GSA official sees electronic future

The future of government, according to G. Martin Wagner, is electronic.

Wagner, associate administrator for the General Services Administration's office of governmentwide policy, told participants at the E-Gov 98 conference in Washington on Tuesday that public servants should use technology to make it easier for citizens to work with the government.

"An awful lot of people don't understand how the government works," Wagner said. "They don't know what an assistant to the assistant of the assistant secretary does."

Nor should they have to, Wagner said. As the kickoff speaker for the electronic government conference, he predicted that in 10 to 12 years, people will be able to do business with any government agency 24 hours a day, seven days a week, from one place.

"You won't have to be an expert in government plumbing," Wagner said.

The idea of electronic government is not new. In 1993, the National Performance Review suggested agencies use the Internet and other technologies to offer better service to citizens, including single points of access to all government services. NPR also suggested ways technology could be used to improve the business of government, including its procurement practices.

Since 1993, agencies have developed numerous electronic initiatives. The IRS allows people to download tax forms from its Web site, the Department of Housing and Urban Development has created touch-screen kiosks for people to get housing information and the Defense Logistics Agency and the General Services Administration have created electronic malls for federal shoppers.

But Wagner said that most of the advances in electronic government are yet to come. By 2010, he predicted, Americans will have easy access to the vast array of information that the federal government maintains. People will also be able to conduct government business when and where it is convenient for them, not just when government offices are open.

Security and privacy issues are stumbling blocks to reaching his vision, Wagner said. The government has to figure out how to balance the need to authenticate people's identities with Americans' desire to prevent "Big Brother" from encroaching on their privacy.

Agencies also have to be willing to experiment with new technologies, Wagner said.

"We're going to get there through trying and doing and learning and making mistakes," he said. "There will be mistakes, but you have to make sure your mistakes are affordable."