[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 51 (Monday, December 27, 1999)]
[Pages 2641-2643]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]
<R04>
Memorandum on Electronic Government
December 17, 1999
Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies
Subject: Electronic Government
My Administration has put a wealth of information online. However,
when it comes to most Federal services, it can still take a paper form
and weeks of processing for something as simple as a change of address.
While Government agencies have created ``one-stop-shopping'' access
to information on their agency web sites, these efforts have not
uniformally been as helpful as they could be to the average citizen, who
first has to know which agency provides the service he or she needs.
There has not been sufficient effort to provide Government information
by category of information and service--rather than by agency--in a way
that meets people's needs.
Moreover, as public awareness and Internet usage increase, the
demand for online Government interaction and simplified, standardized
ways to access Government information and services becomes increasingly
important. At the same time, the public must have confidence that their
online communications with the Government are secure and their privacy
protected.
Therefore, to help our citizens gain one-stop access to existing
Government information and services, and to provide better, more
efficient, Government services and increased Government accountability
to its citizens, I hereby direct the officials in this memorandum, in
conjunction with the private sector as appropriate, to take the
following actions:
1. The Administrator of General Services, in coordination with
the National Partnership for Reinventing Government, the
Chief Information Officers' Council, the Government
Information Technology Services Board, and
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other appropriate agencies shall promote access to
Government information organized not by agency, but by the
type of service or information that people may be seeking;
the data should be identified and organized in a way that
makes it easier for the public to find the information it
seeks.
2. The heads of executive departments and agencies (agencies)
shall, to the maximum extent possible, make available
online, by December 2000, the forms needed for the top 500
Government services used by the public. Under the Government
Paperwork Elimination Act, where appropriate, by October
2003, transactions with the Federal Government should be
available online for online processing of services. To
achieve this goal, the Director of the Office of Management
and Budget shall oversee agency development of responsible
strategies to make transactions available online.
3. The heads of agencies shall promote the use of electronic
commerce, where appropriate, for faster, cheaper ordering on
Federal procurements that will result in savings to the
taxpayer.
4. The heads of agencies shall continue to build good privacy
practices into their web sites by posting privacy policies
as directed by the Director of the Office of Management and
Budget and by adopting and implementing information policies
to protect children's information on web sites that are
directed at children.
5. The head of each agency shall permit greater access to its
officials by creating a public electronic mail address
through which citizens can contact the agency with
questions, comments, or concerns. The heads of each agency
shall also provide disability access on Federal web sites.
6. The Director of the National Science Foundation, working
with appropriate Federal agencies, shall conduct a 1-year
study examining the feasibility of online voting.
7. The Secretaries of Health and Human Services, Education,
Veterans Affairs, and Agriculture, the Commissioner of
Social Security, and the Director of the Federal Emergency
Management Agency, working closely with other Federal
agencies that provide benefit assistance to citizens, shall
make a broad range of benefits and services available
through private and secure electronic use of the Internet.
8. The Administrator of General Services, in coordination with
the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Commerce,
the Government Information Technology Services Board, the
National Partnership for Reinventing Government, and other
appropriate agencies and organizations, shall assist
agencies in the development of private, secure, and
effective communications across agencies and with the
public, through the use of public key technology. In light
of this goal, agencies are encouraged to issue, in
coordination with the General Services Administration, a
Government-wide minimum of 100,000 digital signature
certificates by December 2000.
9. The heads of agencies shall develop a strategy for upgrading
their respective agency's capacity for using the Internet to
become more open, efficient, and responsive, and to more
effectively carry out the agency's mission. At a minimum,
this strategy should involve:
(a) expanded training of Federal employees, including
employees with policy and senior management responsibility;
(b) identification and adoption of ``best practices''
implemented by leading public and private sector
organizations;
(c) recognition for Federal employees who suggest new and
innovative agency applications of the Internet;
(d) partnerships with the research community for
experimentation with advanced applications; and
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(e) mechanisms for collecting input from the agency's
stakeholders regarding agency use of the Internet.
10. Items 1-8 of this memorandum and my July 1, 1997, and
November 30, 1998, memoranda shall be conducted subject to
the availability of appropriations and consistent with
agencies' priorities and my budget, and to the extent
permitted by law.
11. The Vice President shall continue his leadership in
coordinating the United States Government's electronic
commerce strategy. Further, I direct that the heads of
executive departments and agencies report to the Vice
President and to me on their progress in meeting the terms
of this memorandum, through the Electronic Commerce Working
Group in its annual report.
William J. Clinton
Note: This item was not received in time for publication in the
appropriate issue.