FY 2008 Report to Congress on 

Implementation of 

The E-Government Act of 2002 

March 1, 2009 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 

Introduction.................................................................................................................................... 3 

Section I: Compliance with Goals and Provisions of the Act...................................... 5 

Section II: Highlights of Individual Agency Internal E-Government Activities................ 17 

 

 

 

Department of Commerce.............................................................. 17 

Department of Defense................................................................. 18 

Department of Education............................................................... 19 

Department of Energy.................................................................. 20 

Department of Homeland Security................................................... 20 

Department of Health and Human Services.......................................... 21 

Department of Housing and Urban Development................................... 23 

Department of the Interior.............................................................. 23 

Department of Justice................................................................... 24 

Department of Labor.................................................................... 25 

Department of Transportation......................................................... 26 

Department of the Treasury............................................................ 27 

Department of State..................................................................... 29 

Department of Veterans Affairs....................................................... 30 

Environmental Protection Agency.................................................... 31 

General Services Administration...................................................... 31 

National Aeronautics and Space Administration.................................... 32 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission...................................................... 33 

National Science Foundation.......................................................... 33 

Office of Management and Budget................................................... 34 

Office of Personnel Management..................................................... 35 

Small Business Administration........................................................ 35 

Social Security Administration........................................................ 36 

U.S. Agency for International Development........................................ 36 

U.S. Department of Agriculture....................................................... 37 

Section III: Operations of the E-Government Fund.............................................................. 39 

2
INTRODUCTION 

The use of information technology to provide consistent access to and dissemination of 

government information is essential to promote a more citizen-centered government in a costeffective manner. Agencies manage web-based technologies and services to help citizens obtain 

government information and services. In addition, agencies use information technology to 

communicate with the public and gather feedback to determine whether Federal programs are 

achieving results and meeting user needs. E-Government is the result of this use of information 

technology to improve citizen access to government information and services. 

To ensure agencies apply E-Government principles and use information technology to the fullest 

potential, agencies measure results to verify progress and planned performance improvement. 

This allows agencies to better manage their information resources including their investments in 

information technology. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) works with agencies to 

systematically track and measure whether resources used by programs help achieve intended 

goals and results. 

The Federal Government continues to deploy industry-leading information technologies to more 

effectively manage and deliver government information and services. As a result Federal 

programs have more effective and transparent operations with an increased ability to manage the 

risks associated with information technology and protect information in care of the Federal 

government. Greater access to government information benefits the country by sustaining an 

informed citizenry, aiding government decision-makers, and supporting the economy, all of 

which are fundamental to a healthy democracy. 

The President committed to the American people that the Federal government will provide an 

unprecedented level of openness, collaboration, and efficiency and effectiveness through the use 

of information technology (IT). We will modernize the government’s systems to deliver more 

information to citizens, in more modern, user-friendly ways that engage them more effectively in 

their government, than ever in the past. We are planning new initiatives to support the 

President’s commitments including gaining efficiencies in IT infrastructure through cloud 

computing, providing more open access to government information, and promoting IT 

innovation within the federal government. We will also evaluate each of the existing eGovernment initiatives and lines of business to determine their status, value, and future direction. 

We look forward to working with the Congress to implement these important actions to improve 

our service to the citizens and the performance of their government. 

3
ABOUT THIS REPORT 

This is OMB’s sixth annual progress report on implementation of the E-Government Act of 2002 

(Pub. L. No. 107-347; Dec. 17, 2002) (the “E-Government Act”) as required by 44 USC 3606. 

This report describes activities completed in fiscal year (FY) 2008, and is among a series of 

reports produced by OMB to describe the Administration’s use of E-Government principles to 

improve government performance and the delivery of information and services to the public. 

Most prominent among these other reports are: 

1. The January 2009 report, “Expanding E-Government: Achieving Results for the 

 American People,” highlighting E-Government accomplishments and setting goals;1

2. The 2009 “Report to Congress on the Benefits of the E-Government Initiatives,” 

 describing the economic value of multi-agency and cross-government E-Government 

 activities;2

 and 

3. OMB’s FY 2008 report, “Federal Information Security Management Act,” describing 

agency privacy programs, including compliance with section 208 of the E-Government 

Act of 2002.3

This report comprises three sections. Section I describes certain technical requirements of the EGovernment Act and also describes related activities complementing specific requirements and 

objectives of the Act. Section II discusses the government’s efforts over the past year to 

implement electronic government initiatives. Finally, Section III details use of the E-Government 

Fund established by Section 3604 of the E-Government Act. 

This report, other reports referenced here, and OMB’s prior reports on implementation of the EGovernment Act (i.e., for FY 2003 through FY 2007) are available on OMB’s website and have 

been provided to the Government Printing Office (GPO) for distribution to Federal Depository 

Libraries.4

 The reader is encouraged to refer to all of them for a complete picture of past, 

current, and planned Administration efforts. 

 

1

 This report can be found at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/assets/egov_docs/2009_Expanding_EGov_Report.pdf. 

2

 Information on compliance with Section 206 of the E-Government Act can be found in this report. This report can 

 be found at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/assets/egov_docs/FY09_Benefits_Report.pdf. 

3

 This report can be found at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/e-gov/. 4

 Information on compliance with Sections 203, 210, 211, and 215 of the E-Government Act can be found in prior 

reports at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/e-gov/. 

4
SECTION I: COMPLIANCE WITH SPECIFIC GOALS AND 

PROVISIONS OF THE ACT 

Improving Public Access to Government Information 

Information is the result of processing, gathering, analyzing and organizing data to convey 

knowledge to the receiver. Federal Government information is a public resource which has 

value and associated costs. Considering the magnitude of government information and the 

breadth of the Federal Government’s program activities, it is crucial for Federal agencies to 

strategically manage their information resources to achieve their missions and program goals, 

and preserve information for the future. 

Effective management of information resources requires programs designed to disseminate and 

provide the public with access to government information. The Federal Government continues to 

improve the methods by which government information is disseminated and made available to 

the public. By utilizing Federal agency public websites and partnership agreements to 

complement effective Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) operations, agencies can maximize 

the usefulness of their information while minimizing the costs for the American taxpayer. 

Helping the Public Locate Government Information 

Federal agency public websites and portals are valuable information dissemination tools which 

allow greater access to government information and services and allow the public to participate 

and become more involved in its government. At the same time, the public increasingly uses 

commercial search engines as a primary portal into agency websites, rather than more traditional 

access via agency homepages. 

OMB Memorandum M-06-02, “Improving Public Access to and Dissemination of Government 

Information and Using the Federal Enterprise Architecture Data Reference Model,” 5

promotes 

greater access to government information by requiring agencies to publish all public information 

directly to the Internet. This procedure exposes information to freely available search engines 

and organizes and categorizes agency information thereby improving the public’s access to 

government information. To demonstrate effort towards meeting this requirement, agencies 

updated and published their Information Resources Management Strategic Plan, describing how 

such activities accomplish the agency’s mission.6

 Agency plans also describe how the respective 

agency ensures the activities are integrated with organizational planning, budget, procurement, 

financial management, human resources management, and program decisions. 

A significant development in assisting the public to locate government information has been the 

increasing prevalence and sophistication of commercial and governmental search engines. By 

having a presence online, agencies are able to leverage the benefits from advances in search 

technology to allow for more timely and accurate retrieval of information on agency websites. 

 

5

 OMB Memorandum M-06-02 can be found at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/memoranda_default/. 6

 A link to each agency’s strategic plan can be found in the individual agency E-Government Act Report. The links 

to these reports can be found in Section II of this report. 

5
Some examples of more agency-specific efforts to assist the public in locating government 

information include: 

• The Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) provides a direct link to a query system in 

order to allow public access to resource materials relative to VBA. 

http://www.vba.va.gov/ ; 

• The Small Business Administration (SBA) provides the news media and the general 

public with easy access to information regarding SBA programs and activities through 

the SBA Newsroom online portal. 

http://www.sba.gov/news/ ; and

• The Department of Education offers a one-stop system for ordering Department 

publications which are provided at no cost. 

http://edpubs.ed.gov/webstore/Content/search.asp. 

The Federal Internet Portal 

USA.gov

As the official Internet portal to government information, USA.gov provides a centralized point 

of entry where the public can locate government information, benefits, and services. This can 

reduce time spent by individuals trying to locate government information of interest to them. 

The public has embraced the usefulness of USA.gov and in FY 2008, it received approximately 

116 million visits during the year, or 2.2 million visits per week. USA.gov has also received 

numerous national recognitions for the quality and effectiveness in providing government 

information to the public and was highlighted in July 2007, by Time Magazine in an article 

entitled, “25 Sites We Can’t Live Without.” 

New search tools and technologies have been added to USA.gov to aggregate and present 

information on jobs, weather, congressional contact information, Federal forms and FrequentlyAsked-Questions from over 40 Federal agencies. USA.gov’s search functions have recently been 

expanded to include authoritative news and image searches of government information. 

USASearch.gov provides tailored responses to ensure high-priority information is highlighted in 

response to search queries during times of national emergencies or high interest stories. 

The National Contact Center supports USA.gov through 1-(800)-FED-INFO and serves as a 

single telephone number to obtain official information about State, local, and Tribal benefits, 

providing services in both English and Spanish. GobiernoUSA.gov provides links to Spanishlanguage government information and the ability to search across the government online in 

Spanish. Additionally, the public now has the ability to chat interactively with agents in the 

National Contact Center through USA.gov or with government bloggers at www.GovGab.gov. 

This online chat ability provides an immediate response to questions about Federal agencies, 

programs, benefits, or services through an “instant messaging-like” interface. There are 

currently just over 1200 chats per week. 

6
USA.gov provides an inventory of websites managed by agency consortia integrating similar 

information products by topic, published by disparate programs.7

 These interagency websites 

aggregate various data sources and make them readily accessible to the public. Similar programs 

operating at different agencies can better coordinate their activities and tailor their information 

products. 

Executive Order 13392, “Improving Agency Disclosure of Information” 

Executive Order 133928

, “Improving Agency Disclosure of Information,” established a citizencentered and results-oriented framework for agencies to improve their Freedom of Information 

Act (FOIA) operations. The Executive Order required agencies to designate a chief FOIA officer 

and FOIA public liaison, establish FOIA requester service centers, conduct a review of FOIA 

operations, and create FOIA improvement plans. These measures were designed to make FOIA 

operations more results oriented.9 

On May 30, 2008, the Attorney General, in accordance with the Executive Order, published the 

third and final report summarizing the Executive Branch's implementation of the Order.10 The 

report states that overall, agencies made sustained and measurable progress addressing multiple 

aspects of FOIA administration through multiple initiatives. 

Effective agency FOIA programs complement effective dissemination activities by locating 

records in public demand. In turn, agencies publish popular records directly to their website in 

anticipation of additional requests for the same records.11

The Attorney General’s May 2008 report indicates that agencies have widely embraced the 

area of technology and automation as a vital means to improving their FOIA operations. This 

has consistently been viewed as the improvement area that holds the most promise for agencies 

in improving both the speed and the quality of their responses to FOIA requests. Some 

examples from this report from agencies reporting significant improvements through the 

innovative use of technology include: 

• The Department of Transportation has established a system to allow FOIA requesters to 

make electronic payment of their FOIA fees and reported making progress in adding 

additional components to that system. 

