ELECTRONIC 

GOVERNMENT 

Initiatives Sponsored by 

the Office of Management 

and Budget Have Made 

Mixed Progress 

Statement of Linda D. Koontz 

Director, Information Management Issues 

United States General Accounting Office 

GAO Testimony

Before the Subcommittee on Technology, 

Information Policy, Intergovernmental Relations 

and the Census, Committee on Government 

Reform, House of Representatives 

For Release on Delivery 

Expected at 2:30 p.m. EST on 

Wednesday March 24, 2004 

GAO-04-561T 
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For more information, contact Linda D. 

Koontz at (202) 512-6240 or 

koontzl@gao.gov. 

Highlights of GAO-04-561T, a testimony

before the Subcommittee on Technology, 

Information Policy, Intergovernmental 

Relations and the Census, Committee on 

Government Reform, House of 

Representatives 

March 2004

ELECTRONIC GOVERNMENT 

Initiatives Sponsored by the Office of 

Management and Budget Have Made 

Mixed Progress 

Overall, mixed progress has been made in achieving the 91 objectives 

originally defined for the 25 OMB-sponsored e-government initiatives. To 

date, 33 have been fully or substantially achieved; 38 have been partially 

achieved; and for 17, no significant progress has been made towards these 

objectives. In addition, 3 of the objectives no longer apply because they have 

been found to be impractical or inappropriate. The figure below summarizes 

these results. 

Examples of initiatives that have made good progress in achieving their 

objectives include Grants.gov, which established a Web portal that, as of 

February 2004, allowed prospective grants applicants to find and apply for a 

total of 835 grant opportunities at 29 grant-making agencies; and the 

Integrated Acquisition Environment, which created a single point of 

registration and validation for vendors and a directory of interagency 

contracts that currently references 16,000 contracts. A contrasting example 

is Project SAFECOM, which has made very limited progress over the past 2 

years, largely because management teams for the project have changed four 

times among three different federal agencies. 

Given that OMB’s stated criteria in choosing these initiatives included their 

likelihood of deployment in 18 to 24 months, the substantial number of 

objectives that are still unmet or only partially met indicates that making 

progress on these initiatives is more challenging than OMB may have 

originally anticipated. The extent to which the 25 initiatives have met their 

original objectives can be linked to how they have addressed key challenges, 

including (1) focusing on achievable objectives that address customer needs, 

(2) maintaining management stability through executive commitment, 

(3) collaborating effectively with partner agencies and stakeholders, 

(4) driving transformational changes in business processes, and 

(5) implementing effective funding strategies. Initiatives that have overcome 

these challenges have generally met with success in achieving their 

objectives, whereas initiatives that have had problems dealing with these 

challenges have made less progress. 

Assessed Status of Initiatives’ Original Objectives 

One of the five priorities in the 

President’s Management Agenda is 

the expansion of electronic (e-) 

government—the use of Internet 

applications to enhance access to 

and delivery of government 

information and services. To this 

end, the Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB) has sponsored 25 

high-profile e-government 

initiatives. The initiatives were 

selected on the basis of value to 

citizens, potential improvement in 

agency efficiency, and the 

likelihood of being deployed within 

18 to 24 months. In May 2002, a 

total of 91 objectives were set for 

these initiatives. At the request of 

the Subcommittee, GAO assessed 

the progress of the initiatives in 

addressing these 91 objectives as 

well as key challenges they have 

faced. 
Page 1 GAO-04-561T 

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee: 

I appreciate the opportunity to participate in the Subcommittee’s 

hearing on electronic government (e-government) progress. 

Generally speaking, e-government refers to the use of information 

technology (IT), particularly Web-based Internet applications, to 

enhance the access to and delivery of government information and 

service to citizens, to business partners, to employees, and among 

agencies at all levels of government. 

Under the leadership of the Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB), a team known as the E-Government Task Force identified a 

set of high-profile initiatives to lead the federal government’s drive 

toward e-government transformation. The initiatives were selected 

on the basis of value to citizens, potential improvement in agency 

efficiency, and likelihood of deploying within 18 to 24 months. 

These initiatives—now numbering 251

—cover a wide spectrum of 

government activities, ranging from the establishment of centralized 

portals on government information to eliminating redundant, 

nonintegrated business operations and systems. OMB has reported 

that, in some cases, positive results from these initiatives could 

produce over one billion dollars in savings from improved 

operational efficiency. 

As requested, in my remarks today, I will discuss the progress of 

these cross-agency e-government projects in meeting their original 

objectives. In the initiatives’ first formal work plans, submitted to 

OMB in May 2002, a total of 91 objectives were laid out. While these 

objectives vary widely—from simple, narrowly defined tasks, like 

developing a business case (e-Payroll), to broad, long-term goals, 

like achieving effective communications interoperability among 

emergency personnel at all levels of government (Project 

SAFECOM)—they serve as a benchmark across all of the initiatives 

for measuring progress over the past two years. In my remarks, I 

will describe the status of these original 91 objectives and also 

discuss major challenges that have affected the initiatives’ progress 

 

1

 Based on analysis by the E-Government Task Force, 23 initiatives were originally selected in 

September 2001. A 24th, e-Payroll, was then added by the President’s Management Council. In 2002, a 

decision was made to separate the e-Clearance initiative from the Integrated Human Resources 

initiative, resulting in the current count of 25 projects. 
Page 2 GAO-04-561T 

in meeting these objectives. To supplement my remarks, I have 

included an attachment that provides additional information on the 

status and progress of each of the 25 e government projects in 

meeting their original objectives. 

To address our objective of assessing the initiatives’ progress in 

meeting their original objectives, we reviewed project management 

plans, documentation associated with annual budget submissions, 

and other related documents. We also interviewed key project 

management officials to gain a complete understanding of project 

goals, milestones, costs, performance measures, and 

implementation challenges. Based on analysis of this information, 

we assessed the status of specific project objectives by comparing 

achievements as of March 2004 with objectives established in May 

2002 to determine whether the reported achievements (1) fully or 

substantially meet the stated objectives, (2) partially meet the stated 

objectives, or (3) do not contribute significantly or at all to the 

stated objectives. In three cases, we determined that addressing the 

original objectives would not be feasible or appropriate and thus 

characterized these objectives as “no longer applicable.” We 

performed our work from January 2004 to March 2004 in 

accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. 

