Archive

REINVENTION EXPRESS

Below--Wonderful Web Sites

* GovExec Names "Best Feds on the Web"
* USAToday Says Consumer.Gov Is Hot
* Yahoo Magazine Cites FedStats and Postal Service Web Pages
* Protect Your Privacy on New FTC Web Page
* Vice President Gore Announces New Web Site for Federal Communicators

GovExec Names "Best Feds on the Web"
GovExec.com, the web site of Government Executive Magazine, named 15 "user friendly" government Web sites on May 1 as "Best Feds on the Web."

GovExec selected sites that provide excellent customer service by means of a good design and useful information, use the Web to improve business practices, and make use of new technologies that other federal sites should consider using.

The sites selected are on their way to achieving Vice President Gore's vision in his 1997 report, Access America. "The kind of government we'll have as we begin the next century," the Vice President said, "will be a government where all Americans have the opportunity to get services electronically and where, aided by technology, the productivity of government operations will be soaring." Two Reinvention Labs are in the Best Fed list. About half represent High Impact Agencies, that is, agencies that touch large numbers of Americans. Congratulations to:

• Army and Air Force Exchange Service-Highly developed electronic commerce site that's like "a department store." www.aafes.com

• GulfLINK-Easy-to-navigate site helps veterans concerned about Gulf War illness. www.gulflink.osd.mil

• National Highway Traffic Safety Administration-Enticing graphics, comprehensive information, and a recall database. www.nhtsa.dot.gov/

• Medicare* Great Medicare Compare feature. www.medicare.gov

• IT Policy On-Ramp-Everything a federal IT professional needs to survive. www.ITPolicy.gsa.gov

• Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (Reinvention Lab)-Everything travelers need to know to bring animals and plants (but not pests) into the country. www.aphis.usda.gov/

• Air Force Link-"Cream of the military crop," according to GovExec. www.af.mil

• Free Application for Federal Student Aid-Students can submit a federal financial aid form online. www.fafsa.ed.gov

• Federal Emergency Management Agency-Fast, timely information about natural disasters-past, present, and pending*and how to get help. www.fema.gov

• Department of Housing and Urban Development-New messages daily for customers, plus features like a mortgage calculator. www.hud.gov

• NASA-More information for students and teachers than any other federal agency. www.nasa.gov

• GSA Advantage-"Compares favorably to some of the best private sector online shopping sites," according to GovExec. www.gsa.gov/advantage

• Recreation-Interagency partnership, Reinvention Lab, and Hammer Award winner offers one-stop resource for information about recreation on federal lands. The partnering agencies are the Army Corps of Engineers, the Bureau of Land Management, the Bureau of Reclamation, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Forest Service, and the National Park Service. www.recreation.gov

• IRS-Download any IRS tax form or publication.
  www.irs.ustreas.gov

• GPO Access-The Government Printing Office offers free electronic access to a wealth of important government information. www.gpo.gov

USAToday Says Consumer.Gov Is Hot
USAToday named www.consumer.gov as one of its "Hot Sites" for the day on May 18. "With a phone directory of federal services, scam warnings and info on product recalls, the U.S. Consumer Gateway would be worth multiple visits," USAToday said. "Now the site also includes a useful guide on how we can help maintain our privacy in an increasingly prying world. Learn how to deal with credit bureaus, motor vehicle agencies and direct marketers."

Yahoo Magazine Cites FedStats and Postal Service Web Pages
The June issue of Yahoo Magazine includes FedStats and several US Postal Service Web pages among the "50 Most Incredibly Useful Sites." FedStats (www.fedstats.gov) has statistics from 70 federal agencies. The Interagency Council on Statistical Policy developed this Hammer Award-winning gateway site. Yahoo applauded the Postal Service (www.usps.gov) for tracking express packages, ZIP+4 Code Lookup, ZipFind, and MoversNet (helps movers change their address and notify others of the change).

Protect Your Privacy on New FTC Web Page
The Federal Trade Commission has opened a new web page that tells you how to stop credit bureaus, direct marketers, and departments of motor vehicles from sharing your personal information with others. This gem of a page even has sample "opt-out" letters. Visit www.ftc.gov/privacy/.

Vice President Gore Announces New Web site for Federal Communicators
This month Vice President Gore announced a new web site for federal communicators. The site, www.fcn.gov, is the homepage of the Federal Communicators Network. The Vice President asked the National Partnership for Reinventing Government to organize the network in 1996 to help bring reinvention information to front-line federal workers and "create an environment for reinvention to flourish." FCN has almost 600 members from over the country.

FCN members*in partnership with NPR, the U.S. Treasury Department, the Central Intelligence Agency, and Government Executive Magazine* developed the site. The site includes back issues of the FCN newsletter, members' reports of conferences, a forum for members to exchange information, and an online membership application form. Membership is free and open to government writers, editors, public affairs specialists, trainers, webmasters, and others who communicate with federal workers, including representatives of private sector organizations. Contact Gina Pearson at gina.pearson@npr.gov or (202) 694-0036.

National Partnership for Reinventing Government, 750-17th St., NW, Washington, DC 20006. The Express is on the Internet at www.npr.gov. Click on "News Room." To subscribe by e-mail, send a message to Listproc@lucky.fed.gov. Put this message: SUBSCRIBE EXPRESS-L FIRSTNAME LASTNAME (no period). Send reinvention stories to pat.wood@npr.gov or fax to (202) 362-0390.