December
17, 1999
VICE PRESIDENT
GORE ANNOUNCES EFFORTS TO EXPAND AND IMPROVE ON-LINE SERVICES
Encourages
Federal-Private Partnerships to Make Government Services More
Accessible
THE
WHITE HOUSE
|
Office of the Vice President
|
For
Immediate Release |
Contact:
|
Friday,
December 17, 1999 |
202-456-7035
|
Washington,
D.C. -- Vice President Gore announced today two bold new initiatives
to expand the benefits of the digital age to all Americans.
Specifically,
the Vice President announced the signing of two new executive
memorandums. The first, the "E-Government Directive", calls
on federal agencies to use technology to ensure that governmental
services and information are easily accessible to the American
people. The second, the "E-Society Directive", calls on federal
agencies to use information technology to help enrich the
education and lives of all our citizens. Under both directives,
federal agencies will work cooperatively with the private
sector.
The
Vice President also released Towards Digital eQuality, the
Second Annual Report of the Electronic Commerce Working Group,
which details the Administration's accomplishments over the
past year promoting electronic commerce and sets a vision
for the future. Highlights include steps taken to protect
consumer rights and privacy online, facilitate the growth
of the Internet, and bring the benefits of electronic commerce
to more people. Today's report may be found at www.ecommerce.gov.
The
growth of electronic commerce has outpaced even the most optimistic
predictions and is now expected to exceed $1.4 trillion by
the year 2003. During this holiday season alone, shoppers
are expected to spend about $6 billion online.
The new initiatives announced today, however, take us beyond
the commercial aspects of electronic commerce and challenge
us to use technology to better society through improved health
care, education, emergency response, protecting our cultural
treasures, and improving government services and accountability
to citizens.
"This
Administration has been committed to promoting electronic
commerce, helping open the door to those with good ideas and
an Internet connection," said Vice President Gore. "But in
order to meet the full potential of this new medium, we must
continue to look ahead and develop new ways to promote 21st
century commerce."
These two new initiatives, together with the directive announced
last week on closing the digital divide, will be a central
part of the Administration's agenda on electronic commerce
for the upcoming year. The agenda will challenge both government
and the private sector to find new ways to bring the promise
of the Internet to all and move America towards digital equality.
Each
initiative "moves us beyond the world of bits and bytes and
into the fabric of our society," Vice President Gore said.
"As we enter the new millennium, we must use technology to
unleash the full benefits of the digital age for all our citizens."
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