• In the Department of Justice, the Office of Information and Privacy made extensive 

progress toward its goal of securing a comprehensive electronic processing and tracking 

software package by completing a feasibility study and a market assessment. In a related 

 

7

 For more information see: http://www.usa.gov/Topics/Cross_Agency_Portals.shtml. 8

 The full text of EO 13392 can be found at: http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2005/pdf/05-24255.pdf. 9

 See Section 1(c) of EO 13392. 

10 The Attorney General’s Report to the President pursuant to Executive Order 13392 can be found at: 

http://www.usdoj.gov/oip/ag-rpt08/ag-report-to-president06012008.pdf. 11 The website link where frequent requests for FOIA records can be found is located in the individual agency’s EGovernment Act Report. The links to these reports can be found in Section II of this report. 

7
IT initiative, it also completed all the requirements necessary to install hardware and 

software for scanning documents and saving them directly into the computer network. 

• Other agencies, such as the Department of the Treasury, as well as the CIA and NRC 

reported progress and successes in the area of technology. 

Financial Accountability and Transparency 

On September 26, 2006, the President signed the “Federal Funding Accountability and 

Transparency Act of 2006” (Pub. L. No. 109-282), to improve the quality and accessibility of 

information on Federal spending.12 The Act required OMB to oversee development of a website 

through which the public can readily access information about grants and contracts provided by 

the entire Federal government.13 

This website was launched at www.USASpending.gov, ahead of schedule, on December 13, 

2007. Specifically, the website provides, for each Federal award exceeding $25,000, the 

following information: 

A. The name of the entity receiving the award; 

B. The amount of the award; 

C. Information on the award including transaction type, and funding agency; 

D. The location of the entity receiving the award; and 

E. A unique identifier of the entity receiving the award. 

Some remaining challenges include incorporating business information already collected, but not 

required by the statute, such as competition information and actions below the dollar threshold. 

Another challenge is including agencies unfamiliar with reporting spending information. Overall 

the goal to improve transparency is embraced by agencies wanting to use this tool to fulfill 

accessibility objectives. 

Organizations Complementing Federal Agency Information Dissemination Programs 

Agencies use a number of different channels to effectively disseminate information to the public, 

such as Federal and non-Federal government libraries, and the private sector. By utilizing these 

entities, agencies can leverage outside skills and resources to provide the public with multiple 

sources for accessing information and manage their information resources in a more costeffective manner. 

There are many dissemination channels available for agencies, including popular commercial 

search engines (e.g., MSN, Google, and Yahoo search engine services), USA.gov, and many 

 

12 The full text of the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act can be found at: 

http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=109_cong_public_laws&docid=f:publ282.109.pdf. 13 More information on the development of this website can be found at: http://www.USASpending.gov. 

8
others.14 Community technology centers sponsored by the Department of Education, public 

libraries, research rooms at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), and 

Federal Depository Libraries managed by the Government Printing Office complement agency 

dissemination programs. The information technology resources of these organizations combined 

with the assistance of organization staff and volunteers provide increased access to government 

information. 

Agencies are establishing innovative partnerships with nonprofit and private sector entities to 

improve access to and dissemination of government information. For example: 

• The International Trade Administration has arranged cooperative marketing agreements with 

Google, FedEx, UPS and PNC Bank to reach as many small and medium-sized businesses as 

possible with export and marketing information; 

• The Department of Justice has partnered with the National Center for Missing and Exploited 

Children to provide resources and services to help protect children from harm and disseminate 

child protection information; 

• The Department of Housing and Urban Development participates in over 30 professional 

organizations related to housing and community development to increase the number of 

communication channels to deliver information to the public; 

• The Office of Personnel Management has a formal agency agreement with Monster 

Government Solutions to provide world-wide access to job postings for employment 

opportunities throughout the Federal government; 

• The Environmental Protection Agency sponsors, through a cooperative agreement with the 

Advertising Council, a national childhood asthma campaign to provide timely information to 

the media and the public on issues that adversely affect children with asthma and their 

families; and 

• Through partnerships with organizations like Google, Footnote.com, the Genealogical Society 

of Utah (GSU), and The Generations Network (TGN), NARA has digitized and made 

available tens of millions of documents online. 

OMB continues to encourage strategic partnerships, including those mentioned above, to support 

the principles of E-Government by maximizing the usefulness of government information while 

minimizing the cost to agencies and the public. 

 

Public Access to Electronic Federal Records

Effective management of government records ensuring proper documentation of the policies and 

transactions of the Federal Government allows the Federal Government to review and improve 

its programs, and helps the public obtain information about such programs. To achieve these 

benefits, agencies systematically manage all of their records regardless of form and medium 

(e.g., paper and electronic form) throughout the information life cycle. 

 

14 To learn more about organizations complementing Federal information dissemination, see: OMB’s April 15, 2005 

report, “Organizations Complementing Federal Agency Information Dissemination Programs.” The report can be 

found at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/. 

9
In their 2008 E-Government Act Reports, agencies were required, under section 207(e) of the EGovernment Act to describe how they were fulfilling their responsibilities to develop records 

schedules for all records in existing electronic information systems and establish procedures for 

addressing records management for new electronic systems. All major agencies are actively 

engaged with NARA to prioritize existing systems and schedule records. 

In FY 2008, NARA continued its partnerships with Federal agencies to increase the number of 

electronic records series and systems scheduled across the Government, and to increase the 

number of permanent electronic records transferred to the National Archives. Continuing the 

approach begun last year, NARA is focusing on the electronic records of the CFO Act agencies 

to ensure that such records are covered by records schedules before the E-Government Act 

deadline of September 2009, and that electronic records scheduled as permanent are transferred 

to the National Archives in a timely manner. These efforts will ensure that agency business 

assets are maintained for as long as needed, to protect the legal and financial rights of the 

Government and its citizens, and to preserve records of enduring historical value. Additional 

information may be found in NARA’s FY 2008 Performance and Accountability Report, pp. 96-

101.15

Access to Federally Funded Research and Development 

Dissemination of and access to information about Federally funded research and development 

(R&D) stimulates the exchange of new scientific information and technologies, and provides 

opportunities for understanding and applying knowledge towards the advancement of science 

and the development of innovative products and services16. Federal agency R&D activities are 

an essential component of many agency missions resulting in a broad variety of federally funde

R&D. Many Federal agency public websites disseminate and provide access to Federal R&D 

information and as a result, agencies can better: 

d 

 

• Coordinate Federal R&D activities; 

• Collaborate among those agencies conducting R&D; 

• Disseminate Federal R&D activities to the public; 

• Transfer technology among Federal agencies and the public; and 

• Access information about R&D activities. 

To increase public access to R&D information, agencies disseminate information through 

multiple channels, including public libraries and federally funded R&D dissemination websites. 

For example: 

 Science.gov provides search capability across 30 Federal agency R&D databases and 

provides links to science websites and scientific databases so citizens can access the 

results of Federal research.17 

15NARA’s FY 2008 Performance and Accountability Report can be found at: http://www.archives.gov/about/plansreports/performance-accountability/2008/par-2.pdf. 

16 This section includes information on compliance with Section 207(g) of the E-Government Act. 

17 The list of databases can be found at: http://www.science.gov/searchdbs.html. 

10
 Research.gov provides agencies and grantees access to streamlined research grants 

management services and other resources for multiple federal agencies in one location. 

OMB continues to monitor current solutions and possible future ones, to most effectively 

disseminate R&D information to the general public. 

Some examples of Federal agency efforts to disseminate R&D information include: 

 The Department of Health and Human Services maintains the CRISP (Computer 

Retrieval of Information on Scientific Projects) searchable database website to provide 

information on Federally funded biomedical research projects conducted at universities, 

hospitals, and other research institutions. http://crisp.cit.nih.gov/ ; 

 The Department of Transportation’s Research and Innovative Technology Administration 

maintains a Hydrogen Portal to provide information about Federal government activities 

related to hydrogen and fuel cells. http://www.rita.dot.gov/ordt/hydrogen_portal/; and 

 NASA maintains an R&D portal which enables scientists, researchers, technologists, and 

the general public to discover how NASA works with industry, academia, and Federal 

and State entities to perform breakthrough research, develop cutting edge technologies, 

and incorporate them into commercially viable products. 

http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forresearchers/features/index.html. 

Ensuring Accessibility to Government Information and Information Technology for People 

with Disabilities 

Agencies must disseminate information on equitable and timely terms, regardless of the type, 

medium and technology, to all members of the public including those with disabilities. 

Consistent with section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794d), as amended 

(“Section 508”), agencies must ensure that the development, procurement, and use of electronic 

and information technology provides access to government information and data to the disabled. 

 

The General Services Administration (GSA) and the Access Board (an independent Federal 

agency devoted to accessibility for people with disabilities), share a statutory obligation to 

provide technical assistance to agencies in support of their implementation of Section 508. 

The Access Board, acknowledging the convergence of software and websites, is currently 

leading the effort to draft new Section 508 standards to help clarify E-Government requirements 

and eliminate the overlap found in the current regulations. GSA facilitates the Federal agency 

network of Section 508 Coordinators whose focus is to ensure the accessibility of E-Government 

applications.18 

 

Furthermore, OMB’s Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) and the Office of EGovernment and Information Technology jointly released a memo on November 6, 2007, 

reminding agencies of their responsibility to ensure Section 508 compliance when procuring new 

information systems.19

 

18 Additional information and services for agencies can be found at: http://www.section508.gov. 

19 This memo can be found at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/procurement/508/electronic_info_technologies.pdf. 

11
Common Protocols for Geographic Information Systems 

Effective and efficient development, provision, and interoperability of geospatial data and 

services serves both the Nation’s interest and the core missions of Federal agencies and their 

partners. Cross-agency coordination of geospatial activities can identify, consolidate, and reduce 

or eliminate redundant geospatial investments. 

The Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) has been essential to the development of 

recommendations for better management of technologies, policies, and people to promote the 

sharing of geospatial data throughout all levels of government, the private and nonprofit sectors, 

and the academic community. The FGDC was organized in 1990 under OMB Circular A-16, 

“Coordination of Geographic Information, and Related Spatial Data Activities.” The FGDC 

serves as an interagency group with representatives from Federal agencies, as well as numerous 

stakeholders representing the interests of State and local government, industry, and professional 

organizations. The 2002 revision of OMB Circular A-16 assigns the Deputy Director for 

Management of OMB as Vice-Chair of the FGDC 

As part of the President’s 2008 budget, the Geospatial Line of Business (LoB) continues to 

enable geospatial interoperability across Federal programs through interagency cooperation, and 

enhanced capacity for understanding and use of information in terms of its relevant geography. 

Twenty-six Federal agencies participate in an interagency task force seeking to identify 

opportunities to optimize and standardize, to develop accountability and improved performance 

in Federal geospatial activities, and to support the further development of the National Spatial 

Data Infrastructure (NSDI). 

