Rewarding Information Innovation

THE DAILY FED

Rewarding Information Innovation

Each year the Government Information Technology Services Board awards seed money from its Information Technology Innovation Fund for projects that benefit multiple agencies, provide for better delivery of service to the public and become self-sustaining within two years. Past projects funded by the committee include the Alaska Regional Telecommunications Network, the U.S. Business Advisor, and the effort to develop a more user-friendly "blue pages" listings of federal services in phone books.

The interagency committee that administers the innovation fund works like a private-sector venture capital firm, providing start-up funding to fledging projects. After two years the projects are expected to pay the committee back, much like a venture capital firm would get a percentage of the profits from the businesses it helps launch.

Proposals considered by the committee must be governmentwide in scope and must provide better service to taxpayers by improving dissemination of information or speeding up time-consuming processes.

The innovation fund, which was created with funds from the FTS 2000 long-distance telecommunications program, was created in 1995. The committee expects the fund to contain at least $8 million in fiscal 1997.

Proposals for this year's awards must be sent to the committee by January 17, 1997. Winners will be selected in March.

More information is available at the Government Information Technology Services Board Web site.