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Creating an Electronic Government

Various initiatives started in early 1997 will enable anyone who wants to transact business with the government electronically to do so easily and quickly. NPR expects that by the end of FY 2000, nearly 40 million Americans will transact business with the government electronically. Emerging forms of information technology are vital tools in changing Americans’ experience with their government. On a regular basis, people will be able to access information to solve problems themselves through the Internet, via telephones, and through neighborhood kiosks. It’s all about putting citizens "online" rather than "in line."

On December 17, 1999, President Clinton issued a Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies on the subject of electronic government ("e-gov"). It says, in part, "While government agencies have created ‘one-stop shopping’ access to information on their agency web sites, these efforts have not uniformly been as helpful as they could be to the average citizen…there has not been sufficient effort to provide government information by category of information and service - rather than by agency - in a way that meets people’s needs."

The memorandum directs all agency heads to make available online, by December 2000, the forms needed for the top 500 government services used by the public. By October 2003, all transactions with the federal government should be available online for online processing of services.

April 2000