Bush Task Force to Create E-Gov Plan

The Bush administration is creating an interagency task force to develop an e-government action plan, according to a July 18 memo to agency and department executives from Mitchell Daniels Jr., director of the Office of Management and Budget.

The task force will be led by Mark Forman, associate director for information technology and e-government. The group will work for five to six weeks beginning later this month.

Daniels asked each agency and department executive to name a senior e-government official to work with Forman in establishing the task force.

"The task force will be successful only if it comprises individuals knowledgeable in their agency programs and experienced in government reform initiatives," Daniels wrote.

The task force will identify opportunities to use e-government to improve service to citizens and businesses, interactions with states and federal agency effectiveness.

"Within our organizations, staff already know of many potential opportunities for using information technologies to improve the service we provide to citizens. Our approach, modeled on the best practices of the private sector, is to tap into that knowledge and use it to identify applications of Internet technologies to reform the way our organizations do business," Daniels wrote.