method for citizens to file
simple tax forms online, which reduces data errors, enabling refund
checks to be delivered sooner. Online security will be increased and
customer service will be improved.
The
E-Government Strategy can be found on OMB’s Website at: