Battle of the Bug
GSA's Federal Technology Service will help your agency fight the bug of the century, a.k.a. Y2K.

Intergovernmental Partnerships: Success Against the Odds
Many intergovernmental efforts involve technology for it is IT that allows agencies to share information and make programs and services "seamless" in the citizen's eyes, says Lora Engdahl, editor of The New Public Innovator.

Phoenix at Your Fingertips

"Hmmm, do I call the Education Programs Office or the Human Services Department?" Phoenix citizens looking for job training opportunities no longer have to flip a coin to answer that kind of question, or bounce from phone extension to phone extension. Using "Phoenix at Your Fingertips," a Web site organized with the end user, not the service provider, in mind, they can get the information they want fast. Plus, Phoenix's Geographic Information System combines geographic, census, infrastructure and zoning data in a common database. It replaces thousands of physical maps, covering 460 square miles of parcels, streets, sewer lines and other data, with a desktop application that can overlay one map with one or many others. Departments use the system for spatial analysis, as well as planning and decision support. The city is a leader in tailoring information to the needs of the end user. It is also linking technologies to provide both internal and external customers with better ways to measure performance and solve problems.

Everything You Need to Know About the Year 2000 Computer Challenge
Here's the U. S. Federal Government Gateway for Year 2000 Information Directories. This web site is a clearinghouse for information on the Year 2000 computer challenge. You'll find an array of information--directories, conferences, reports, articles, and best practices on this one-stop site sponsored by the Chief Information Officers Committee on Year 2000.

Bureau of Reclamation Gets Ready for the Y2K
Imagine that you are a power plant operator on duty in a major Bureau of Reclamation hydroelectric power plant around midnight on January 1, 2000. Because of record cold temperatures, you and others on duty get a request to increase power production. You try frantically, but you can't. If you can't find enough people to help you run the plant without the use of computers, you may end up with widespread brown-or black-outs. The problem is embedded in microchips that malfunctioned when the date could not roll over to the year 2000. And it's just this kind of problem--Y2K (short for Year 2000)--that Reclamation and the rest of government are working hard to avoid.

We're Looking for Stories
Federal workers are doing amazing things to deliver government services electronically. Access America Online Magazine wants to tell these stories.

We are looking for stories about federal agencies, or multi-agency partnerships, that are using information technology to create important opportunities and new methods for federal, state, and local governments to work together to improve citizen services.

These stories can be short, as in a "byte" of about 150 words, or they can be longer feature stories. Write feature stories in plain language with quotes from customers who experience the service electronically and quotes from federal employees and their partners who deliver the service.

Include a contact person with phone number and email address. Send your stories to pat.wood@npr.gov or pat.smith@gsa.gov. If you need more information, call Pat Wood, National Partnership for Reinventing Government, (202) 694-0063. Please pass this request along to others who may be interested.