In FY 2008, the Geospatial LoB Interagency Task Force, led by the Department of the Interior: 

 Published the Geospatial Line of Business strategic plan. 

 Drafted OMB Circular A-16 guidance for agencies. 

 Worked with the General Services Administration (GSA) SmartBUY Team to implement 

a multivendor blanket purchase agreement (BPA) to provide Government users a 

common portfolio of geospatial technology options that benefit small-, medium-, and 

large-size agencies. 

 Developed the GEospatial Application Registry (GEAR) to give Government geospatial 

users the ability to nominate, share, and discuss geospatial software products and 

associated geo-enabling best practices. 

 Developed the Geospatial Profile of the Federal Enterprise Architecture (FEA) Version 

2.0. 

 Developed the Geospatial LoB Communications Strategy and Implementation Plan. 

 Completed the Geospatial LoB Performance Management Plan. 

 Helped develop requirements for the Geospatial One-Stop (GOS) portal 

(www.geodata.gov) to improve portal capabilities to locate and satisfy grants, 

cooperative agreements, and contracts compliance requirements. 

An annual report published by the FGDC identifies additional key accomplishments and planned 

milestones to coordinate nationally the development, use, sharing, and dissemination of 

12
geospatial data.20 To ensure agencies’ initiatives increase access to geospatial information and 

effectively invest in geospatial resources, the planned milestones coordinate with existing EGovernment initiatives, including Geospatial One-Stop and the Geospatial Line of Business.21

Information Technology Workforce Development 

On April 25, 2007, OFPP issued a memorandum titled, “The Federal Acquisition Certification 

for Program and Project Managers,” which called for an interagency working group to develop 

common, essential competencies for the certification of program and project managers. This 

certification is required for program and project managers assigned to major information 

technology acquisitions as defined in OMB Circular A-11, exhibit 300.22

Integrating and Reporting Pilot Projects

OMB’s Federal Enterprise Architecture (FEA)23 helps identify the relationships between 

business/ management processes and information technology systems so agencies can better 

align their technology investments with their agency. By combining and analyzing these 

relationships from a government-wide perspective, agencies are able to determine how much 

information technology spending is occurring in support of specific lines of business or services, 

including those which may transcend agency boundaries (e.g. environmental management, law 

enforcement, human resources, supply chain management, and security management). This 

analysis also identifies redundancies among information technology investments (within an 

agency, or across agencies), thereby highlighting opportunities for potential consolidation, 

collaboration, or re-use of information technology assets. 

In support of this purpose OMB, with the support of the General Services Administration and the 

CIO Council, uses five key mechanisms to implement the FEA Program: 

1. Federal Segment Architecture Methodology (FSAM) – codifying best practices across the 

Government and enabling sharing and reuse of agency architectures; 

2. Segment Architecture Reporting Process – a consistent reporting method for detailing 

agencies segment architectures, allowing a view across agencies activities, grounded in 

the FSAM; 

3. EA Assessment Framework v3.0, Improving Agency Performance through the Use of 

Information and Information Technology – OMB’s management framework, featuring 

key performance indicators based on reported segment architecture data. 

4. Practical Guide to Federal Service Oriented Architecture (PGFSOA) – clarifying Federalspecific issues and referencing proven practices to accelerate adoption of this new 

paradigm; and 

5. The IPv6 Business Case and Roadmap – illustrating the benefits and approach for 

agencies to holistically plan for and realize benefits from the next steps in IPv6 adoption. 

 

20 The FGDC 2008 Annual Report can be found at: http://www.fgdc.gov/library/whitepapersreports/annual%20reports/2008/index_html. 

21 The Geospatial OneStop initiative promotes interagency partnerships and a single point of access to map-related 

data found at: http://www.geodata.gov. 

22 This memo can be found at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/procurement/workforce/fed_acq_cert_042507.pdf. 23 The FEA is described in more detail at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/e-gov/fea/. 

13
OMB also continues to work with agencies to evaluate and improve their agency enterprise 

architectures. During the most recent evaluation (March 2008), OMB originally assessed 24 of 

26 agencies’ enterprise architectures as “effective” as part of the President’s Expanded EGovernment Scorecard.24 These architectures sufficiently describe the agency mission and the 

resources needed to achieve them, and have been used to drive satisfactory program performance 

and/or cost savings. OMB continues to work with the remaining 2 agencies to work toward an 

“effective” rating for the May 2009 assessment. 

Use of Information Technology to Enhance Crisis Management 

Federal agencies use information technology to improve the coordination and dissemination of 

disaster preparedness, response, and recovery information. Three Presidential E-Government 

initiatives, Disaster Management, SAFECOM, and the Disaster Assistance Improvement Plan 

(DAIP) are working to improve information sharing and communications related to crisis 

management. These initiatives are led by DHS and are supported by other Federal agencies with 

similar responsibilities and partnerships with State, local, and Tribal organizations where 

appropriate. 

Disaster Management

Disaster Management (DM) is a program of FEMA under DHS. DM aims to improve 

preparation, mitigation, response, and recovery for all hazards by creating the capability to 

seamlessly and securely share incident information across the Nation’s emergency response 

community in an effort to minimize the loss of life and property. The Disaster Management 

Interoperability Services (DMIS) incident management platform provides emergency managers 

with the ability to collaborate and share information with other DMIS users within their own 

organizations and with external organizations. The Open Platform for Emergency Networks 

(OPEN) system allows the exchange of information between different systems complying with 

DM standards. FEMA is working collaboratively with the Office for Interoperability and 

Compatibility, within the DMIS toolset, and with the OPEN backbone to allow agencies to 

communicate efficiently with local communities during an emergency, increasing the 

effectiveness of disaster response. 

SAFECOM 

SAFECOM provides research, development, testing and evaluation, guidance, tools, and 

templates on interoperable communications-related issues to Federal, State, Tribal, and local 

emergency response agencies. These services create more effective and efficient interoperable 

wireless communications, and as a result improve public safety response. 

SAFECOM is working with existing Federal communications initiatives and key public safety 

stakeholders to enhance the cross-jurisdictional and cross-disciplinary coordination of 

interoperable communications. The scope of this community is broad and the customer base 

 

24 The results of the March 2008 Enterprise Architecture assessment can be found at: 

http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/e-gov/fea/. 

14
includes over 50,000 local and State public safety agencies and organizations and over 100 

Federal agencies are engaged in public safety disciplines, including law enforcement, 

firefighting, public health, and disaster recovery. 

To address the most urgent interoperability needs, SAFECOM is supporting DHS’ Office of 

Emergency Communications’ development and implementation of a National Emergency 

Communications Plan and The National Communications Baseline Assessment. The National 

Emergency Communications Plan, published in July 2008, supports and promotes the ability of 

emergency response providers and relevant government officials to continue to communicate in 

the event of natural disasters, acts of terrorism, and other man-made disasters, and to ensure, 

accelerate, and attain interoperable emergency communications nationwide.25 The National 

Communications Baseline Assessment provides the first comprehensive assessment of 

interoperable emergency communication capability across all levels of government and public 

sector entities. Emergency responders use the assessment to better plan and coordinate their 

investment in new communications technology. 

SAFECOM is helping to ensure all public safety agencies have the necessary tools and resources 

to meet the immediate demands for interoperability when responding to an emergency. 

SAFECOM guidance, tools, and templates help guide the migration of the emergency response 

community’s existing communications systems to work more collaboratively with one another. 

Disaster Assistance Improvement Plan (DAIP) 

The intent of the Disaster Assistance Improvement Plan (DAIP), which was approved by the 

President in September 2007, streamlines the process disaster victims use to apply for and 

receive disaster assistance from multiple Federal agencies. 

On August 29, 2006, the President issued Executive Order 13411, establishing a Disaster 

Assistance Task Force, which is comprised of 15 agencies, led by the Department of Homeland 

Security (DHS). 

Specifically, Executive Order 13411 calls for the Task Force to: 

“Recommend specific actions to improve the delivery of Federal disaster assistance, which shall 

include actions to provide a centralized application process for Federal disaster assistance; 

provide a centralized and continuously updated clearinghouse from which disaster victims may 

obtain information regarding Federal disaster assistance and State and local government and 

private sector sources of disaster assistance; reduce unnecessarily duplicative application forms 

and processes for Federal disaster assistance; and strengthen controls designed to prevent 

improper payments and other forms of fraud, waste, and abuse.” 

Upon approval of the plan by the President, DHS assigned the Federal Emergency Management 

Agency (FEMA) to lead the plan’s implementation, in collaboration with all other Federal 

 

25The National Emergency Communications Plan can be found at: 

http://www.dhs.gov/xprepresp/publications/gc_1217521334397.shtm 

15
programs providing disaster assistance. The central information technology system has three 

basic components: 

• Applicant Intake (via the GovBenefits.gov website); 

• Tracking (via FEMA’s existing victim assistance database); and 

• Assistance (via the several programs providing actual benefits, such as the Small 

Business Administration). 

The very aggressive target date for launching the coordinated system was December, 2008 and 

this target was met.26 OMB is continuing to provide coordination assistance to FEMA and will 

measure progress of all the participating agencies as part of OMB’s regular E-Government 

implementation reviews. 

 

26 The Disaster Assistance website can be found at: http://www.disasterassistance.gov./daip_en.portal 

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SECTION II: HIGHLIGHTS OF INDIVIDUAL AGENCY INTERNAL EGOVERNMENT ACTIVITIES 

This section of the report summarizes and highlights agency specific E-Government activities. 

More detailed information and links to the agency’s Information Resources Management 

Strategic Plan and Freedom of Information Act primary website are located in each agency’s EGovernment Act Report and are available on agency websites. 

Department of Commerce

The Department’s E-Government Act Report is located at: 

http://ocio.os.doc.gov/ITPolicyandPrograms/E-Government/PROD01_002317

PORTS®: 

PORTS® is a decision support tool that improves the safety and efficiency of maritime 

commerce and coastal resource management through the integration of real-time environmental 

observations, forecasts and other geospatial information, and the dissemination of this data to 

mariners via the Internet. The system measures and integrates observations and predictions of 

water levels, currents, salinity, wind, and bridge clearance and posts them in real-time to the 

PORTS® Web site where mariners can easily access this data to significantly reduce the risk of 

vessel groundings and increase the amount of cargo moved through a port or waterway -- 

enabling mariners to safely utilize every inch of dredged channel depth. 

The PORTS® program has ongoing, continuous partnerships with private industry groups and 

national port and harbor authorities to deploy, operate, and improve the PORTS® system. 

PORTS® representatives travel the country attending industry trade shows and seminars to 

interact directly with port operators, freight companies, and mariners in order to gather feedback 

on improving system usability and ideas for additional system improvements and/or applications. 

External partners include the U. S. Coast Guard, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Navy port 

authorities, vessel pilots, state and local agencies, the shipping industry, other maritime 

transportation industries, and commercial fisherman, as well as small and recreational boaters, 

coastal managers, environmental organizations, and academia. 