Results in Brief 

Overall, mixed progress has been made in achieving the 91 

objectives originally defined for the 25 OMB-sponsored 

e-government initiatives in their work plans submitted to OMB in 

May 2002. To date, 33 have been fully or substantially achieved; 38 

have been partially achieved; and for 17, no significant progress has 

been made towards these objectives. In addition, 3 of the objectives 

no longer apply because they have been found to be impractical or 

inappropriate. For two of the initiatives—Grants.gov and Internal 

Revenue Service (IRS) Free File—all original objectives have been 

achieved, and for an additional five,2

 the majority of their original 

objectives have been achieved. For the other 18 initiatives, most of 

their objectives are either partially met or not significantly met. An 

 

2

 These initiatives include e-Clearance, e-Payroll, e-Training, e-Travel, and Integrated Acquisition 

Environment. 
Page 3 GAO-04-561T 

example of an initiative that has made excellent progress in 

achieving its original objectives is Grants.gov, which established a 

Web portal that, as of February 2004, allowed prospective grants 

applicants to find and apply for a total of 835 grant opportunities at 

29 grant-making agencies. Project SAFECOM, on the other hand, has 

made very limited progress in addressing its original objectives, 

which all relate to achieving communications interoperability 

among entities at various levels of government. Given that OMB’s 

stated criteria in choosing these initiatives included their likelihood 

of deployment in 18 to 24 months, the substantial number of 

objectives that are still unmet or only partially met indicates that 

making progress on these initiatives is more challenging than OMB 

may have originally anticipated. 

The extent to which the 25 initiatives have met their original 

objectives can be linked to a common set of challenges that they all 

face, including (1) focusing on achievable objectives that address 

customer needs, (2) maintaining management stability through 

executive commitment, (3) collaborating effectively with partner 

agencies and stakeholders, (4) driving transformational changes in 

business processes, and (5) implementing effective funding 

strategies. Initiatives that have overcome these challenges have 

generally met with success in achieving their objectives, whereas 

initiatives that have had problems dealing with these challenges 

have made less progress. 

Background 

E-government has been seen as promising a wide range of benefits 

based largely on harnessing the power of the Internet to facilitate 

interconnections and information exchange between citizens and 

their government. A variety of actions have been taken in recent 

years to enhance the government’s ability to realize the potential of 

e-government, culminating in the recent enactment of the 

E-Government Act of 2002,3

 which includes provisions addressing 

everything from funding of e-government initiatives to measures for 

ensuring security and privacy. In addition to the E-Government Act, 

the President designated e-government as one of five priorities in his 

 

3

 P. L. No. 107-347. 
Page 4 GAO-04-561T 

fiscal year 2002 management agenda for making the federal 

government more focused on citizens and results. According to the 

agenda, e-government is expected to 

● provide high-quality customer services regardless of whether the 

citizen contacts the agency by phone, in person, or on the Web; 

● reduce the expense and difficulty of doing business with the 

government; 

● cut government operating costs; 

● provide citizens with readier access to government services; 

● increase access for persons with disabilities to agency Web sites and 

e-government applications; and 

● make government more transparent and accountable. 

As the lead agency for implementing the President’s management 

agenda, OMB developed a governmentwide strategy for expanding 

e-government, which it published in February 2002.4 In its strategy, 

OMB established a portfolio management structure to help oversee 

and guide the Quicksilver initiatives and facilitate a collaborative 

working environment for each of them. This structure includes five 

portfolios, each with a designated portfolio manager reporting 

directly to OMB’s Associate Director for IT and E-Government. The 

five portfolios are “government to citizen,” “government to 

business,” “government to government,” “internal efficiency and 

effectiveness,” and “cross-cutting.” Each of the 25 initiatives is 

assigned to one of these portfolios, according to the type of results 

the initiative is intended to provide. Further, for each initiative, OMB 

designated a specific agency to be the initiative’s “managing 

partner,” responsible for leading the initiative, and assigned other 

federal agencies as “partners” in carrying out the initiative. Figure 1 

provides an overview of the e-government management structure 

established by OMB. 

 

4

 Office of Management and Budget, E-Government Strategy (Washington, D.C.: Feb. 27, 2002). 
Page 5 GAO-04-561T 

Figure 1: OMB Management Structure for e-Government Initiatives 

To oversee implementation of the initiatives, OMB has required 

managing partners of the initiatives to submit a series of specific 

planning documents. Work plans submitted by agencies in May 2002 

were among the first of these documents. The work plans document 

agreements reached between OMB and managing partner agencies 

on the scope and direction of each of the initiatives. Another key 

planning document required for all active e-government initiatives is 
Page 6 GAO-04-561T 

a structured business case that is updated annually as part of the 

budget development process. 

In November 2002, we reported on the completeness of the 

information used in selecting and overseeing the 25 e-government 

initiatives.5

 We determined that despite the importance that OMB 

attached to collaboration and customer focus in its e-government 

strategy, fewer than half of the initiatives’ initial business cases 

addressed these topics. We subsequently reviewed the challenge of 

achieving effective interorganizational collaboration within four of 

the initiatives, e-Payroll, Geospatial One-Stop, Integrated Acquisition 

Environment (IAE), and Business Gateway.6

 We found that while the 

four initiatives had all taken steps to promote collaboration with 

their partner agencies, none had been fully effective in adopting key 

practices to fully involve important stakeholders. We made 

recommendations to each of the four managing partner agencies 

responsible for these initiatives to more fully adopt key 

collaboration practices, and all have indicated that they are taking 

actions that address our recommendations. 

Mixed Progress Has Been Made in Achieving the OMB-Sponsored 

Initiatives’ Original Objectives 

Overall, mixed progress has been made in achieving the 91 

objectives originally defined for the e-government initiatives in their 

work plans submitted to OMB in May 2002. To date, 33 of the 

objectives have been fully or substantially achieved; 38 have been 

partially achieved; and for 17, no significant progress has been made 

towards these objectives. In addition, 3 of the objectives no longer 

apply because they have been found to be impractical or 

inappropriate. For two of the initiatives—Grants.gov and Internal 

Revenue Service (IRS) Free File—all original objectives have been 

achieved, and for an additional five,7 the majority of their original 

 

5

 U.S. General Accounting Office, Electronic Government: Selection and Implementation of the Office 

of Management and Budget’s 24 Initiatives, GAO-03-229 (Washington, D.C.: Nov. 22, 2002). 

6

 U.S. General Accounting Office, Electronic Government: Potential Exists for Enhancing 

Collaboration on Four Initiatives, GAO-04-6 (Washington, D.C.: Oct. 10, 2003). 

7

 These initiatives include e-Clearance, e-Payroll, e-Training, e-Travel, and Integrated Acquisition 

Environment. 
Page 7 GAO-04-561T 

objectives have been achieved. For the other 18 initiatives, most of 

their objectives are either partially met or not significantly met. 

