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The Federal government is a large unwieldy beast with a vast number of federal agencies and offices. The degree to which an agency has effectively entered the Information era can vary significantly from one office to the next. Some websites are excellent and have revolutionized the way that the government operates; other offices have reluctantly entered the Information Age by hurling up a smattering of assorted information in a variety of disparate and useless ways.

The eGovernment Act of 2002 was passed in order to bring a degree of order to the cacophony through the establishment of the Office of Electronic Government, residing in the Office of Management and Budget in the White House. The eGovernment Act directs the Office of Electronic Government to

  • Upgrade and standardize federal websites; share best practice, coordinate information policy, standards, protocols, procurement and funding.
  • Annually report to Congress on agencies progress in implementing egovernment initiatives.
  • Support central federal portals such as Firstgov.gov, regulations.gov, grants.gov and govbenefits.gov.
  • Codifies (puts into law) support for the Federal CIO Council.
  • Improve Federal privacy practices through the requirement of Privacy Impact Statements and the posting of privacy policies on federal websites (See Privacy and the Feds).

The eGovernment Act also delineates responsibilities to different federal entities such as FEDCIRC for network security.

RFC: The White House is collecting comments until July 21, 2009 on how to improve Regulations.Gov. See Regulations.Gov Exchange

Vivek Kundra, our Chief Information Officer, and Beth Noveck,
Deputy Chief Technology Officer for Open Government, explain the Open Government Initiative.

Fox FCC Broadband Aug09


White House

  • Information Policy, IT & E-Gov
  • In addition, OMB's Memorandum , M-06-02, Improving Public Access to and Dissemination of Government Information and Using the Federal Enterprise Architecture Data Reference Model says: "when disseminating information to the public-at-large, publish your information directly to the Internet. This procedure exposes information to freely available and other search functions and adequately organizes and categorizes your information. This memorandum assumes that your robots.txt file is allowing search engines to crawl your site. If you are disallowing search engine crawlers, you are not exposing information to search engines, and therefore not complying with this guidance."
  • Presidential Memo: Electronic Government (December 17, 1999)
  • Privacy
  • CIRCULAR NO. A-130 MEMORANDUM FOR HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND ESTABLISHMENTS  SUBJECT: Management of Federal Information Resources (February 8, 1996 ) (This Circular establishes policy for the management of Federal information resources. Procedural and analytic guidelines for implementing specific aspects of these policies are included as appendices.) Directs agencies to "use electronic media and formats, including public networks, as appropriate and within budgetary constraint, in order to make government information more easily accessible and useful to the public)"
  • EO 13011 Federal Information Technology, July 16, 1996

Office of Science and Technology Policy

"The Office of Science and Technology Policy advises the President on the effects of science and technology on domestic and international affairs. The office serves as a source of scientific and technological analysis and judgment for the President with respect to major policies, plans and programs of the Federal Government. OSTP leads an interagency effort to develop and implement sound science and technology policies and budgets. The office works with the private sector to ensure Federal investments in science and technology contribute to economic prosperity, environmental quality, and national security. "

The National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) was established by Executive Order on November 23, 1993. This Cabinet-level Council is the principal means within the executive branch to coordinate science and technology policy across the diverse entities that make up the Federal research and development enterprise

On September 30, 2001, Executive Order 13226 formed the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST). PCAST was originally established in 1990 to enable the President to receive advice from the private sector and academic community on technology, scientific research priorities, and math and science education. See Federal Advisory Council Act.

  • "On November 23, 1993, President Clinton established by Executive Order 12882 the President's Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST). The responsibilities of PCAST are as follows:

         To advise the President on issues involving science and technology and their roles in achieving national goals.
         To assist the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) in securing private sector participation in its activities.

"PCAST consists of 19 members, one of whom is the Assistant to the President on Science and Technology, and 18 of whom are distinguished individuals from non-Federal sectors.  The President appoints all members.  PCAST members have established track records of significant achievement and are representative of the diverse perspectives and expertise in the U.S. science and technology establishment.

"PCAST advises the President through the Assistant to the President for Science and Technology. The Committee also serves as a formal channel for private sector advice to NSTC.  NSTC is a cabinet-level council chaired by the President that coordinates research and development policies and  activities across federal agencies.  PCAST ensures that the private sector perspective is included in that policy-making process.

"The Committee reports to the President through the Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, with its term expiring on September 30, 1999 (Executive Order 13062, section 1(g)).  PCAST will meet at such times as the President and Assistant to the President for Science and Technology deem appropriate. "  Source OSTP Factsheet

President's Information Technology Advisory Committee

"The President’s Information Technology Advisory Committee (PITAC) is appointed by the President to provide independent expert advice on maintaining America’s preeminence in advanced information technology (IT). PITAC members are IT leaders in industry and academia with expertise relevant to critical elements of the national IT infrastructure such as high-performance computing, large-scale networking, and high-assurance software and systems design. The Committee’s studies help guide the Administration’s efforts to accelerate the development and adoption of information technologies vital for American prosperity in the 21st century.

"Chartered by Congress under the High-Performance Computing Act of 1991 (Public Law 102-194 ) and the Next Generation Internet Act of 1998 (Public Law 105-305) and formally renewed through Presidential Executive Orders, PITAC is a Fderally chartered advisory committee operating under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) (Public Law 92-463) and other Federal laws governing such activities."

-- CyberSecurity: A Crisis of Prioritization, Report to the President (Feb. 2005)

 

GovNet

  • Government Continues Building Private Net, IDG 11/28/01
  • US plan for secure internet 'flawed', BBC 10/18/01
  • 'GovNet' idea gaining new momentum after Sept. 11 attacks, CW 10/12/01
  • White House Seeks Government Computer Network, AP 10/12/01

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