The program objectives for PORTS® are improved economic efficiency, navigational safety, and 

coastal resource protection. The outcome measures are reducing the number of vessel 

groundings, increasing the amount of cargo moved through our nation’s ports, and providing 

information to mitigate damages should a maritime accident occur. These program objectives 

and outcome measures are achieved through critical performance targets, including: 

1) Customer Results - Percent of real-time data accessible via the Web, 

2) Mission and Business Results - Number of National Water Level Observation Network 

Stations, 

3) Technology - Number of Xpert Data Collection Platforms deployed, 

4) Processes and Activities - Percent of water current survey data processed and analyzed 

via an automated system. 

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Annual estimates of economic benefits directly attributed to PORTS® range from $7 million to 

$16 million per location. Currently, PORTS® is deployed in 18 locations. 

PORTS® data is also accessible to maritime users without Internet access or with disabilities in 

real time via telephone voice response. PORTS® recently implemented data dissemination in 

Wireless Markup Language (WML) format for use by cellular phones and other handheld 

devices and is currently working with the U.S. Coast Guard to enable real time PORTS® data 

feeds directly from the Coast Guard Web site. 

Department of Defense

The Department’s E-Government Act Report is located at: 

http://www.defenselink.mil/cio-nii/docs/DoDFY2008EGovernmentReport.pdf

Duty Free Entry:

Duty Free Entry (DFE) is a Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) application used by 

DCMA's vendor trading partners, their Customs Brokers, DoD Contracting Officers and the 

DCMA customs team for processing requests for Duty Free Entry. In DCMA's role as the 

Customs Broker for the Department of Defense, DCMA receives and processes requests for Duty 

Free Entry Certificates in accordance with the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and 

Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS). The process was experiencing 

significant delays due to lost, misrouted and incomplete documents. To improve the 

effectiveness of the process, DCMA developed the DFE tool. 

In developing this tool, DCMA met with U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP), representatives 

of the Defense industry and Defense Procurement and Acquisition Policy (DPAP). These 

partners participated in the testing of the application and supported its fielding, a major 

contributor to its success. Formal meetings with the industry trading partners continue four 

times a year and informal input is received as well. DCMA is currently working with Capability 

Portfolio Management (CPM) to integrate this process into their International Trade Data System 

(ITDS) project during FY2009. 

External partners include Defense vendors, their Customs Brokers and indirectly Customs and 

Border Patrol. 

There has been a 300% improvement in throughput, 99% reduction in cycle time and an 88% 

reduction in rejects since the fielding of the application. Cycle time on a Duty Free Request 

went from over 180 days to an average of 1 day. Rejected transactions were reduced from 25% 

to near 0 (zero). 

Fielding of DFE enabled the retirement of the previous system which required approximately 

$100,000 of maintenance per year. Cost Avoidance due to the improved business process noted 

above is estimated at $1,108,750 and is split equally between the vendor and DoD users. 

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This application requires access to the Internet. The application is compliant with Section 508 for 

disabled users. And the paper process continues to be supported for vendors and brokers who do 

not have access to the Internet. 

The project was costed and benefits identified before management approval to begin was 

received. Monthly In Process Reviews were held and Earned Value was applied to ensure that 

the project stayed within cost and schedule. The total cost of the project was $526,000 and it is 

expected to have a 3.6:1 return on investment over its first three years. However, the greater 

benefit is the increase in effectiveness and timeliness in processing over $66 million worth of 

inbound shipments. 

Additionally, DCMA has an eBusiness Directorate under the CIO with a role to look for and 

implement eBusiness Opportunities. DCMA meets with and has open communications industry 

groups, their Service and Defense Agency customers, and internal customers to look for new 

opportunities to expand trading partners and to create new tools to improve the efficiency and 

effectiveness of DCMA. Electronic business at DCMA currently exceeds $250 billion per year. 

Department of Education

The Department’s E-Government Act Report is located at: 

http://www.ed.gov/about/reports/annual/egov/status08.html 

G5: 

The G5 investment has been selected and approved by the Office of Management and Budget as 

one of three Centers of Excellence/shared service providers for the Grants Management Line of 

Business (GMLoB). This investment provides for the replacement of the Department of 

Education’s (ED) legacy grants management system - the Grant Administration and Payment 

System (GAPS) and supports the Line of Business consolidation initiative. The shared service 

model enables ED to provide services to client agencies that will migrate to the Department’s 

end-to-end grants management system. 

 

The G5 solution supports the Agency’s grant-making business process and is a full lifecycle endto-end grants management system (from intake of applications, peer review, award, payment, 

and performance monitoring to final closeout of the grant award). The system is being 

implemented in a three-phase approach over several years. Phase I (Payments) was implemented 

in December 2007. Phase II (Pre-Award) will be implemented in October 2009 and Phase III 

(Post Award) will be implemented in 2010. The investment was initiated to gather new or 

changing requirements related to grants management and to better align with the Department’s 

current business processes and strategic plan. The GAPS system became operational in 1998 and 

has reached the end of its lifecycle. This initiative ensures the Department’s enterprise-wide 

grants management system is up to date with current technology trends and with Government 

Paperwork Elimination Act requirements and that it is closely aligned with both existing and new 

grants policies and procedures. The Department intends to leverage enabling technologies to 

facilitate improvements within the grants management lifecycle. The high-level planned 

capabilities of the G5 solution include total electronic records management, workflow 

management and automatic notifications and alerts. Workflow tools will be used to expedite 

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planning and allow interaction between the grantor and applicant/grantee. The legacy system’s 

total integration with the General Ledger and sub ledger components that support detail 

accounting for obligations, expenditures and payments will also be included in the G5 solution. 

Department of Energy

The Department’s E-Government Act Report is located at: 

http://cio.energy.gov/e-gov.htm 

Corporate Planning System: 

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) uses the Corporate Planning 

System (CPS) for instituting Budget to Performance Integration through a systems management 

approach to program planning, budgeting, implementation, and evaluation. CPS provides the 

foundation for EERE and the Office of Electricity Delivery & Energy Reliability (OE) to 

collaborate and coordinate Headquarters (HQ), PMC, and national laboratories Research & 

Development (R&D) activities. CPS assists EERE programs in the development and linking of 

their performance milestones to EERE and DOE strategic goals and investment targets to 

strategically accomplish their missions within the appropriated budgets. 

CPS provides a comprehensive capability for program managers and staff to easily make 

informed funding decisions on research, development, demonstration, and deployment 

(RDD&D) investments, track all RDD&D activities; monitor research progress; and quantify 

impacts, benefits, and costs to support DOE strategic goals. This ready access will better support 

the decision-making process. Enhanced capabilities and analysis of data can provide EERE 

managers with appropriate information when they need to know it, which allows for better 

oversight of federally-invested dollars and gauging RD&D performance for all of EERE's 

RDD&D investments. 

CPS is critical for supporting EERE's strategic management framework, and is responsive to the 

goals and objectives within EERE's Strategic Plan commitment to change the way it does 

business and support the objectives of its 10 mission programs and business administration 

offices. To fulfill EERE program mission information needs, CPS also interfaces with field 

project management systems, corporate financial reporting systems, and national laboratories to 

show the status of funds from planning to costing. This investment aims to be results oriented, 

link budget and management decisions to performance, ensure financial accountability, and 

eliminate redundant systems through consolidation. 

Department of Homeland Security

The Department’s E-Government Act Report is located at: 

http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/cio_egov_annual_report_2008.pdf 

TECS: 

DHS has started an innovative project that is transforming the existing traveler enforcement 

compliance system called Traveler Enforcement Compliance System (TECS) Modernization 

(2010) initiative. Mitigating risks as they apply to traveler enforcement is a key part of the 

20
Department of Homeland Security’s overarching mission to protect the homeland from all 

external and internal threats. 

TECS Modernization is a consolidated project between Customs and Border Protection (CBP) 

and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that will modernize TECS’ subject record 

“watch list” processing, Primary and Secondary inspection support at the Port of Entry as well as 

its Case Management module. TECS is a key border enforcement system that supports the 

screening of travelers entering the U.S. as well as the screening requirements of other Federal 

Agencies. The objective of this project is to enhance the mission capabilities of DHS, CBP and 

ICE by developing and deploying a modernized system to replace the current one. 

Department of Health and Human Services

The Department’s E-Government Act Report is located at: 

http://www.hhs.gov/ocio/egov/annualreport/ 

Hospital Compare Tool: 

Hospital Compare displays rates for Process of Care measures that show whether or not hospitals 

provide some of the care that is recommended for patients being treated for a heart attack, heart 

failure, pneumonia, asthma (children only) or patients having surgery. Hospitals voluntarily 

submit data from medical records about the treatments their patients receive for these conditions. 

The data include patients with Medicare, those enrolled in Medicare health plans, and those who 

don’t have Medicare. CMS has recently started to report information on children's asthma care. 

Currently, The Joint Commission provides this information to CMS. 

This website also displays information on Hospital Outcome of Care Measures. The Hospital 

Outcome of Care Measures includes the 30-day Risk Adjusted Death (Mortality) Rates for 

patients with Medicare who were admitted to the hospital for heart attack, heart failure and 

pneumonia. The 30-day period is used because this is the time period when deaths are most 

likely to be related to the care patients received in the hospital. CMS compiles this information 

from claims and enrollment data for patients in Original (fee-for-service) Medicare. It does not 

include people in Medicare Advantage plans or people who do not have Medicare. 

Hospital Compare displays the Survey of Patients’ Hospital Experiences, using data collected 

from the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) 

Survey. The intent of the HCAHPS initiative is to provide a standardized survey instrument and 

data collection methodology for measuring patients' perspectives on hospital care. 

This website also displays Medicare inpatient hospital payment information and the number of 

Medicare patients treated (volume) for certain illnesses or diagnoses Diagnosis Related Groups 

(DRG). Hospital Compare shows information for each hospital on selected DRGs from October 

2006 through September 2007. 

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) launched Hospital Compare March 31, 

2005, with seventeen processes of care quality measures in three clinical conditions: heart attack, 

heart failure and pneumonia; and, surgical infection prevention. As of June 2007, CMS increased 

the number of quality measures, reporting 22 process measures and two outcome measures. 

21
CMS has added Patient Satisfaction measures in March 2008 to provide more detail to help make 

available the information consumers need for health care decision making. This tool also 

includes inpatient hospital payment information and the number of Medicare patients treated 

(volume) for certain illnesses. August of 2008, HHS added pneumonia mortality and two 

Children’s Asthma Care (CAC) measures. In 2008 December, HHS two more surgical care 

measures. 

Psychiatric, children's, rehabilitation and long-term care hospitals currently are not reported on 

this website, although many have agreed in principle to provide data using standard quality 

measures. This is due to the fact that the conditions currently measured -- care of adults with a 

heart attack, heart failure, or pneumonia -- are less commonly treated in these settings. In 

addition to reporting quality measures, Hospital Compare includes tools consumers can use to 

start a conversation with their physician or hospital about what the information means and how 

they can best get the care they need. 

In September 2003, the “National Voluntary Hospital Reporting Initiative”, the predecessor of 

Hospital Compare, had only 415 hospitals that voluntarily reported information for one or more 

quality measures. In less than four years, the number of hospitals that voluntarily report quality 

measure data in September 2007 Hospital Compare tool increased to 4,416. 

