E-Government: Making Government More Accountable and Efficient
Channel: Congressional Internet Caucus Academy
Date: 2012-01-19

On Thursday, March 22, 2001, the Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee (ICAC) hosted a discussion on "E-Government: Making Government More Accountable and Efficient." The event was attended by Members of Congress, congressional staffers, press and the private sector. The video of the event is available online courtesy of FedNet. The ICAC made available to attendees a comprehensive CD-ROM briefing book on E-Government issues. A version of the Briefing Book is available online at http://www.netcaucus.org/books/egov2001/.

The event featured introductory comments by Internet Caucus Co-Chairs Senator Patrick Leahy and Congressman Bob Goodlatte. Senator Joe Lieberman gave one of the event's keynote addresses discussing the need for a federal CIO and increased funding for E-Government coordination. The text of the Senator's comments are posted on his web site at: http://www.senate.gov/~lieberman/press/01/03/egov.html

The other keynote of the afternoon came from Sean O'Keefe, Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget. Mr. O'Keefe's comments focused on the Bush Administration's vision of e-government coordination between agencies. He also answered some specific questions on the idea of a potential CIO.

The event concluded with an esteemed panel of experts comprised of public interest, business and academic representatives. The panel -- moderated by Patricia McGinnis, President and CEO, Council for Excellence in Government -- discussed the goals of e-government and the mandate for these goals; the elements for transformation; and potential challenges and opportunities in building e-government initiatives. Specifically the panel addressed important issues such as: the crisis of trust in government, civic engagement (e-democracy), workforce issues, privacy, interoperability, security, records management, disability access and the digital divide. Nancy Kranich, President of the American Library Association, presented a librarian's perspective on the issue -- noting the important role played by those who further organize and disseminate important government data and information. Bill Bradly, founder of the National Information Consortium, delivered his perspective on making E-Government possible at the state and local level and the efficiencies achieved by public and private partnerships. Larry Brandt of the National Science Foundation mentioned that he was encouraged by the similarities in Senator Lieberman and Mr. O'Keefe's visions for an e-government coordination fund.

This event was hosted in conjunction with the Internet Caucus and its Co-Chairs -- Senators Burns and Leahy and Representatives Goodlatte and Boucher -- along with Senator Lieberman.

Made possible with the generous support of the Internet Caucus Advisory Committee Supporters Group.

http://netcaucus.org/events/2001/egov/