Given that OMB’s stated criteria in choosing these initiatives 

included their likelihood of deployment in 18 to 24 months, the 

substantial number of objectives that are still unmet or only partially 

met indicates that making progress on these initiatives is more 

challenging than OMB may have originally anticipated. 

A number of the initiatives have made very significant 

accomplishments. For example, according to project 

documentation, as of February 2004, the Grants.gov portal allowed 

prospective grants applicants to find and apply for a total of 835 

grant opportunities at 29 grant-making agencies. Similarly, 

GovBenefits developed a Web portal that currently provides 

information about over 500 benefits programs at 22 agencies, 

including some state benefits programs. The portal uses a structured 

set of questions to identify benefit programs that may apply to 

citizens, eliminating the need to try to identify such programs 

individually at separate government agencies. Likewise, the IAE 

project team has been successful in creating a single point of 

registration and validation for vendors. The IAE project team has 

also developed and implemented a directory of interagency 

contracts that currently references 16,000 contracts. 

In contrast, other initiatives have made less progress. For example, 

Project SAFECOM has made very limited progress in addressing its 

three objectives, all of which relate to achieving communications 

interoperability among entities at various levels of government. 

Since its inception 2 years ago, management teams for the project 

have changed four times among three different federal agencies. The 

e-Loans initiative has made slow progress over its 2-year history and 

still does not have its central portal for locating loan information 

operational, although such a portal—GovLoans.gov—is scheduled 

to come online in April 2004. An extensive effort to re-scope that 

initiative soon after it began took up the first year of that project. 

It is important to note that the scope and specificity of the 

initiatives’ original objectives vary widely. The number of objectives 

per initiative varies from one to six, with some being specific nearterm tasks, while others represent broader goals associated with 

transforming government. One of the e-Payroll initiative’s 
Page 8 GAO-04-561T 

objectives, for example, was simply to develop a business case—

something that was actually required of all the initiatives. On the 

other hand, Project SAFECOM’s three objectives called for 

achieving effective communications interoperability among 

emergency personnel at the federal, state, and local levels—broad 

objectives that could not realistically be expected to be fully 

realized in 18 to 24 months. Between these extremes, many of the 

objectives fell into recurrent categories, such as developing a Web 

portal for consolidated information dissemination (Recreation OneStop, GovBenefits.gov, Grants.gov, and USA Services), providing the 

capability to conduct transactions online (IRS Free File, e-Loans, 

Grants.gov, and e-Vital), consolidating duplicative agency systems 

across the federal government (e-Travel, e-Rulemaking, and 

e-Payroll), and developing government standards (Consolidated 

Health Informatics, e-Authentication, and Geospatial One-Stop). The 

attachment contains specifics on the status and progress of each of 

the 25 initiatives in addressing their original objectives. 

Initiatives Have Had Varying Success in Addressing Key Management Challenges 

Achieving the e-government vision of a seamless federal enterprise 

offering an order-of-magnitude improvement in service to citizens 

can be very challenging for agencies used to complex, nonintegrated

systems and business processes. The extent to which the 25 

initiatives have met their original objectives can be linked to a 

common set of challenges that they all face, including 

● focusing on achievable objectives that address customer needs, 

● maintaining management stability through executive commitment, 

● collaborating effectively with partner agencies and stakeholders, 

● driving transformational changes in business processes, and 

● implementing effective funding strategies. 

In many cases, how these challenges were addressed has been a 

contributing factor to whether the initiatives’ objectives were 

satisfactorily met. Initiatives that have overcome these challenges 

have often met with success in achieving their objectives, whereas 
Page 9 GAO-04-561T 

initiatives that have had problems dealing with these challenges 

have made less progress. I will discuss each of these challenges in 

more detail and offer some examples of how they have affected 

specific e-government initiatives. 

Focusing on Achievable Objectives That Address Customer Needs 

By and large, e-government initiatives that have been able to keep 

their objectives achievable and customer-focused have been 

successful in meeting their objectives on time. IT planning best 

practices indicate that when establishing objectives for a project, an 

organization should consider the needs of its customers, be realistic 

in planning, and take into consideration potential obstacles.8

The Grants.gov initiative, tasked with creating a portal for federal 

grant customers to find and apply for discretionary grants online, is 

an example of an initiative that has been successful in meeting 

achievable objectives focused on customer needs. The initiative’s 

efforts to date have been focused on the core functions of allowing 

customers to find potential grants opportunities and to apply for 

them through the grants.gov portal. In October 2003, the Grants.gov 

site was deployed with tools that allow a grant applicant to search 

for grant opportunities via the site, download an application form, 

and submit the application online. According to project 

documentation, as of February 2004, the Grants.gov portal allowed 

prospective grants applicants to find and apply for a total of 835 

grant opportunities at 29 grant-making agencies. 

In contrast are initiatives such as e-Authentication, which has made 

slower progress because one of its original objectives was not 

achievable. The operations concept originally defined for 

e-Authentication was based on a centralized gateway architecture, 

and the vast majority of the effort invested in the initiative through 

the fall of 2003 was devoted to development of this gateway. 

However, according to the project managers, based on the results of 

an internal technical advisory board review as well as a GAO 

 

8

 See U.S. General Accounting Office, Assessing Risks and Returns: A Guide for Evaluating Federal 

Agencies’ IT Investment Decision-Making, GAO/AIMD-10.1.13 (Washington, D.C.: February 1997) and 

Executive Guide: Improving Mission Performance Through Strategic Information Management and 

Technology, GAO/AIMD-94-115 (Washington, D.C.: May 1994). 
Page 10 GAO-04-561T 

review,9 the planned centralized gateway was found to be neither 

technically feasible nor an appropriate solution to the 

authentication challenge. The e-Authentication initiative was refocused on setting a framework of policies and standards for 

agencies to use in procuring commercial products to meet their 

authentication needs, and the technical architecture for 

e-Authentication in the federal government has been revised to 

promote a “federated approach,” whereby individual agencies 

develop independent but interconnected authentication mechanisms 

as part of their individual e-government initiatives, using products 

tested and approved by the e-Authentication initiative. The initiative 

is still in the process of overseeing development of an 

authentication policy framework and developing a test capability for 

commercial products so as to be able to provide complete support 

to government agencies in their acquisition of authentication 

services. 

Another example of an initiative that originally had an unachievable 

objective is the Consolidated Health Informatics (CHI) initiative. 