Hospital Compare is one of six compare tools that CMS provides to consumers to locate and 

compare quality of care information through its beneficiary-centered website 

www.medicare.gov. The other tools are Dialysis Facility Compare, Home Health Compare, 

Nursing Home Compare, Medicare Options Compare (Medicare Managed Care Plans) and the 

Medicare Prescription Drug Plan Finder. In March 2008, the Hospital Compare tool provided 

patient experience (Hospital-CAPHS) data. 

The Hospital Compare Website enables CMS to transform agency operations by implementing 

the principles of a value-based system in the Medicare program. Hospital Compare empowers 

consumer choice and gives consumers a better insight into the quality of care provided by their 

local hospitals. The Hospital Compare initiative supports CMS’ commitment to the four 

cornerstones of value-driven healthcare: ensuring transparent quality and price information, 

interoperable health information technology and incentives for high-quality, efficient health care 

delivery. These quality compare tools position CMS to achieve the HHS Health Transparency 

and e-Government priorities by providing easy electronic access to helpful comparative 

information on health care quality. CMS is also working with the Agency for Healthcare 

Research and Quality to develop a patient experience tool for home health agencies which will 

also be provided online. 

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Department of Housing and Urban Development

The Department’s E-Government Act Report is located at: 

http://www.hud.gov/offices/cio/egov/index.cfm 

Geocode Service Center: 

As the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) carries out its mission of 

increasing homeownership, supporting community development and increasing access to 

affordable housing free from discrimination, information is collected from its various business 

partners and supporting IT systems. To determine the value of HUD’s various programs, 

whether or not these programs are delivering benefits as expected, or if additional benefits would 

be possible with new regulations or policies, this information needs to be unified and analyzed. 

Because this information is collected from a variety of sources, systems, and programs, 

information analysis could be difficult. Fortunately, HUD implemented the Geocode Service 

Center (GSC), which is our enterprise solution for validating and correcting addresses, detecting 

and correcting or removing corrupt or inaccurate records, and geographically enabling data. 

In general, geospatial technologies help agencies to understand where they are spatially on the 

earth, as well as the location and interrelationships of natural and man-made resources. 

Consequently, the GSC allows HUD to standardize its information so that it can be mapped, 

combined, overlaid, analyzed, and displayed as spatially referenced information both graphically 

and numerically. HUD then uses this information to make policy and management decisions for 

verifying, expanding, and improving our programs. Additionally, HUD can share this 

information with other businesses, organizations and agencies to better enable a governmentwide, multi-agency, multi-programmatic perspective for broader planning, surveying, security, 

and mapping applications. 

The GSC is representative of technological innovations that meet the challenges of the EGovernment Act by: 

• Modernizing HUD’s business processes, while at the same time allowing HUD to ensure that 

it is meeting mission goals and objectives, 

• Allowing HUD to create accurate and quality data that can be shared with other government 

entities and the public, 

• Allowing HUD policy makers to make better informed decisions, 

• Increasing HUD’s transparency and accountability, and 

• Using geospatial industry best practices to reduce costs and increase productivity. 

Department of the Interior

The Department’s E-Government Act Report is located at: 

http://www.doi.gov/e-government/ 

Electronic Records Management: 

Annually, DOI uses its portfolio management decision making process to establish investment 

priorities, identify new opportunities for modernization (including the identification of business 

23
areas in need of transformation). DOI recognizes the importance of sound information and 

records management practices. In response to senior executives’ identification of records 

management as one of the “Top 10 Priorities”, goals were established to drive improvements in 

support of records management. DOI ERM was established as a part of the IT Strategic Plan to 

ensure that our stakeholders stay informed, provide appropriate public access, and protect 

sensitive information from inappropriate release. In FY 2008, DOI established records 

management as a part of its E-Gov Strategy and internal E-Gov Scorecard. 

This key initiative will provide DOI with policies and guidance in the maintenance of electronic 

records. Moreover, the DOI ERM will address mechanisms to better manage paper and 

electronic records through their life cycle. The initiative will reduce costs associated with 

operating multiple, disparate systems. DOI ERM will provide the ability to read records 

throughout their life cycle as well as provide officials with a central access point to active and 

inactive records for any Bureau and/or the Department. 

Department of Justice

The Department’s E-Government Act Report is located at: 

http://www.usdoj.gov/jmd/ocio/egovactreport2008.pdf 

OneDOJ: 

The Department of Justice (DOJ) Law Enforcement Information Sharing Program (LEISP) 

continues to transform the way the Department shares law enforcement information with its 

Federal, State, Local and Tribal law enforcement partners. Since publication of the LEISP 

strategy in December 2005, two LEISP initiatives have become realities including the National 

Data Exchange (N-DEx) which is a system designed to share unclassified criminal justice data 

from every level of government on a national basis; and, OneDOJ (formerly named the Regional 

Data Exchange or R-DEx). The Department provided an overview of N-DEx in its 2007 EGovernment Status report. This year, DOJ features OneDOJ, the core concept of the LEISP 

strategy.

Governed by the LEISP Coordinating Committee (LCC), OneDOJ is responsible for developing 

and implementing policies and methods for achieving a comprehensive Department-wide 

information sharing strategy. Under the leadership of the Deputy Attorney General, the LCC is 

comprised of senior operational leaders of each component and includes representation for DOJ 

prosecutors/attorneys. 

OneDOJ is the primary criminal law enforcement information sharing system internally within 

the Department of Justice and externally among DOJ’s Federal, State, Local, and Tribal law 

enforcement partners. OneDOJ provides the Department’s shareable criminal law information to 

its Federal, State, Local and Tribal partners in a thorough and deliberate manner. In exchange, 

the Department connects to regional criminal law enforcement sharing systems and queries their 

law enforcement information. The bi-lateral partnerships with designated regional, state or 

federal sharing initiatives are governed by a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that 

outlines policies and procedures for the handling and use of OneDOJ data. OneDOJ data will be 

used for official criminal justice purposes only and will be disclosed by the contributing Agency 

24
only in accordance with Federal law, including the Freedom of Information Act and the Privacy 

Act of 1974. 

OneDOJ criminal law enforcement data comes from DOJ’s law enforcement components: the 

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, Federal Bureau of Prisons, the Drug 

Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the United States 

Marshals Service. DOJ strives to use all its assets to advance the LEISP vision. By November 

2008, included all booking data from the Joint Automated Booking System (JABS)—close to 8 

million records were added, including arrest information, fingerprints, photographs, biographical 

information, and information on markings and scars as well for individuals taken into custody by 

Federal, State, and Local law enforcement agents. 

OneDOJ’s Federal partners include the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and 

Customs Enforcement (ICE) Pattern Analysis and Information Collection (ICEPIC), and the 

Navy’s Law Enforcement Information Exchange (LInX) initiative. LInX, OneDOJ’s initial 

partner in 2005, provided a template for the regional information sharing activity. The regional 

exchange participants in the original Washington State LInX included the Navy Criminal 

Investigative Service (NCIS) in Seattle, the Washington State Patrol, and the local police 

agencies from a number of Washington cities and counties. Today, OneDOJ partnership with the 

LInX law enforcement consortium has expanded to locations in the Southeast Regional, Gulf 

Coast, Hampton Roads, Hawaii, National Capital Region, and the Northwest Region. 

By far, the greatest benefit for all OneDOJ stakeholders are the automated availability of 

integrated information from many sources, information sharing and operational cooperation 

within DOJ and the law enforcement partners. This capability allows users to discover leads 

more quickly, to discover unobvious leads that would have previously remained unknown, and to 

eliminate false leads during investigations aimed at preventing terrorist acts and reducing crime. 

Department of Labor

The Department’s E-Government Act Report is located at: 

http://www.dol.gov/cio/programs/E-Gov/EGov2008.htm 

Integrated Federal Employees’ Compensation System: 

Integrated Federal Employees’ Compensation System (iFECS) is a mission-critical steady state 

system that supports the Office of Workers' Compensation Programs (OWCP), Division of 

Federal Employees' Compensation (DFEC) in the administration of the Federal Employees' 

Compensation Act (FECA). DFEC provides workers’ compensation coverage for three million 

federal, postal and certain other workers covered by the Act. FECA benefits include wage 

replacement and survivors’ compensation and payment for medical care including vocational 

rehabilitation assistance. As such, iFECS supports FECA program administration and missionrelated activities. FECA program operations include centralized mail processing and central 

medical bill processing, both under contract. Mission activities include claims adjudication, 

payment of benefits, disability management and vocational rehabilitation, management of the 

Federal Employees’ Compensation Fund, and technical assistance and outreach to Federal 

employing agencies, medical providers, and other stakeholders. 

25
iFECS has significantly improved government functions of processing injury claims, paying 

workers' compensation benefits, providing medical benefits, and supporting other financial and 

administrative activities mandated by Congress. The system capabilities support operations such 

as: mail intake; automation of claims and benefit payment; long-term case maintenance and case 

file storage; Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and other information exchanges; providing 

customer access to program information; correspondence and phone communications; workload 

tracking; program performance and benefit cost reporting; financial management; and program 

oversight and other general administrative activities. Over the years, the system has evolved 

from its inception in 1978 as a series of disparate component systems built for a "Four Phase" 

environment, through a direct conversion of that software to the FECS (1985 to 2005) that 

comprised independent function-based component systems in a client/server environment, and in 

2005 migrated to a single integrated system—iFECS. 

Overall, iFECS is a federal system that exemplifies the government’s ongoing efforts to 

continuously improve the business of government and the delivery of services to the U.S. citizen. 

Over the past few years, the iFECS investment has provided a valuable contribution to increasing 

government efficiency, reducing federal costs, and improving program transparency. The 

Department of Labor is proud of this investment and its continued contribution to serving its 

customer community. 

Department of Transportation

The Department’s E-Government Act Report is located at: 

http://www.dot.gov/webpolicies.htm 

Multimodal Hazmat Intelligence Portal: 

There are over one million estimated daily shipments of hazardous materials (HAZMAT) 

transported across the United States’ transportation networks. In addition, there are over 300,000 

HAZMAT companies that ship and/or transport hazardous materials. However, there are only 

663 Federal/State HAZMAT inspectors who can complete a little over 26,000 inspections a year. 

Therefore, to best utilize compliance and enforcement resources, DOT is leveraging a unified 

risk-based data-driven approach to drive essential business decisions that will enable DOT to 

identify and target high risk/consequence companies. This approach will allow DOT to increase 

safety performance through risk-based enforcement; maximize limited resources by prioritizing 

inspection activities; strengthen cross modal, state, and local collaboration; and increase the 

effectiveness of outreach, training and emergency preparedness. 

