July 1996
THE CYBERSCAPE
Cybergovernment on Display
ybergovernment in all its wide-ranging potential is now on display in an unlikely venue-a K Street office building in downtown Washington.
A mock town square has been set up in 15,000 square feet of the building, featuring a police station, courtroom, library, classroom and other offices, as well as the family room of a typical house. In every setting, visitors can power up a computer connecting to services provided by various types of agencies operating at the state, county, city and federal levels.
The Government of the Future Studio is a project of IBM's recently formed Institute for Electronic Government. "Technology is changing the lives of police officers and judges; teachers and schoolchildren; public servants and citizens," says Institute director Janet Caldow. The studio, she says, "demonstrates how governments can put all the pieces together on the information highway using advanced network computing strategies."
The demonstration includes public access kiosks for government information about tax forms, unemployment benefits, job applications and automobile registrations. Also on display are environmental applications, a digital library and an interactive classroom. The studio includes a "collaboratory" of networked computers where cross-government teams can work on problems such as local, state and federal response to post-disaster highway repair.
For more information on tours or workshops, call (202) 218-3940 or visit the Institute for Electronic Government home page.
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