According to the CHI program manager, the original intent of the 

initiative was to build an application for processing and exchanging 

standardized electronic medical records. However, through surveys 

of stakeholder groups, the initiative found wide variances in the 

kind of information required by groups in the health care 

community and concluded that developing a standardized electronic 

record was not feasible. As a result, the CHI initiative refocused its 

efforts on establishing health data and messaging standards in 24 

specific clinical domains that are meant to serve as the building 

blocks for a future electronic application—a more modest but more 

achievable objective. 

Maintaining Management Stability through Executive Commitment 

Because the e-government initiatives are aimed at changing the way 

the government does business, sustained executive commitment has 

been critical to their ability to elicit cross-agency cooperation and 

make progress toward their objectives. Effective top management 

leadership, involvement, and ownership are a cornerstone of any 

 

9

 U.S. General Accounting Office, Electronic Government: Planned e-Authentication Gateway Faces 

Formidable Development Challenges, GAO-03-952 (Sept. 12, 2003). 
Page 11 GAO-04-561T 

effective information technology investment strategy. Strong 

leadership and stable management are especially critical to the 

success of transformational programs such as the OMB-sponsored 

e-government initiatives. Without such leadership, these projects are 

less likely to be able to meet their objectives. 

For several of the e-government initiatives, executive support from 

OMB has been a critical element in meeting their planned objectives. 

Initiatives such as e-Payroll and e-Rulemaking benefited from having 

OMB issue memorandums to federal agencies directing them to 

participate in the initiatives and, as appropriate, cease operation of 

their own redundant systems. According to the project’s managers, 

this direction from OMB provided critical support to the initiatives’ 

success. Strong OMB support and attention have also allowed other 

initiatives to make rapid progress. The Geospatial One-Stop 

initiative, for example, was able to draft a set of geospatial 

standards for submission to the American National Standards 

Institute far more quickly than similar standards had been 

developed previously. The project manager credited this success 

largely to the support and visibility that OMB had given the project. 

Further, support from the heads of managing partner agencies has 

also been critical to achieving objectives. For example, the program 

manager for Grants.gov stated that senior executive support had 

been critical in obtaining full stakeholder participation on the 

initiative’s executive board. Specifically, the Secretary of Health and 

Human Services sent letters to the 11 Grants.gov partner agencies in 

the summer of 2002 requesting that each partner agency identify a 

senior member to sit on the executive board. Without such support, 

it would have been difficult to obtain full participation by senior 

officials, according to the program manager. 

In contrast, Project SAFECOM, for example, has experienced 

frequent changes in management, which have hampered progress 

towards its overall objective of achieving communications 

interoperability10 among emergency response personnel at all levels 

of government. OMB originally designated the Department of the 

Treasury as the project’s managing partner, but in May 2002, 

 

10 Interoperability is the ability of two or more systems or components to exchange information and to 

use the information that has been exchanged. 
Page 12 GAO-04-561T 

oversight responsibility was given to the Federal Emergency 

Management Agency (FEMA). By September 2002, FEMA had 

replaced its original SAFECOM management team and changed its 

implementation strategy for the project. Then, following the 

establishment of the Department of Homeland Security in May 2003, 

the project was taken out of FEMA and assigned to the department’s 

new Science and Technology Directorate. At that time, the project 

gained its fourth management team and once again “started over” by 

devoting its energies to defining a new strategy for achieving the 

project’s overall objective. The changing of project teams 

approximately every 6 to 9 months meant that much of the effort 

spent on the project was made repeatedly to establish 

administrative structures, develop program plans, and obtain 

stakeholder input and support. After more than 2 years, Project 

SAFECOM has made very limited progress in achieving its overall 

objective of emergency communications interoperability among 

entities at all levels of government. 

Collaborating Effectively with Partner Agencies and Stakeholders 

Many federal agencies have found it challenging to establish 

effective ways of collaborating across agencies and with other levels 

of government. In the context of electronic government,

collaboration can be defined as a mutually beneficial and welldefined relationship entered into by two or more organizations to 

achieve common goals. Recent management reform efforts within 

the federal government have focused on collaboration as a way to 

reduce duplication and integrate federal provision of services to the 

public. Collaboration is also a key theme of the President’s 

management agenda. In October 2003, we reported on the extent to 

which federal agencies and other entities had been collaborating on 

four of the OMB-sponsored initiatives, and found that varying 

degrees of collaboration had been achieved.11 We made 

recommendations to the managing partner agencies for each 

initiative to enhance the effectiveness of collaboration as a tool to 

use in achieving their objectives. 

 

11 U.S. General Accounting Office, Electronic Government: Potential Exists for Enhancing 

Collaboration on Four Initiatives, GAO-04-6 (Washington, D.C.: Oct. 10, 2003). 
Page 13 GAO-04-561T 

The Integrated Acquisition Environment (IAE) initiative provides an 

example of effective collaboration. GSA adopted a variety of 

effective collaboration practices that have contributed to progress 

in advancing the goals of the initiative. For example, the project 

team developed a formal charter outlining the objectives, tasks, and 

roles and responsibilities of project partners, and it is in the process 

of completing implementation of memorandums of agreement with 

all participating agencies to further define their roles and financial 

responsibilities. Further, successful collaboration contributed to 

achieving the goal of establishing the Business Partner Network as a 

central point of access for the initiative. Specifically, effective 

collaboration with the Small Business Administration (SBA) helped 

facilitate termination of SBA’s competing and redundant Pro-Net. 

SBA was one of IAE’s original partner agencies, was involved in 

developing IAE’s charter, and contributed staff to help achieve IAE’s 

objectives. 

In contrast, the limited progress of the Business Gateway project 

highlights the importance of developing collaborative relationships 

that include specific resource commitments. As we reported in 

October 2003, one of the key characteristics that contribute to the 

success of cross-organizational collaboration is that each 

participating organization contributes resources in the form of 

human capital or funding. However, until recently, the Business 

Gateway initiative did not use this approach. Instead, the project 

relied solely on SBA, its managing partner, to fund the initiative. 

Officials from partner agencies told us that because they did not 

provide funds for the initiative, they had little input in the decisionmaking process and, as a result, did not have a strong incentive to 

participate. In part because of poor collaboration, the Business 

Gateway initiative has not completed any of its original objectives. 

SBA officials stated that its funding strategy had recently been 

amended to seek funding from partner agencies. Officials reported 

that the revised funding strategy is currently under review by the 

project’s governance board. 

In the case of e-Vital, project officials found they could not sustain 

collaborative working relationships with state governments and, as 

a result, the project failed to complete one of its main objectives—to 

simplify, through the use of Internet-based technology, processes 

associated with collecting, reporting, and verifying vital records. 
Page 14 GAO-04-561T 

Although a system for making death record information available 

electronically was developed and is in use, a more comprehensive 

system was terminated after the pilot phase. According to project 

officials, the project team piloted an automated electronic system 

for verification of vital events in eight states, which proved 

successful in providing electronic access to vital records. However, 

the project was terminated in December 2003 because state 

governments, as represented by the National Association of Public 

Health Statistics and Information Systems, were unwilling to lower 

their fees for providing vital record information, which are an 

important source of revenue. The rationale for the initiative had 

been based on realizing substantial cost savings for the Social 

Security Administration (SSA) by allowing it to obtain vital records 

electronically at reduced cost. Given this obstacle, SSA decided to 

discontinue work on this objective. However, stronger collaboration 

between the e-Vital initiative and state governments could have led 

to earlier awareness of the fee problem and a greater joint effort to 

identify a creative solution that would satisfactorily address the 

states’ financing concerns while simultaneously maintaining the 

overall objectives of the e-Vital initiative. 

Driving Transformational Changes in Business Processes 

While some of the initiatives’ objectives are relatively simple and 

straightforward—such as developing a Web site to disseminate 

information—others, aimed at transforming the way government 

does business with its customers, have been significantly more 

challenging. If these transformational objectives are not fully 

achieved, the potential of e-government to facilitate order-ofmagnitude improvements in services to citizens may not be realized. 

The Department of Labor’s GovBenefits.gov initiative offers an 

example of the relative status of transformational and nontransformational objectives. Although the project team has 

successfully achieved its objective of creating a Web portal to assist 

citizens in identifying government benefit programs, it has not yet 

addressed its transformational objective of streamlining the process 

of applying for these benefits. According to project officials, it has 

been very difficult to develop a common application for government 

benefits, because each program has unique requirements and has 

processes in place based on collecting unique kinds of data. With 
Page 15 GAO-04-561T 

OMB’s support, the project team has defined a data standardization 

process—including a governance board to define standard data 

elements for benefits eligibility—that will be used during the next 

phase of the project. Because project officials are unsure how long 

this process will take, no milestone has yet been set for completing 

this objective. 

The Environmental Protection Agency’s e-Rulemaking initiative has 

had a similar experience. The project has made progress on one of 

its objectives through the launch of www.regulations.gov, which 

provides citizens with the ability to locate and submit comments 

electronically on proposed rules that are open for comment in the 

Federal Register. However, the initiative also includes a more 

transformational objective that will require additional time to 

achieve. Specifically, the ability to search full rulemaking dockets—

the complete set of publicly available material (i.e., economic 

analyses, models, etc.) associated with a proposed rule—is not yet 

available and is contingent on developing a governmentwide 

electronic docket system and migrating all other rulemaking 

agencies’ existing systems to the new system. Program officials 

currently plan to implement a first version of the centralized system 

by the end of January 2005 and expect that all other rulemaking 

agencies will migrate to it by mid–fiscal year 2006. 

The General Service Administration’s e-Travel initiative, which was 

tasked with automating and consolidating the federal government’s 

travel process, is an example of an initiative that, like e-Rulemaking, 

is intended to consolidate redundant government operations, and 

that will require additional time to complete. Full achievement of 

this initiative’s objectives requires that federal civilian agencies shut 

down existing travel management systems, and migrate to service 

provided by one of three e-Travel systems vendors. One step in the 

process of implementing this initiative was a change in a federal 

travel regulation that requires all affected agencies to submit 

migration plans to the e-Travel program management office by 

March 31, 2004, and migrate to an approved system for full 

agencywide use by September 30, 2006. According to the project 

manager, the process of migrating all affected federal agencies to 

approved systems is complex and could not be completed within the 

18-to-24-month time frame set by OMB as a benchmark for the 

e-government initiatives. 
Page 16 GAO-04-561T 

Implementing Effective Funding Strategies 

Implementing effective funding strategies has been another 

significant challenge for the e-government initiatives. In a recent 

survey conducted by the Information Technology Association of 

America,12 Chief Information Officers (CIO) expressed concern that 

funding for e-government was not integrated into the annual budget 

process and that OMB has required agencies to take resources out 

of existing programs to advance e-government. Project officials 

reported adopting a variety of funding strategies to try to keep their 

projects on schedule. 

Some initiatives have been successful in tapping into stable sources 

of funds, thus helping to minimize project delays. For example, OMB 

instructed agencies to spend their fiscal year 2003 payroll-related 

funds only in association with the e-Payroll initiative. The e-Payroll 

initiative received redirected fiscal year 2003 funds from agencies 

based on this guidance. Other initiatives, particularly Grants.gov and 

e-Rulemaking, have successfully developed and achieved consensus 

with partner agencies on funding contributions based on agencyunique characteristics, such as the volume of business an agency 

expects to conduct in conjunction with the initiative or the number 

of agency components that plan to participate. In these cases, 

effective funding strategies have been closely linked with effective 

collaboration strategies. 

In other cases, funding strategies adopted by project teams have not 

helped reduce risk. With e-Records Management, for example, 

partner agencies have been held responsible for providing funds for 

the specific project components for which they act as leads. This 

approach is intended to encourage agency collaboration, as agencies 

become stewards for specific project deliverables. However, the risk 

of such an approach is that if expected funding from certain 

agencies is not provided, then an entire component of the project 

can be delayed. According to project officials, delays in the piloting 

of an enterprisewide e-Records management system occurred 

because the lead agency, the Environmental Protection Agency, had 

decreases in its fiscal year 2004 appropriations resulting in 

insufficient funding for the project. 

 

12 Information Technology Association of America, CIO: Catalyst for Business Transformation

(Arlington, VA: March 2004). 
Page 17 GAO-04-561T 

In the case of Project SAFECOM, a lack of shared resource 

commitments has contributed to slow progress. According to 

project officials, during fiscal year 2003, SAFECOM received only 

about $17 million of the $34.5 million OMB allocated to it to be 

contributed by partner agencies. Further, more than $1.4 million of 

that amount was not received until late September 2003, when only 

a week remained in the fiscal year. According to program officials, 

these funding shortfalls and delays resulted in the program’s having 

to delay some of the tasks it had intended to complete, such as 

establishing the project’s major milestones. 

The challenge of identifying and instituting effective funding 

strategies for cross-agency initiatives remains. Regardless of what 

innovations agencies may make in attempting to obtain funds, the 

risk remains that without reliable funding mechanisms, these 

initiatives may face significant delays in achieving their objectives. 

