E-government bill wins praise from tech officials

Privacy advocates and technology industry groups are hailing the passage of legislation aimed at boosting online government services. They see the measure, which President Bush is expected to sign before year's end, as a way to cement the government's commitment to modernization and as a boon to consumer privacy.

The bill, H.R. 2458, would establish an Office of Electronic Government within the White House Office of Management and Budget that would be modeled closely upon the Bush administration's current blueprint for e-government.

But the measure also would mandate greater privacy protections by ensuring that all federal Web sites post standard privacy policies and establish safeguards for personally identifiable data held by the government. And federal Web sites could incorporate the technology known as the Platform for Privacy Preferences, which allows consumers to choose the level of privacy they want when surfing the Internet.

Ari Schwartz, associate director of the Center for Democracy and Technology, said the privacy provisions are critical because they compel agencies to think about the issue for the first time and will be "helpful toward moving the Bush administration to focus on privacy."

The legislation also would require that agencies assess the privacy implications of technologies they want to procure to deliver services online. Schwartz said that language would help "build a marketplace for privacy" and "drive agencies to have vendors explain to them how their products meet privacy" requirements.

Industry groups, meanwhile, said the measure will aid the push to deploy government services to citizens via the Internet. "I think the key word is focus," said Tom Gann, vice president and general manager of e-government initiatives at the software maker Siebel Systems. "This bill is important because it focuses the government more and more on e-government."

The measure would authorize $345 million over the next four fiscal years, capping spending at $150 million in fiscal 2006. Gann said the funding would advance ongoing e-government projects spearheaded by Mark Forman, the head of OMB's information technology efforts. Forman is overseeing the implementation of 24 e-government projects.

For companies that are good at overcoming vertical bureaucratic thinking in federal agencies, the bill would create opportunities to partner with agencies on projects that could facilitate a transformation in services, Gann said. It "enables us to have a greater, more far-reaching dialogue with government agencies," he said.

Dan Burton, vice president for government affairs at the Internet security firm Entrust, said the measure also would give e-government projects a boost by authorizing $8 million for the authority that certifies government agencies to install e-signature technologies.