Using an enterprise approach, DOT launched the first release of the Multimodal Hazmat 

Intelligence Portal (HIP) in October 2008. HIP is a federal intelligence fusion center for 

HAZMAT inspection and enforcement data collected by DOT agencies: Pipeline Hazardous 

Materials Administration (PHMSA), Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), and Federal Motor Carrier Administration (FMCSA), and its partners, 

e.g., United States Coast Guard (USCG), Transportation Security Administration (TSA), and 

state and local governments. The concept for this initiative was developed through a 

collaborative effort between the federal agencies mentioned above and private industry to ensure 

an innovative solution that utilizes the best technology to achieve the desired results. To 

26
maximize business value, this project is being developed in a phased iterative approach with 

major releases occurring at least every six months. Each release integrates new data and provides 

analytical reports to assist decision support. In FY10, a Geographic Information System (GIS) 

component will be developed that will provide the capability to map incident data, provide 

accurate locations of shipper and carriers, as well as allow federal, state and local governments 

and communities to assist in emergency response planning by mapping commodity flow through 

cities and towns. By employing risk reduction strategies, DOT can strengthen safety performance 

by leveraging data to drive business decisions that will provide for the safe, secure, and reliable 

transport of HAZMAT. Through data sharing and business intelligence tools, DOT will make 

strategic and operational decisions that benefit from capabilities that were not possible in the 

past, e.g. pattern matching to identify trends, leading indicators to potentially identify and 

prevent incidents from occurring. Through partnerships, the investment produces a DOT-wide 

risk rating for each regulated company and complete inspection histories by using data from 

federal, state and commercial sources. It reduces time required to plan inspections through 

automated scorecards and itinerary planning. Collaboration tools limit duplicate inspections and 

coordinate outreach to industry and the public. 

The USCG, TSA, and Customs and Border Protection of the Department of Homeland Security 

partnered with DOT to expand the portal to also meet their safety and compliance requirements. 

DOT is also meeting with Health and Human Services Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease 

Registry. The result will be an effortless data exchange (web-services), business intelligence 

analysis, and collaboration to support first response, safety, and security activities. This is a 

cross-cutting, e-Business initiative that will also provide information to the public in future 

phases. To ensure the success of this investment, the Intermodal Integrated Project Team and 

Executive Steering Committee utilize proper capital planning and investment control (CPIC) 

procedures, while the Investment Review Board ensures compliance with CPIC procedures and 

alignment with the DOT enterprise architecture. The project manager effectively communicates 

with the participating agencies and state and local partners to ensure the investment meets their 

needs. This is accomplished through the Executive Steering Committee, which includes 

representatives from each participating agency, HAZMAT conferences, and other forums. 

Performance measures for this investment have been developed and include: decreasing the 

number of serious incidents involving hazardous materials, increasing the percentage of 

inspections on companies who are considered high risk, and reducing the number of visits to out 

of business companies. The benefit of these measures and others defined in the cost benefit 

analysis for this investment result in a net present value of over $17M, a return on investment of 

248%, and a payback period of 2.3 years (cost/benefit analysis calculated over an 8 year period). 

These measures also aid in achieving DOT safety and organization excellence strategic goals. 

Department of the Treasury

The Department’s E-Government Act Report is located at: 

http://treas.gov/offices/cio/egov/ea/ 

Modernized Electronic File: 

Modernized Electronic File (MeF) is the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) e-Filing platform. 

MeF provides a web-based conduit by which Corporate, Excise, Exempt Organizations (non27
profit), and Partnerships tax returns can be filed electronically via the Internet. MeF’s web-based 

presentation to Taxpayers has transformed how IRS completes its tax processing and compliance 

functions. 

MeF was selected based on the following criteria of the E-Gov Act 2002: 

• Delivers services and information to citizen electronically, 

• Reduces burden on citizens and businesses, 

• Part of the modernization blueprint, 

• Ensures interoperability of systems; and 

• Brings about improvements in Government operations that may include effectiveness, 

efficiency, service quality or transformation. 

MeF allows Corporate (1120), Exempt Organizations (990), Partnerships (1065) and Excise Tax 

(Forms 2290, 8849 & 720) tax returns to be filed electronically, thereby, delivering services and 

information to citizens electronically as required by the E-Gov Act. Electronic filing eliminates 

the need to send paper documents to processing centers as well as the need to match the paper 

documents with an electronically filed return. Additionally, MeF provides business taxpayers the 

opportunity to meet their state filing obligation by filing their state return with their Federal 

return. Corporate organizational charts and other Taxpayer specific documentation that must be 

submitted with the tax return can now be scanned and attached to the electronic return. This 

eliminates the need for Taxpayers to send documents to the IRS via paper, reducing time and 

storage costs. 

MeF’s e-Filing platform improves the capability for performing tax compliance reviews and 

audits by making the complete e-Filed return available to the auditor in the field promptly, 

regardless of geographical location. MeF enhances the capability to select and classify returns, 

which helps ensure that the appropriate returns are selected for audit based on audit criteria. 

In Fiscal Year (FY) 2007, the IRS implemented a legislatively mandated Department of 

Transportation (DOT) initiative to allow the heavy vehicle trucking industry to electronically file 

excise tax-related returns. In collaboration with the DOT, the IRS developed and delivered 

software to receive and process three specific excise tax forms. Excise tax returns processed by 

MeF return to the Taxpayer a watermarked proof of payment document (secure validation). This 

document can be taken by the Taxpayer to their state motor vehicle agency for registration. Prior 

to MeF, the turnaround time for the Taxpayer to receive this proof of payment document was 

two to four weeks. 

MeF provides two notifications to the Taxpayer on the status of their return. The first 

notification, known as the receipt, is sent to the Taxpayer within minutes of the IRS receiving the 

tax return. The IRS provides the second notification, known as the acknowledgement, within 24 

hours of receiving the tax return. The acknowledgement confirms that the IRS has successfully 

processed the return or has sent back the return due to error. In summary, MeF provides the 

following benefits: 

28
• Speeds turnaround of tax return submissions (acknowledgements), 

• Eliminates barriers that have inhibited the growth of electronic filing, 

• Uses the latest secure Internet technology, 

• Reduces errors over paper submission, 

• Reduces costs for the Taxpayers and the IRS. 

Department of State

The Department’s E-Government Act Report is available at: 

http://www.state.gov/m/irm/rls/115901.htm 

Office of eDiplomacy: 

The U.S. Department of State’s Office of eDiplomacy represents both organizational and 

technological innovation to foster collaboration and knowledge-sharing within State and with 

other federal agencies. These innovations are essential to successful U.S. diplomacy in today’s 

dynamic and globally integrated information age. 

Following the 1998 bombings of American embassies in Africa and the 2001 attacks in the 

United States, the State Department recognized an urgent need to improve communication, 

collaboration and knowledge-sharing internally and with other federal national security and 

foreign affairs agencies. The Department also realized that this need would require overcoming 

formidable barriers; a business model of largely self-contained strategic business units (e.g., 

geographic bureaus and embassies); an organizational tradition of exclusive work focus on an 

individual’s current business unit; a World War II-era communications model (telegrams) and 

Cold War security model (“need to know”) that restrained information flow; and a career 

development model of constant change of job and location. 

Accordingly, in 2003, State formally launched the Office of eDiplomacy and granted it wide 

latitude to innovate in knowledge-sharing, following a broad strategy to empower Department 

personnel to find and contribute knowledge anywhere at anytime. The office itself and its 

transformational mandate were remarkable in the context of State’s traditional command and 

control, hierarchical culture. The creation of a specific center for knowledge management 

generated and continues to fuel innovations that give substance to the ongoing shift of the 

Department toward a more open knowledge-sharing organization: 

• eDiplomacy’s classified home page program, begun in 2003 from a base of zero and now 

virtually universal, enables U.S. overseas posts to publish diplomatic reporting and analysis 

to web pages available on a widely used interagency network. In addition to overcoming the 

limits of State’s point-to-point telegraphic distribution, the program has instilled a new 

routine across the enterprise of widespread knowledge-sharing. 

• Diplopedia, the Department’s online collaborative wiki, has created a growing, central 

gateway for State’s corporate knowledge. All of State’s 57,000 personnel can read and 

contribute to Diplopedia, which can also be viewed by other U.S agencies. Diplopedia’s 

model of open editing and contribution departs sharply from State’s traditional “clearance” 

culture of extensive pre-publication review of information. Additionally, U.S. embassies and 

29
domestic offices are themselves innovating in Diplopedia’s use as a highly flexible 

information portal. 

• The Communities @ State program uses blogging software to enable Department 

personnel to form and manage online communities based on shared professional interests. 

These online communities transcend organizational and geographic boundaries. For 

example, the North American Partnership links Washington to posts in Canada and Mexico 

to coordinate efforts and policy. The Regional Consular Officer Forum helps posts around 

the world access expertise on visa, passport, and overseas citizen services. 

• eDiplomacy designed, launched and operates an enterprise search initiative that connects 

Department personnel to expertise and information by integrating Diplopedia, online 

communities, an informal search support service, and Department knowledge bases. 

• eDiplomacy also initiated and provides ongoing support to the Virtual Presence Post 

(VPP) program. This program helps U.S. diplomatic missions to better use the full range of 

their resources for strategic outreach to people and areas in the host countries where the U.S. 

does not maintain a permanent diplomatic presence. There are 53 VPPs worldwide. 

• eDiplomacy is now leading an effort to extend these advances and develop new 

approaches to knowledge-sharing and collaboration with non-U.S. Government partners such 

as foreign governments, the academic community, and non-governmental organizations. 

The innovations of organization, information technology and business practices that comprise the 

knowledge leadership program have both unified and made more versatile the interaction 

between State’s extensive domestic operations and its large and dispersed international activities, 

and they have advanced a transformation in the Department’s leadership of American foreign 

policy formulation and implementation. 

Department of Veterans Affairs

The Department’s E-Government Act Report is available at: 

http://www.va.gov/oit/ 

ExecVA: 

The ExecVA Contact Management System (ExecVA), owned by the Office of the Secretary of 

Veterans Affairs, is a secure, intranet application that tracks calls from veterans that are placed to 

a VA call center. ExecVA provides a one-stop repository for veterans’ calls. The details of the 

calls are recorded and assigned to field personnel within the system. Users throughout VA can 

collaborate on responses to veterans and other stakeholders, which results in improved accuracy, 

consistency, and timeliness of responses through shared data and knowledge management. In 

addition, it helps to prevent possible theft of veterans’ personally identifiable information as 

information is stored in a controlled database. This process formerly consisted of handwriting 

the details of calls and emailing to field personnel for processing. Implementation of ExecVA 

has resulted in increased efficiency, productivity, customer satisfaction, and security. In 

addition, ExecVA creates the ability to generate automatic and custom reports on any data stored 

in the database. 

30
This application illustrates VA’s goal to operate as an integrated veteran-centric organization by 

enhancing workforce assets and internal processes, improving communications, and furthering a 

crosscutting approach to provide seamless service to veterans and their families. 

Environmental Protection Agency

The Agency’s E-Government Act Report is available at: 

http://epa.gov/oei/policies.htm 

Toxics Release Inventory Made Easy: 

The Toxics Release Inventory Made Easy (TRI-MEweb) and the Toxics Release Inventory State 

Data Exchange27 combine to form an integrated electronic reporting process for TRI data. TRIMEweb is a browser-based application that allows industry to file TRI reports anywhere there is 

an internet connection. The State Data Exchange then submits certified reports to the state the 

reporting facility is located in, completing the requirement to report to EPA and the state. This 

initiative was identified and developed after a presentation to the OEI CIO on the TRI reporting 

process. TRI-MEweb and the State Data Exchange are transforming Agency operations in 

several ways. TRI now receives and processes significantly less paper. Receiving data 

electronically further helps the TRI program release data to the public at an early date each year. 