- - - - - 

Having taken on a broad set of objectives to improve a wide variety 

of important government services, the 25 e-government initiatives 

sponsored by OMB have made mixed progress over their 2-year 

history. In some cases, citizens have been given valuable new 

capabilities to interact and conduct business more efficiently with 

their government. The Grants.gov portal, for example, now allows 

prospective grants applicants to find and apply for hundreds of 

grant opportunities across the government. Similarly, the 

GovBenefits portal also provides information about hundreds of 

benefits programs at 22 different agencies, including some state 

benefits programs. At the same time, however, other initiatives have 

had trouble addressing their original objectives, completing them 

slowly or changing them significantly. Consolidated Health 

Informatics, for example, dropped plans to develop a standardized 

electronic health record because it proved infeasible, just as the 

e-Authentication initiative dropped plans for a centralized gateway, 

which also turned out to be impractical. Until the initiatives fully 

deal with the challenges of maintaining management stability 

through executive commitment, collaborating effectively with 

partner agencies and stakeholders, driving transformational changes 

in business processes, and implementing effective funding 

strategies, they are unlikely to be able to fully meet their objectives 
Page 18 GAO-04-561T 

and realize the potential of e-government to facilitate order-ofmagnitude improvements in services to citizens. It will be important 

that the initiatives’ managing partners focus on fully addressing 

these challenges as they continue to progress. 

Contact and Acknowledgements 

If you should have any questions about this testimony, please 

contact me at (202) 512-6240 or via e-mail at koontzl@gao.gov. Other 

major contributors to this testimony included Shannin Addison, 

Elizabeth Bernard, Barbara Collier, Felipe Colón, Jr., John de 

Ferrari, and Jamie Pressman. 
Attachment. Status and Progress of the 25 

e-Government Initiatives 

Page 19 GAO-04-561T 

Business Gateway 

Managing partner agency: Small Business Administration (SBA) 

Purpose: Reduce the burden on businesses by making it easy to 

find, understand, and comply (including submitting forms) with 

relevant laws and regulations at all levels of government. 

Reported fiscal year 2004 budget: $8.2 million

Table 1: Status of Original Business Gateway Objectives 

Objectives 

Assessed 

status 

Allow businesses to easily get information about the federal, state, and 

local laws and regulations that apply to them. ◑

Provide businesses access to online tools that will help them determine 

applicable laws and regulations, whether they are in compliance with 

such laws and regulations, and what to do/where to go to achieve 

compliance. 

◑

Allow businesses to register online, at the state level, and apply to 

receive selected federal, state, and local licenses and permits. ◑

Source: GAO analysis of SBA data. 

Legend: z = objective fully or substantially achieved; ◑ = objective partially achieved; 

{ = no significant progress made toward this objective; ∅ = objective no longer 

applicable. 

Project Progress 

The Business Gateway initiative (formerly Business Compliance 

One-Stop) was originally planned to be implemented in two phases, 

both of which together would address the initiative’s first objective. 

Only the first phase has been completed. Phase one was to 

implement a Web portal intended to serve as a single place for 

finding “plain English” legal guides and legal and regulatory 

information. This Web portal, www.BusinessLaw.gov, became 

operational in December 2001. The second phase was to make the 

portal more interactive by developing a new navigation tool, offering 

a range of automated compliance assistance tools and prototyping a 

transaction engine for integrated business registration, online 

licensing, and permitting. However, by July 2003, SBA had made 

only limited progress toward achieving expanded capabilities of the 

portal. A pilot version of the planned navigation tool had been 
Page 20 GAO-04-561T 

implemented, but only 4 of the 30 planned automated compliance 

assistance tools had been developed. On July 1, 2003, OMB 

announced that the project would be refocused on reducing the 

paperwork burden on small businesses.13

To address the second objective, the initiative plans to (1) develop 

an electronic catalog listing both electronic and paper forms and 

(2) consolidate other Web-based information resources such as 

Business.gov and BusinessLaw.gov. Regarding the last objective, 

SBA reported that pilot projects are under way with Illinois and 

Georgia. 

Performance 

The table lists key performance metrics planned for the Business 

Gateway initiative. 

Table 2: Performance Metrics 

Metric Target Reported status 

Time savings for business compliance and 

filing 

Reduce by 50% Not reported 

Regulatory agency savings through transition 

to compliance from enforcement through 

automated processes 

Increase by 25% Not reported

Number of days reduced for issuing permits 

and licenses 

Not reported Not reported

Cycle time to issue permits and licenses 

issued 

Within 24 hours Not reported

Number of visitors/page views Increase by 10–20% Not reported 

Reduction in redundant IT investments Not reported Not reported

Source: President’s Fiscal Year 2005 Budget submission. 

 

13 For additional discussion of Business Gateway’s past progress, see U.S. General Accounting Office, 

Electronic Government: Potential Exists for Enhancing Collaboration on Four Initiatives, GAO-04-6 

(Washington, D.C.: Oct. 10, 2003). 
Page 21 GAO-04-561T 

Consolidated Health Informatics (CHI) 

Managing partner agency: Health and Human Services (HHS) 

Purpose: Adopt a portfolio of health information interoperability 

standards enabling all agencies in the federal health enterprise to 

“speak the same language” based on common enterprisewide 

business and information technology architectures. 

Reported fiscal year 2004 budget: This initiative is supported 

entirely by contributions of staff time and other nonfinancial 

resources from HHS and partner agencies. 

Table 3: Status of Original Consolidated Health Informatics Objectives 

Objectives 

Assessed 

status 

Create a single, integrated, electronic medical record and access 

infrastructure that could capture health data at the point of care and 

make it available to government agencies and healthcare organizations 

that need the information. 

∅

Establish a public/private sector consolidated health informatics council 

to oversee activities undertaken as part of the initiative. z

Source: GAO analysis of HHS data. 

Legend: z = objective fully or substantially achieved; ◑ = objective partially achieved; 

{ = no significant progress made toward this objective; ∅ = objective no longer 

applicable. 

Project Progress 

According to the CHI program manager, the initiative was 

substantially re-scoped early in its development and, as a result, no 

longer plans to address its original first objective. According to the 

program manager, the original intent was to build an application for 

processing and exchanging standardized electronic medical records. 

