[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.