Cheney Unveils E-Government Plan

The Bush administration also released a plan to improve its online services and better coordinate how it spends the $52 billion earmarked for high-tech efforts next year.

The redesigned site, http://www.firstgov.gov, ropes together 35 million federal Web pages, along with state and local government sites, to provide a wide array of services and information.

Citizens can apply for jobs or student loans, renew drivers licenses, and buy stamps through the site. Businesses can check laws and regulations, file patents and trademarks, and look into contracting opportunities.

The new site should cut down on red tape, Cheney said, making government interactions easier and more convenient.

"It's an attempt to remedy one of government's oldest problems: the slow, confusing way it responds to the public," he said.

The old FirstGov site, launched in September 2000, relied on a search engine to guide visitors. But that approach was often unhelpful, as a keyword search could often swamp visitors with information, said Mark Forman, who has overseen federal "e-government" efforts since last June.

For example, a search for the word "volunteer" yielded over 1,000 results, he said.

The new site organizes information in a way that often allows visitors to find what they're looking for with just three mouse clicks, he said.

The redesign of the Web site highlighted the government's online shortcomings, Forman said. Many agencies duplicate each other's efforts, resulting in confusion for those seeking government service, he said.

"FirstGov made clear that government needed to rethink its service approach," he said.

Forman released a plan that aims to improve services while cutting costs by billions of dollars by coordinating 24 high-tech efforts across government agencies in the next two years.

For example, the Interior Department has already taken charge of the Recreation.gov Web site, which provides information on parks and recreation areas, while the Labor Department would oversee the online tool that allows citizens to determine if they are eligible for various government benefits.

Administrative functions currently handled by each agency separately would be consolidated as well. All federal agencies would use a single travel-management system, while payroll and human-resources efforts would be coordinated more closely.

REUTERS

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