Government Technology Leadership Awards Access to Information

GovBenefits.gov
Labor Department

GovBenefits.gov, a new Web site that is one of the Bush administration's 24 key e-government projects, is a first step in solving the problem. People can log on to the site (www.govbenefits.gov), enter some basic information about themselves, and learn about the federal benefits they are eligible to receive. The Labor Department, the lead agency on the project, had gathered 110 programs from 11 agencies on the site as of September, with tens of programs joining every month. The site is a model of interagency cooperation, eliminating the need for citizens to go hunting around the vast federal bureaucracy for aid.

"GovBenefits.gov was the first of the e-government projects to get out of the box, to be made available to the public," says Ed Hugler, the Labor Department's deputy assistant secretary for administration and management, and GovBenefits.gov project leader.

-Brian Friel

WHY IT'S INNOVATIVE
Wasn't daunted by agencies' information stovepipes, and took less than 100 days to get up and running.

WHAT IT CHANGED
Citizens don't have to be clairvoyant to find basic benefits information.

National Water Information System Web
U.S. Geological Survey

o one could fault the U.S. Geological Survey for not having enough data. The agency just had no single place to put it.

USGS, the nation's official collector of environmental information, archives more than 100 years of data about how much water flows through streams and rivers in every state and how clean that water is. Consumers of the information once had to cull through records manually, sifting and cross-tabulating charts and measurements to conduct research. Now, the online National Water Information System Web does the work for them, and can combine historical data on any waterway to show how its conditions are changing over time.

So who uses such detailed particulars about creeks and rivers? Civil engineers designing hydroelectric power plants, river tour guides looking for prime kayaking conditions and residents of flood-prone areas who need to know when to flee rising waters depend upon the site daily, says Robert Hirsch, USGS associate director for water. And if the water Web goes down for even a few hours, the users start ringing USGS' phones. They've grown so dependent on the site, in fact, that the agency now has to manage a new flood of documents, Hirsch says-fan mail.

-Shane Harris

WHY IT'S INNOVATIVE
National water data was never collected in one place.

WHAT IT CHANGED
Engineers and outdoor lovers can download water data while they surf the Web.

National Women's Health Information Center
Health and Human Services Department

espite the abundance of women's health sites on the Internet, there was never a single place where women could find all the research the federal government has conducted in that area. The staff of the Office of Women's health, established with a broad public health mandate by Congress in 1994, decided to remedy that.

In 2000, the office established the National Women's Health Information Center, a combination commercial-free Web site and call center, as the government's official clearinghouse for the thousands of sources of women's health information agencies produce every year.

Demand is high. The call center receives about 3,500 queries each month, and there are 450,000 user sessions on the Web site in the same time period, says Cheryl Batchelor, the project manager. The 16-person staff, which doesn't provide medical advice, gives callers and visitors access to more than 1,800 health organizations and 4,300 publications related to women's health.

The site has even become popular with men, so deciding they ought to share a good thing, the center has added new information about prostate cancer, Batchelor says.

-Shane Harris

WHY IT'S INNOVATIVE
Shares existing federal research instead of conducting more.

WHAT IT CHANGED
Women now have access to health research- toll- and advertisement-free.