E-gov efforts growing, but lack vision, says GAO chief

Electronic government efforts will account for 40 percent of all federal capital investments by 2004, but poor planning and a lack of vision are hampering such efforts, Comptroller General David Walker said Wednesday. E-gov spending is expected to rise from about $2 billion in 2001 to $6.25 billion in 2005. Despite all the money being spent, the federal government's e-gov future appears troubled, Walker said at the E-Gov 2001 conference in Washington. Walker said agencies could have trouble meeting the requirements of the 1998 Government Paperwork Elimination Act (GPEA), the main legislative driver behind the e-gov movement. GPEA requires agencies to put their most important forms and processes online by 2003. Meeting this deadline is a formidable challenge, largely because many e-gov initiatives do not seem to be well thought out, Walker said. Walker cited agencies' plans for GPEA compliance that were delivered to the Office of Management and Budget in October to prove his point. These plans were just lists of activities, he said, rather than coherent e-gov strategies with visions of desired outcomes and results. "We have a long way to go," he said. According to Walker, five factors are key to the success of e-gov initiatives:

• Agency officials must adhere to disciplined management practices.
• Each initiative should fit within an agency's technical architecture and infrastructure with an eye toward helping the government operate as a single entity.
• Secure computing environments are essential, because the public demands that personal data be safeguarded.
• Agencies must pay attention to managing the new crush of electronic records as they move online.
• E-gov initiatives require workers skilled not only in security, but network management and Web development.