    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 51 (Monday, December 27, 1999)]
    [Pages 2639-2641]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Memorandum on the Use of Information Technology To Improve Our Society

    December 17, 1999

    Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies

    Subject: Use of Information Technology to Improve Our Society

        The Internet and other information and communications technologies
    are changing the way we work, learn, communicate with each other, and do
    business. These technologies are shaping our economy and our society in
    the same way that the steam engine and electricity defined the
    Industrial Age.
        In recent years, information technology has driven the U.S. economy.
    Businesses are scrambling to use the Internet to increase productivity,
    boost exports, cut the time required to develop new products, and forge
    closer relationships with customers and suppliers. My Administration has
    pursued a
    market-led approach to global electronic commerce that relies whenever
    possible on private sector leadership and seeks to eliminate legal and
    regulatory barriers to electronic commerce while protecting the public
    interest.
        The Internet has the potential to enhance civil society as well as
    to boost commerce. Used creatively, the Internet and information
    technology can be a powerful tool for tackling some of our toughest
    social challenges as well as fostering economic growth. Information
    technology can and is being used to make it easier for working adults to
    acquire new skills, increase access to healthcare in isolated rural
    communities, improve the quality of life for people with disabilities,
    and strengthen our democracy.
        My Administration has led the effort to explain and support the
    commercial and societal benefits of information technology to the
    American people. However, we can and must do more. To that end, I am
    directing executive department and agency heads in this memorandum to
    take certain actions. As they carry out these actions, they should: (a)
    adopt policies that will remove barriers to private sector investment in
    Internet applications; (b) explore partnerships with companies, State,
    local, and tribal governments, and other entities, such as nonprofit
    organizations and universities; (c) explore innovative mechanisms for
    fostering a national discussion on the potential of the electronic
    society; (d) consider other policies to promote the electronic society,
    such as the establishment of national goals; and (e) review the
    recommendations of the President's Information Technology Advisory
    Committee, particularly as they relate to support for information
    technology applications with broad societal benefits.
        Therefore, to further promote the broader social benefits of the
    Information Age to the American people, I direct the officials in this
    memorandum to take the following actions:
    1.          The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall identify
                additional steps that can be taken to promote expanded
                access to higher quality, cost-effective health care to
                underserved rural communities and inner city clinics, and
                other health-care applications of information technology.
    2.          The Secretary of Education shall support and encourage
                States and local communities to make ``school report cards''
                available on the Internet. The Secretary of the Interior
                shall make it possible for ``school report cards'' on Bureau
                of Indian Affairs schools and tribally controlled schools to
                be available on the Internet.

    [[Page 2640]]

    3.          The Secretaries of Education and Labor shall work with
                States and institutions of higher education to remove legal
                and regulatory barriers to high-quality distance learning,
                to increase awareness of the availability of distance
                learning as an alternative means of education and training,
                and to find ways to promote the earning of credentials
                through distance learning. The Secretary of Education shall
                assist the Tribal Colleges and Universities in developing
                associate and baccalaureate programs in information
                technology, using innovative distance learning technology.
    4.          The Secretary of Education shall propose the next phase of
                my Administration's Educational Technology Initiative. The
                next phase should address teacher training, the integration
                of technology in the curriculum, the evaluation of
                technology, the market for educational software and web
                content, the need for more multimedia computers in the
                classroom, and the need for investments in educational
                technology research and development.
    5.          The Secretary of Labor shall determine how telecommuting
                might be used to help more disabled Americans get jobs and
                to provide jobs for Americans located in geographic regions
                outside traditional commuting areas, including isolated
                tribal communities.
    6.          The Secretary of Education and the Director of the National
                Science Foundation shall develop a research agenda for
                making the Internet and information technology more usable
                by persons with disabilities. The Secretary of Commerce
                shall encourage the private sector to make web content,
                software, and development tools more accessible for people
                with disabilities by adopting technical standards consistent
                with the Web Accessibility Initiative.
    7.          The Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency
                shall develop a national strategy for promoting
                environmental applications of information technology (such
                as disseminating information about manufacturing techniques
                that reduce pollution, and increasing the timeliness of
                environmental information).
    8.          The Secretary of Agriculture shall identify services that
                can be delivered electronically to rural Americans (such as
                the results of Federally funded research at our Nation's
                land-grant universities), and develop the policies needed to
                promote the availability of advanced telecommunications
                services in rural and tribal communities.
    9.          The Secretary of Commerce shall identify policies that will
                encourage more effective use of information technology by
                nonprofit organizations.
    10.         The Secretary of the Treasury, in coordination with
                appropriate Federal agencies and private sector
                stakeholders, shall identify policy initiatives that promote
                greater access to financial services through the use of
                information technology.
    11.         The Secretary of the Interior shall identify policies that
                will accelerate the use of unclassified geospatial
                information systems at the State, local, and tribal level.
    12.         The Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency
                shall work with research universities and the private sector
                to apply advances in information technology to managing the
                consequences of natural and man-made disasters.
    13.         The Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, the Director
                of the National

    [[Page 2641]]

                Science Foundation, the Director of the National Park
                Service, and the Director of the Institute of Museum and
                Library Services shall work with the private sector and
                cultural and educational institutions across the country to
                create a Digital Library of Education to house this
                country's cultural and educational resources.
    14.         The Attorney General shall work with Federal, State, local,
                and tribal law enforcement agencies to use information
                technologies to make our Nation's communities safer.
    15.         Items 1-14 of this memorandum and my July 1, 1997, and
                November 30, 1998, memoranda shall be conducted subject to
                the availability of appropriations, consistent with the
                agencies' priorities and my budget, and to the extent
                permitted by law.
    16.         The Vice President shall continue his leadership in
                coordinating the United States Government's electronic
                commerce strategy. Further, I direct that the heads of
                agencies report to the Vice President and to me on their
                progress in meeting the terms of the memorandum, through the
                Electronic Commerce Working Group (ECWG) in its annual
                report. To the extent that substantial new policy issues
                emerge, the analysis and action on those policies will be
                coordinated in a manner consistent with the responsibilities
                of the ECWG, the National Economic Council, and the Domestic
                Policy Council, as appropriate.
                                                William J. Clinton

    Note: This item was not received in time for publication in the
    appropriate issue.