With the data quality checks built into the TRI-MEweb system, the TRI program was able to 

release reported data to the public in February of this year, nearly six months earlier than before 

TRI adopted electronic reporting. In addition, the State Data Exchange allows for reporting 

facilities to meet dual reporting requirements to EPA and the state in a single electronic 

submission to EPA. The submission is forwarded to the state if it participates on the state data 

exchange. 

General Services Administration

The Agency’s E-Government Act Report is available at: 

http://www.gsa.gov/Portal/gsa/ep/contentView.do?contentType=GSA_OVERVIEW&contentId=

22433 

Information Technology Infrastructure Consolidation: 

Approved in 2006, the General Services Administration’s (GSA) Information Technology (IT) 

Infrastructure Consolidation provides a consistent and reliable global platform in which costs are 

more controllable and predictable. Most importantly, the IT infrastructure consolidation allows 

for improved performance provision and direct monitoring of resource usage. This initiative is 

now completing implementation. 

Before this initiative, the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) shared management of 

the IT infrastructure with Public Buildings Service (PBS), Federal Acquisition Services (FAS), 

Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO), Office of the Inspector General, Office of General 

 

27 The TRI State Data Exchange is the name of the data flow supported by the National Environmental Information 

Exchange Network (Exchange Network). The Exchange Network is a partnership among states, tribes and the EPA, 

developed to utilize the Internet, common web services and data standards to exchange environmental information 

in a secure environment. 

31
Counsel and regional PBS, FAS and OCFO offices. Each organization also issued its own 

infrastructure contract(s). 

The IT Infrastructure Consolidation has provided a centralized infrastructure delivery platform 

with clear responsibilities and accountability. This platform is facilitating core configuration 

standardization and easing compliance with Information Technology Infrastructure Library 

processes agency-wide. This also increases the transparency of resources used in national 

operations. Most importantly, the CIO is both empowered and accountable for agency IT 

operations. 

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

The Agency’s E-Government Act Report is available at: 

http://www.nasa.gov/news/reports/index.html 

NASA Property, Plant, and Equipment System: 

The NASA Property, Plant, and Equipment (PP&E) System was deployed at all NASA 

Installations in May 2008 and will be used throughout the Agency to identify, control, and 

account for Government-owned equipment acquired by, or in use by, NASA and its onsite 

NASA contractors. The PP&E System will track assets and equipment in a single Agency-wide 

data source, allowing improved resource allocation and formulation processes across all NASA 

Centers. Through standardized processes, the integration of asset tracking and property 

accounting functions will allow transparency of acquisition, transfer, or disposal throughout the 

life cycle for capital assets. By removing both manual and duplicative electronic methods of 

asset management, the project is fully aligned with E-Government goals. 

PP&E addresses performance gaps from prior NASA audits related to financial and asset 

management, addressing the lack of integration between current logistics and financial systems 

and the lack of sufficient internal control policies and procedures as they relate to NASA 

equipment. The implementation of PP&E provides best practices accounting of taxpayer funding 

for existing property and disseminates real-time asset data to decision-makers who allocate 

resources to ongoing projects and future requirements. The NASA PP&E System is an Agencywide tool hosted at the Integrated Enterprise Management Program (IEMP) Competency Center 

at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center and consists of the following components: SAP 

Enterprise Resources Planning (ERP) System; N-PROP (the web based front end access to SAP), 

DSPL (the disposal component), and Business Warehouse (BW). The SAP component contains 

Asset Accounting and Plant Maintenance modules. 

As with all NASA IT investments, the NASA PP&E System follows the Agency’s capital 

planning guidelines. The system was also thoroughly tested to ensure it could be used by those 

individuals with disabilities – otherwise known as Section 508 compliance. In addition, NASA 

maintains an ongoing dialogue with Agency stakeholders through the chartered Functional 

Control Board (FCB), which is comprised of a Headquarters chairman and Center Business 

Process Leads (CBPLs). This board is responsible for identification and resolution of operational 

issues throughout the system’s life cycle. 

32
The PP&E Project team developed a formal performance measurement plan, which was 

reviewed and approved by the system functional owner prior to system deployment. This plan 

covers all of NASA’s Agency-level business drivers and project functional drivers documented 

in the Project business case and IAM PP&E Project Scope Document. 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission

The Agency’s E-Government Act Report is available at: 

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/e-gov/ 

Meta System: 

The NRC initiated its Meta System project to provide the means to receive and manage complex 

electronic document submittals in anticipation of major license applications for new nuclear 

power plants, license renewals for existing nuclear power plants, and the Department of Energy’s 

(DOE) high-level waste (HLW) repository license application for Yucca Mountain, Nevada. 

The Meta System project examined the NRC’s current business processes and its supporting 

technology components in the context of organizational responsibilities. The resulting gap 

analyses identified 268 process issues, 146 information technology enhancements, and 15 

adjustments to organizational responsibilities. Required changes resulting from these analyses 

have been implemented using a phased approach prioritized by business need. At the completion 

of each phase, testing was conducted in an environment supporting a real-life simulation of each 

business process from beginning to end. With the completion of the final phase, annual 

simulations confirm the operational integrity of the Meta System. Simulations have also been 

performed as required to evaluate operational readiness or to validate business process 

improvements and technology enhancements identified as a result of operational experience or 

driven by external factors such as technology refresh requirements or vendor support 

agreements. This capability has resulted in a high degree of confidence that changes 

implemented will not negatively impact either upstream or downstream information flows. 

Today, the Meta System manages the interaction amongst 12 internal organizations and 40 

external organizations along with14 systems supporting 100 primary business processes and 70 

major interdependent exchanges of data. 

The Meta System has been instrumental in allowing the NRC to achieve significant operating 

goals entailing the receipt, processing, and distribution of high volumes of complex documents 

during this challenging time in its history. 

National Science Foundation

The Agency’s E-Government Act Report is available at: 

http://www.nsf.gov/oirm/dis/ 

Privacy of agency customers:

NSF supports the goals of the E-Government Act of 2002 by utilizing technology to improve 

services to citizens, businesses, and other federal agencies. NSF is committed to ensuring the 

33
protection of personal information. During FY 2008, NSF focused on an initiative to reduce the 

use of information that, if inadvertently lost, could impact the privacy of agency customers. NSF 

conducted a comprehensive privacy review and established several high priority opportunities. 

First, NSF reviewed the agency’s grants management systems to ensure the appropriate 

protection of personal information. NSF then identified where SSNs were used and replaced 

them with an alternate identifier where possible. One key outcome was that nearly 400,000 

account holders no longer use their SSNs to access FastLane, NSF’s premier grants management 

web site. 

Next, NSF reduced potential for accidental access, use, or disclosure of personal information by 

increasing protections where SSNs must be used for business purposes. NSF examined use of 

personal information in agency systems and processes, and removed SSNs from financial and 

human resource reports. 

Because NSF works seamlessly with scientists, researchers, and members of the academic 

community in pursuit of the agency mission, external support for this initiative was critical. NSF 

presented the agency’s plans at a wide range of conferences targeted to faculty members, 

researchers, and grant administrators to ensure they had up-to-date information on the initiative. 

NSF’s plans were met with enthusiasm by customers; they quickly adopted the alternative to 

SSN and provided positive feedback regarding the protection of their personal information. 

It is difficult to quantify cost savings or avoidance; however, there are significant benefits to this 

initiative. NSF’s proactive effort to reduce the use of SSNs in business processes mitigates the 

risk of exposure, retains the trust of customers, and reduces the risk of identity theft. 

This initiative followed NSF’s investment management process, which provides a consistent 

method and structure to manage the IT investment portfolio. NSF’s process allocates limited 

resources, addresses strategic needs, and ensures compliance with statutory laws and guidance. 

The process also ensures that new e-government and IT initiatives avoid duplication with 

existing or planned federal efforts; utilizes periodic reporting of investment status so initiatives 

remain on track; and includes linkages to IT architecture, IT security and privacy, strategic 

planning, budgeting, and acquisition activities.

The Office of Management and Budget

The Agency’s E-Government Act Report is available at: 

http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/ 

Visualization to Understand Expenditures in Information Technology (VUE-IT): 

VUE-IT is the newest addition to OMB’s suite of transparency applications and provides a series 

of different ways to view and understand the Federal IT budget. The general public and federal 

stakeholders can navigate through the Federal IT budget by agency/bureau relationships, or by 

the Federal Enterprise Architecture (FEA) service groupings. The FEA service groupings are 

based on the FEA's Business Reference Model (BRM) and the Service Component Reference 

Model (SRM). VUE-IT assists the public in understanding the annual Federal Government 

Information Technology investments made through the President’s Budget. The tool is available 

34
at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/egov/vue-it/index.html.Through the VUE-IT tool, both 

agencies and stakeholders will gain familiarity with the role IT spending plays in the delivery of 

agency mission services and an awareness of the elements of strategic IT planning. 

The Office of Personnel Management

The Agency’s E-Government Act Report is available at: 

http://www.opm.gov/about_opm/reports/egov.asp 

AcqTrack: 

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has numerous initiatives which align with or 

support eGov initiatives. The AcqTrack application is an integral part of the agency’s EGovernment strategy within the OPM Management Services Division (MSD). It integrates and 

streamlines the entire acquisition management process and supports full lifecycle contracting 

from requisition through contract award/purchase to final contract closeout for OPM users 

nation-wide. AcqTrack leverages the Serena TeamTrack platform and was the result of 

collaborative efforts between the Center for Information Services (CIS) and the OPM 

Contracting Group (CG). AcqTrack provides for the effective and efficient tracking and routing 

of procurement-related documents, and the tracking of approval and rejection of these 

documents. Its functionality and capacity continue to evolve to meet business requirements of 

OPM offices and the Contracting Group. AcqTrack includes mechanized audit trails and 

reporting for all of the activities and work flows in the system. 

Small Business Administration

The Agency’s E-Government Act Report is available at: 

 http://www.sba.gov/aboutsba/budgetsplans/BUDGET_ADD_REPORT_PLAN.html 

E-Tran: 

E-Tran is an SBA loan guaranty origination solution that leverages best-practice Internet 

technology to reduce the turnaround time on loan guaranty origination and servicing requests and 

provides the agency with high quality, timely data to support the management and oversight of 

its portfolio. E-Tran is one component of an overall strategy to provide increased efficiency and 

decreased costs in the loan guaranty origination and servicing process. 

SBA has worked with thousands of lenders over several years to tailor the suite of solutions for 

the lending community. E-Tran’s flexibility allows lenders to determine which method of access 

is best for them. E-Tran was created to allow access through a number of channels, including: 

• A Web page where lenders can enter loan information for single loans 

• A secure Web site capable of accepting multiple applications simultaneously via an XML 

(Extensible Markup Language) file transfer 

• Working with software intermediaries that have E-Tran loan submission functionality 

built into their program. 