However, project staff surveyed a range of stakeholders and found 

wide variances in the kind of information that was needed by 

different groups within the health care community and concluded 

that developing a single standardized electronic medical record was 

not feasible. As a result, the CHI initiative was refocused on 

establishing health data and messaging standards in 24 specific 

clinical domains (i.e., medications, demographics, immunizations, 

etc.) that are to serve as building blocks for an electronic medical 
Page 22 GAO-04-561T 

record. In March 2003, 5 of the 24 planned standards were rolled out 

for use by federal agencies. CHI plans final rollout of all 24 clinical 

domains by the end of spring 2004. The second original objective 

still applies. The CHI initiative instituted a CHI Council consisting of 

federal agencies, including the Departments of Defense and 

Veterans Affairs and the Social Security Administration. The council 

meets every 2 weeks and has component working groups that are 

tasked to work on specific clinical domains. The council established 

a partnership with the National Committee on Vital Health Statistics 

to obtain input from the private sector on the 24 proposed clinical 

domain standards. 

Performance 

The table lists key performance metrics planned for the 

Consolidated Health Informatics initiative. 

Table 4: Performance Metrics 

Metric Target Reported status 

Number of federal agencies and systems using CHI 

standards to store and/or share health information 

Not reported Not reported 

Number of contracts requiring the standards Not reported Not reported 

Impact on patient service, public health, and 

research 

Not reported Not reported 

Percentage increase in common data available to 

be shared with users 

Not reported Not reported 

Source: President’s Fiscal Year 2005 Budget submission. 
Page 23 GAO-04-561T 

Disaster Management 

Managing partner agency: Department of Homeland Security 

(DHS) 

Purpose: Provide federal, state, and local emergency managers 

online access to disaster management related information, planning, 

and response tools. 

Reported fiscal year 2004 budget: $35.3 million 

Table 5: Status of Original Disaster Management Objectives 

Objectives 

Assessed 

status 

An easy to use, unified point of access to disaster management 

knowledge and services ◑

Accelerated and improved quality of disaster mitigation and response { 

Source: GAO analysis of DHS data. 

Legend: z = objective fully or substantially achieved; ◑ = objective partially achieved; 

{ = no significant progress made toward this objective; ∅ = objective no longer 

applicable. 

Project Progress 

Currently the disaster management Web site 

(www.disasterhelp.gov) has a variety of information about disaster 

management activities and links to many agency Web sites that 

provide further information and services. Several specific tasks 

were established under the first objective, and one of these is 

partially complete—to deploy an integrated portal for access to 

disaster management services and tools. Regarding the second 

objective, the initiative has not begun addressing how to accelerate 

and improve the quality of disaster mitigation and response. 

Although the overall objectives for Disaster Management have not 

changed, the project has changed its implementation approach, 

based on input from stakeholders at the state and local level. 

Specifically, the project originally intended to develop a complete 

set of electronic tools to assist state and local officials in managing 

disaster response. However, stakeholders expressed a clear 

preference to continue using existing commercial products, and 

OMB concurred with Homeland Security’s decision to re-scope the 
Page 24 GAO-04-561T 

planned work to better meet stakeholder needs. As re-scoped, the 

project is planned to focus on facilitating connectivity among 

existing disaster management systems by developing data exchange 

standards and providing supporting telecommunications links. 

Performance 

The table lists key performance metrics used for the Disaster 

Management initiative and their reported status. 

Table 6: Performance Metrics 

Metric Target Reported status 

Reduce response recovery time by 15% Reduction by 15% Not reported 

Improve situational awareness planning 

capability by 25% 

Improve capability 

by 25% 

Not reported

Increase the number of first responders 

using Disaster Management 

Interoperability Services (DMIS) tools by 

10% 

Increase usage by 

10% 

1,500 first responders 

trained to use DMIS 

tools as of November 13, 

2003; DMIS delivered to 

almost 300 user groups 

Number of registered users in 

DisasterHelp.gov 

Not reported 10,291 as of November 

11, 2003 

Source: President’s Fiscal Year 2005 Budget submission. 
Page 25 GAO-04-561T 

e-Authentication 

Managing partner agency: General Services Administration (GSA) 

Purpose: Minimize the burden on businesses, the public, and 

government when obtaining services online by providing a secure 

infrastructure for online transactions, eliminating the need for 

separate processes for the verification of identity and electronic 

signatures. 

Reported fiscal year 2004 budget: $9.27 million 

Table 7: Status of Original e-Authentication Objectives 

Objectives 

Assessed 

status 

Develop an outreach program to the e-Gov initiatives, industry, and 

citizen groups. z

Define operation concepts, to include critical success factors and 

requirements, in conjunction with each e-Gov initiative. ◑

Identify ease of use requirements in conjunction with portfolio 

managers. ◑

Develop an authentication capability that will support multiple levels of 

assurance. ∅

Source: GAO analysis of GSA data. 

Legend: z = objective fully or substantially achieved; ◑ = objective partially achieved; 

{ = no significant progress made toward this objective; ∅ = objective no longer 

applicable. 

Project Progress 

Of e-Authentication’s four original objectives, the team has 

completed one, partially completed two others, and developed a 

new objective to replace its original fourth objective, which was 

terminated. The operational concept originally defined for 

e-Authentication was based on a centralized gateway architecture, 

and the vast majority of the effort invested in the initiative through 

the fall of 2003 was devoted to development of this gateway. 

However, based on the results of an internal technical advisory 

board review as well as a GAO review,14 the planned centralized 

 

14 U.S. General Accounting Office, Electronic Government: Planned e-Authentication Gateway Faces 

Formidable Development Challenges, GAO-03-952 (Sept. 12, 2003). 
Page 26 GAO-04-561T 

gateway was found to be neither technically feasible nor an 

appropriate solution to the authentication challenge. The 

e-Authentication initiative is now focused on setting a framework of 

policies and standards for agencies to use in procuring commercial 

products to meet their authentication needs, and the technical 

architecture for e-Authentication in the federal government has 

been revised to promote a “federated approach.” 

The project team has developed an extensive outreach effort, 

including a series of public meetings and presentations involving 

both citizen groups and industry, which address the project’s first 

objective. Regarding the second objective, project officials have 

been working with the other e-government initiatives to define their 

e-Authentication requirements using an electronic risk assessment 

tool. Regarding the third objective, the e-Authentication project did 

not identify ease-of-use requirements in conjunction with portfolio 

managers. Instead, the team is working on addressing ease-of-use 

issues within the process of assessing stakeholder requirements. 

Performance 

The table lists key performance metrics used for the 

e-Authentication initiative and their reported status. 

