The federal government may increase its information technology budget by $4 billion in fiscal 2003 to improve security and counter terrorist attacks, said Mark Forman, Office of Management and Budget's associate director for information technology and e-government.
The Office of Management and Budget released its list of 23 e-government initiatives this week with projects ranging from tax filing for citizens to international trade processing for businesses.
The government Web site, Firstgov.gov, has launched a Web page that compiles links and telephone numbers to a variety of resources related to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
States still have a long way to go in providing the level of electronic government services offered by federal government Web sites, according to a Brown University report.
A sputtering new economy has high-tech companies refocusing attention on the old economy's largest enterprise ? the federal government ? where they see nothing but expansion ahead. "There is a significant push at the federal level to implement a wide range of e-business initiatives," said Bill Smithson, vice president for information technologies at Materials, Communications and Computers Corp.
Federal agencies spend $1.8 trillion every year on equipment and services needed to run the government. And they're looking to streamline the procurement process through online buying. "Without question, almost every federal agency has started the process," said Jim White, senior vice president of i2 Technologies.
Canada's ambitious plan to be the world's most-connected government is expected to generate billions of dollars of work for systems integrators and other information technology contractors.
Integrators are casting about for the best business model for electronic procurement in the state and local government market, and neither they nor their clients have settled on a preferred model yet, according to company executives who develop e-procurement systems.
The Navy had planned to spend more than $3 million over five years on a contractor who could transport the personal effects of military personnel back and forth between Hawaii and Guam. But as the result of an April reverse auction through eBreviate, an Electronic Data Systems Corp. company, they'll pay just $2.1 million, a savings of about 30 percent.
A sputtering new economy has high-tech companies refocusing attention on the old economy's largest enterprise ? the federal government ? where they see nothing but expansion ahead.
Jim Flyzik believes $300 million would be the right number to get federal e-government initiatives truly off the ground. But he also said the government doesn't need to budget the entire amount.
Congressional leaders and the Bush administration appear close to resolving the debate about the role of a federal chief information officer and the priority that agencies should give to e-government.
Ask executives at American Management Systems Inc. to explain why they were so willing to develop and market an e-procurement solution to state and local governments and they'll tell you that it was the solid data and compelling arguments from analysts at a few select market research companies that swayed them.
The federal government reached a milestone in June with the launch of a program that may ultimately create a governmentwide public-key infrastructure to protect e-government initiatives.
SAP Public Services Inc. and Deloitte Consulting completed the implementation of SAP e-government solutions for all 148 state agencies in Arkansas, the companies announced July 10.
Citizens of Pennsylvania, researchers and other history buffs around the world can now access Pennsylvania historical records online, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission said July 3.