35
Social Security Administration

The Agency’s E-Government Act Report is available at: 

http://www.ssa.gov/irm/ 

Retirement Estimator: 

In July 2008, the Social Security Administration launched an online calculator, the Retirement 

Estimator. It provides immediate and personalized benefit estimates to help individuals plan for 

retirement. The Retirement Estimator was developed to enable pre-retirees to obtain more 

accurate retirement estimates before making a decision to file for Social Security benefits. A key 

feature of the Retirement Estimator is that it allows users to create multiple retirement scenarios 

based on the individual's actual Social Security record. The value of such an initiative had been 

identified several years earlier; however, concern for privacy and security issues were such that 

the Agency moved deliberately to ensure that the Estimator, when launched, would offer the 

public an online application that had high value and in which users had the utmost confidence. 

The Retirement Estimator is expected to have a substantial impact on agency operations by (1) 

reducing calls and visits to SSA telephone centers and field offices and (2) increasing the number 

of individuals who file for retirement benefits online. Both outcomes will result in significant 

savings for the agency. 

U.S. Agency for International Development

The Agency’s E-Government Act Report is available at: 

http://www.usaid.gov/policy/egov 

GLAAS:

The GLAAS initiative implements an enterprise, end-to-end, web-based Acquisition and 

Assistance (A&A) solution to standardize business processes and automate USAID’s 

management of the A&A process by integrating it with the Agency’s financial management 

system. GLAAS is the implementation of PRISM, a commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) 

acquisition and assistance management tool configured for USAID. Investment in GLAAS 

directly serves two essential functions: expansion of e-Gov initiatives and Agency business 

modernization. 

GLAAS is able to maximize interoperability and minimize redundancy through integration with 

a host of internal and external systems. Through the real-time integration of GLAAS with 

USAID’s financial management system, the Agency is able to provide inclusive, timely, and 

accurate reporting to better accommodate mandates and management of stakeholders' data calls. 

GLAAS replaces the aging legacy New Management System (NMS) used domestically, and 

provides a standardized IT solution for disparate paper-based processes in eighty-one Missions 

overseas. 

GLAAS provides real-time integration with the Agency’s financial system for posting 

commitments, obligations, and awards, as well as synchronization of vendor data. Working with 

other interested parties to innovate the use of the information, it also integrates with external 

36
government systems including FPDS, FedBizOpps, FAADS, and Grants.gov. Based on 

collaboration with the General Services Administration (GSA) and the Department of Health and 

Human Services (HHS), the interfaces will reduce user workload and simplify the A&A process. 

Currently, the acquisition functionality of GLAAS is piloted to 450 users in Washington D.C., 

and at seven Missions overseas. The combined acquisition and assistance functionalities will be 

piloted in December 2008, with full deployment following thereafter. Utilizing a single A&A 

tool will provide significant benefit to the Agency in terms of staff workload, deployment, 

project management, reporting, and legacy system retirement. USAID’s A&A workload has 

significantly increased over the last eight years, despite a reduction in the A&A staff since 2001. 

The proposed single solution will allow USAID to handle this considerable workload while also 

preparing for current trends that include: 1) increased competition mandated by Congress and 2) 

the need for additional oversight as USAID increases its opportunities targeted to new partners, 

small businesses, and local and indigenous organizations. GLAAS will increase efficiency and 

enhance data collection and reporting thus improving accountability, transparency, and 

compliance. 

U.S. Department of Agriculture

The Department’s E-Government Act Report is available at: 

http://www.ocio.usda.gov/FY_2008_E-Government_Act_Report_2008-10-09.pdf 

Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service: 

E-Government is framed around the central principle of improving the way the federal 

government uses technology as a means to enhance the services it provides. The Cooperative 

State Research, Education, and Extension Service’s (CSREES) unique mission is to advance 

knowledge for agriculture, the environment, human health and well-being, and communities by 

funding research, education, and extension programs at the state and local level. The Peer 

Review System (PRS) is an example of E-Government in practice. It is technology being used as 

a tool to increase the speed, reliability, and accuracy of the grant-making service that is so deeply 

rooted in CSREES’ mission. 

In FY 2008, CSREES was faced with the challenge of establishing a new research program and 

making an award in the same fiscal year. To meet this deadline, a new requirement in The Food, 

Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (Farm Bill), the agency had to quickly complete all the 

preliminary tasks associated with making the federal funds available to the public under the 

Specialty Crop Research Initiative (SCRI). Seeking to streamline internal operations, CSREES 

identified the peer review process as a possible opportunity to make up time and improve their 

business process through the use of technology. 

CSREES is required to conduct a peer review of all research grant applications for competitively 

awarded grants. A peer review consists of a panel of subject matter experts who assess the 

validity and the potential value of the research proposed by the applicant. CSREES had to find a 

way to improve upon a paper-based process for distributing materials and collecting comments 

from peer review panelists in order to deliver better service to the customer and reduce burden on 

the agency. 

37
Earlier in FY 2008, CSREES began allowing peer reviewers to conduct reviews of electronic 

applications through a Peer Review System (PRS) as part of an overall effort to improve the peer 

review process. CSREES realized immediately that this system could increase the efficiency of 

the peer review process as reviewers no longer had to wait for the overnight delivery of paper 

packages or CDs with application materials. The PRS allowed them to login directly to a Webbased system to download, read, and, if necessary, print the grant application to suit their 

personal needs. 

In the past, the reviewers would receive grant applications they were to review in one of two 

ways: 1) a printed copy supplied at the expense of the applicant, or 2) an electronic copy on CD 

supplied at the expense of the agency. Prior to the implementation of the PRS, reviewers would 

submit feedback on grant applications to the agency via mail or email and it would be manually 

entered into the agency grants management system by CSREES staff. By enabling peer 

reviewers to retrieve, review, and comment on grant applications electronically, the PRS has 

significantly reduced the burden on agency personnel responsible for collecting comments and 

organizing them for inclusion in the final decision-making process. 

When comparing the two methods of Peer Review, it is obvious that the new PRS is superior to 

the paper heavy, manual input system used previously. With the PRS, reviewers are able to 

review more grants in less time, avoid costs because the system is now paperless, and reduce the 

amount of human error as information is now transmitted electronically. 

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SECTION III: Operations of the E-Government Fund

GSA manages the E-Government Fund to support innovative interagency projects led by OMB. 

These initiatives transform internal operations necessary to secure and disseminate Federal 

information while improving Federal programs and services delivered to the public. Since 

FY2002, $24,865,800 has been appropriated to the E-Government Fund. As of September 30, 

2008, $1,591,005 in unobligated balances remains in the Fund. 

The following discusses the three new projects identified in the FY2008 spending plan as well as 

the results achieved for these projects. As reflected in the spending plan, $3,000,000 was 

appropriated in FY2008 and $1,738,952 of prior year money was aligned to these projects. In 

FY2008, $1,738,952 of the prior year money and $2,766,664 of the $3,000,000 appropriated in 

FY2008 was obligated towards the three initiatives described below. In addition, lead agencies 

are continuing to meet the objectives previously described in prior year E-Government Act 

reports.28 

1. INITIATIVE: Improving Access and Information for Citizens 

The requirement for improved access, accurate information quality, and search-ability for several 

E-Gov initiatives had become clear. Information on contracts, as well as Government grants, 

sub-grants, and loans was needed for improved quality of data collection and reporting. 

Information from these domains was consolidated with other information from the Integrated 

Acquisition Initiative about Government spending information and displayed to the public on 

USASpending.gov. This effort complemented efforts on other websites currently providing the 

other public Federal program performance information. Information in databases of E-Gov 

initiatives were significantly improved because the information was normalized and harmonized 

to improve system performance for reporting purposes. The funds were spent to create long-term 

solutions for improved data harmonization and search-ability for reports. So today, if you search 

on USASpending.Gov for IBM, the search results provide all versions of input that equate to the 

International Business Machine Corporation. This significantly improved the quality of 

information access to citizens and report accuracy and has also made the government more 

accountable and improved the integrity of reporting. 

 FY08 E-Gov Funds: $1,600,000 

 Prior Year Funds Reallocated in FY08: $1,078,952 

Total Funds Available for FY08: $2,678,952 

Total Obligated in FY08: $2,673,553 

Unobligated Balance: $ 5,399 

2. INITIATIVE: E-Gov Standards and Cyber Trust 

It had become critical that the government strengthen the protection around all civilian 

Government websites similar to the effort previously developed and applied to other Government 

 

28 See, OMB FY02-FY07 E-Government Act reports, which can be found at: 

http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/inforeg_regpol_reports_congress/ & at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/e-gov/ 

39
website structures. The work of the Information Systems Security Line of Business (ISSLoB) 

was key to developing and implementing the Trusted Internet Connections (TIC) to better secure 

and protect the E-Gov environment from cyber attacks. Concepts and policies were created and 

issued as a requirement and the technical architecture (standard) was developed. Agencies had 

to reduce the number of Internet connections from over 3,000 to a manageable limited number 

(generally one to three) and place those access points behind TIC protection. Many agencies 

opted to use the General Services Administration services to provide consolidated TIC services 

to all agencies that chose that solution. The agency transitions are in progress now. 

This accomplishment is critical to reliable and trusted online services for citizens both now and 

in the future. This improvement helps all E-Gov initiatives to operate successfully and be trusted 

by citizens. 

 FY08 E-Gov Funds: $ 900,000 

 Prior Year Funds Reallocated in FY08: $ 660,000 

Total Funds Available for FY08: $1,560,000 

Total Obligated in FY08: $1,332,184 

Unobligated Balance: $ 227,816 

3. IINITIATIVE: E-Gov Cyber Training 

Cyber training activities have focused on Web2.0 tools (social media) including the benefits and 

policy issues that surround the new generation of web capabilities. Younger Americans (under 

age 40) prefer to use web2.0 methods to interface people and institutions. The expectations of 

the public of online capabilities evolve with the general capabilities of the internet for EGovernment. The public expects the Government to provide similar online service functionality 

as provided by their other corporate and institutional counterparts. Web2.0 functionality is 

becoming available and incorporated into business applications and agencies are attempting to 

find models that work well – and within the boundaries of laws and regulations. 

The adoption of these capabilities to support E-Government requires that agency IT leadership 

consider the potentials for improvement and protect against approaches that do not support 

required Federal policies. At the same time, the operating environment of the web required more 

diligence and focus on cyber security and privacy for E-Government to maintain the trusted .Gov 

environment. Collaborative analysis and training was provided to agency IT leadership on the 

potential of the newer technologies, enriching training and tools in cyber security, privacy, and 

national security professional development. Additionally the initiative cooperated with the 

Canadian and other Governments who are all facing the same issues in their Governments to 

craft polices and approaches. This has resulted in a number of pilots and uses such as a Health-IT 

online forum and collaboration to help surface some policy and issues areas to improve progress. 

Federal Chief Information Officers and others all participated in these learning activities. 

 FY08 E-Gov Funds: $500,000 

Total Funds Available in FY08: $500,000 

40
41

Total Obligated in FY08: $499,879 

Unobligated Balance: $ 121