[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.
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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
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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.