Breaking Down Barriers

Office of Personnel Management

aunched in July 2002 by the Office of Personnel Management as part of the E-Training Initiative, GoLearn provides federal workers with access to training courses on a single Web site.

Easy to navigate, the site is designed as a virtual campus, offering both free and for-fee courses. Employees can brush up their customer service skills, learn about computer security, polish their business writing or take nearly 40 other courses.

Designed to unify, simplify and reduce redundant e-learning investments across government, GoLearn has cut costs by $15 million in its first year, according to OPM estimates. It also has given more than 100,000 government employees access to training tools.

Forty-one government agencies are hooked into the system, with another 27 on the way, says project manager Mike Fitzgerald.

Unlike classroom training, the E-training Initiative allows agencies "to develop their staffs 24-7, 365 days a year," Fitzgerald says. And the training has been popular. In its first year in operation, employees finished more than 50,000 courses.

-Shawn Zeller

WHY IT WON

Unified online training for government employees on one Web site.

WHY IT'S INNOVATIVE

Allows employees to train on the job, without ever having to leave their desks.

WHAT DIFFERENCE IT HAS MADE

Cut training costs, while making it easier for employees to access training opportunities.

Defense Department

anaging procurement of goods and services for the Defense Department's four services and 13 agencies once required using more than 80 different information technology systems. Today, that number is being reduced dramatically due in large part to a single department-wide application known as the Standard Procurement System.

SPS is an operating system and software package that allows contracting officials to manage all aspects of a procurement, from developing requirements to selecting a vendor, on a single information network. Army Brig. Gen. Edward Harrington, director of the Defense Contract Management Agency, says, "SPS is not only a cornerstone in the Department of Defense's end-to-end procurement process, but also is an example for departmentwide business systems that are developing across the federal government."

Already, about 23,000 Defense procurement professionals use the Standard Procurement System at more than 350 sites. That number is expected to grow to about 43,000 users, the entire contracting workforce, at more than 900 locations. In fiscal 2002, SPS processed 420,000 contract actions worth well over $44 billion.

-George Cahlink

WHY IT WON

Established Defense's first departmentwide business system.

WHY IT'S INNOVATIVE

Created a single, central information system for managing a wide variety of procurement actions.

WHAT DIFFERENCE IT HAS MADE

Replaced more than 80 different procurement systems with a single one, saving time and money.