Forman enlists state, local governments in fed e-gov projects

The Bush administration is counting heavily on state and local governments to help it succeed with the government-to-government portion of its e-government program, said Mark Forman, associate director of information technology and e-government for the Office of Management and Budget.Forman is spearheading the administration's 24 e-government initiatives, which fall into these categories: government to citizen, government to business, government to government, internal efficiency and effectiveness of federal agencies and cross-initiative projects to remove barriers to e-government success.Speaking April 8 at the National Association of State Chief Information Officers midyear meeting in Denver, Forman said the government-to-government, or intergovernmental, initiatives, are "the most important." They include the following projects:*E-vital: electronic processes for federal and state agencies to collect and share birth and death records;*E-grants: a portal for grant recipients and grant-making agencies;*Disaster management: a portal containing information for organizations involved in disaster preparedness, response and recovery;*Geospatial information one-stop: a portal that will provide state and local governments with access to the federal government's spatial data; *Project safecom: standards for interoperability of communications systems among federal, state and local officials.Although NASCIO participates on the OMB's intergovernmental steering committee, Forman said more assistance is needed. He asked state and local technology officials for help with project development, businesses cases and governance matters for the intergovernmental initiatives."There is absolutely no way we are going to get this done without the partnership between federal, state and local entities and, indeed, without the partnership with the private sector," Forman said."We've spent too long giving you burdens and not enough time listening to you," he said.