Table 8: Performance Metrics 

Metric Target Reported status 

Cost avoidance from a coordinated and 

streamlined approach 

Not reported Not reported 

Minimum number of different credentials 

required to do business with the 

government online 

Not reported Not reported

Number of accredited credential 

providers 

Not reported 12 as of March 15, 2004

Number of interoperable authentication 

products 

Not reported 3 as of December 31, 2003

Percentage of citizens trusting 

transactions with the government 

Not reported 24 percent of Americans are 

“high trusters,” according to a 

Pew survey in April 2003 

Source: President’s Fiscal Year 2005 Budget submission. 
Page 27 GAO-04-561T 

e-Clearance 

Managing partner agency: Office of Personnel Management 

(OPM) 

Purpose: Streamline and improve the quality of the current security 

clearance process. 

Reported fiscal year 2004 budget: $9.96 million 

Table 9: Status of Original e-Clearance Objectives 

Objectives 

Assessed 

status 

Create a common, secure, and standardized source of investigative 

information to support employee assignment decisions. z

Connect OPM’s Security/Suitability Investigations Index (SII) with 

DOD’s Joint Personnel Adjudication System (JPAS).a z

Cause civilian agencies to “load” their clearance information into the SII 

in order to centralize the data. z

Allow individuals to complete and submit forms electronically to security 

personnel and for security personnel to submit electronically to their 

investigative supplier. 

z

Reduce future paper investigations records to electronic versions and 

make them universally accessible to authorized users on a real time 

basis. 

◑

Ensure all e-Clearance systems have appropriate privacy and security 

protections necessary to assure the data are adequately protected. ◑

Source: GAO analysis of OPM data. 

Legend: z = objective fully or substantially achieved; ◑ = objective partially achieved; 

{ = no significant progress made toward this objective; ∅ = objective no longer 

applicable. 

a For an assessment of DOD’s clearance process, see U.S. General Accounting Office, 

DOD Personnel Clearances: DOD Needs to Overcome Impediments to Eliminating 

Backlog and Determining Its Size, GAO-04-344 (Washington, D.C.: Feb. 9, 2004). 

Project Progress 

The Clearance Verification System, which addresses objective 1, 

was completed in February 2003, and e-Clearance connected with 

JPAS in December 2002 (objective 2). Further, all existing clearance 

data have been loaded into SII (objective 3), and the Electronic 

Questionnaire for Investigations Processing (e-QIP) has been made 

available to allow individuals to complete and submit forms 

electronically (objective 4). The fifth objective is partially complete; 
Page 28 GAO-04-561T 

major investigative agencies have begun imaging their paper files. 

Finally, e-Clearance is in the process of certifying and accrediting 

the various elements of its systems to assure security and privacy. 

Performance 

The table lists key performance metrics used for the e-Clearance 

initiative and their reported status. 

Table 10: Performance Metrics 

Metric Target Reported status 

Cost per application Not reported Not reported 

Reciprocation between agencies Not reported Not reported

Average time to process clearance 

forms 

Not reported Not reported

Average time to complete clearance 

forms 

Not reported 2 hours as of June 23, 

2003

Time to locate and evaluate previous 

investigations and clearances 

Not reported Not reported 

Source: President’s Fiscal Year 2005 Budget submission. 
Page 29 GAO-04-561T 

e-Loans (Online Access for Loans) 

Managing partner agency: Department of Education 

Purpose: Create a single point of access for citizens to locate 

information on federal loan programs, and improve back-office loan 

functions. 

Reported fiscal year 2004 budget: $1.81 million 

Table 11: Status of Original e-Loans Objectives 

Objectives 

Assessed 

status 

Provide a single point of entry to allow citizens and businesses to find 

and apply for loan programs. ◑

Source: GAO analysis of Education data. 

Legend: z = objective fully or substantially achieved; ◑ = objective partially achieved; 

{ = no significant progress made toward this objective; ∅ = objective no longer 

applicable. 

Project Progress 

The e-Loans Web site (GovLoans.gov) is currently in prototype stage 

and is planned to be operational in April 2004. Originally the 

initiative was intended to develop a consolidated central portal for 

identifying and applying for government-sponsored loans. However, 

the objectives for this initiative changed in September 2002, after 

project officials conducted extensive outreach to better identify the 

needs of their stakeholders. They discovered that the original 

business case for the initiative did not recognize the significant role 

played by private-sector lenders and other providers in delivering 

loans and loan services. Accordingly, the project’s objectives were 

revised to (1) create an easy-to-find, single point of access to 

government loan-related services, (2) reduce the reporting burden 

on businesses, (3) share information more quickly and conveniently 

between federal agencies, and (4) automate internal processes. 

Performance 

The table lists key performance metrics established for the e-Loans 

initiative. 
Page 30 GAO-04-561T 

Table 12: Performance Metrics 

Metric 

Target Reported 

status 

Number of clicks to access relevant loan information Not reported Not reported 

Improve agency access to risk mitigation data Not reported Not reported

Source: President’s Fiscal Year 2005 Budget submission. 
Page 31 GAO-04-561T 

Enterprise Human Resources Integration (EHRI) 

Managing partner agency: Office of Personnel Management 

(OPM) 

Purpose: Streamline and automate the electronic exchange of 

standardized human resources (HR) data needed for creation of an 

official employee record across the executive branch. Provide 

comprehensive knowledge management workforce analysis, 

forecasting, and reporting across the executive branch for the 

strategic management of human capital. 

Reported fiscal year 2004 budget: $32.2 million 

Table 13: Status of Original EHRI Objectives 

Objectives 

Assessed 

status 

Develop the methods and means to support integrated resource 

forecasting and planning policy analysis. ◑

Transform the manual data currently captured on paper forms into a 

readily accessible electronic medium. ◑

Improve data accuracy and integrity through employee self-validation. { 

Modernize governmentwide HR record keeping, sourcing, and reporting 

practices. { 

Analyze OPM’s Retirement Systems Modernization data requirements 

and incorporate into the EHRI Logical Data Model. ◑

Promote data standardization, architectural integrity, and interoperability 

across the spectrum of HR e-Gov initiatives. z

Source: GAO analysis of OPM data. 

Legend: z = objective fully or substantially achieved; ◑ = objective partially achieved; 

{ = no significant progress made toward this objective; ∅ = objective no longer 

applicable. 

Project Progress 

Regarding the first objective, to date EHRI has made HR workforce 

analysis and forecasting tools available to 15 agencies, but has not 

developed the means to support planning policy analysis. A pilot for 

conversion of manual data is to be implemented in fiscal year 2004. 

According to the project manager, EHRI has not yet taken steps to 

improve data accuracy and integrity through employee selfvalidation nor has it modernized government HR record-keeping 

practices. EHRI has analyzed the Retirement Systems Modernization 
Page 32 GAO-04-561T 

data and plans to incorporate data requirements by September 30, 

2004. EHRI is actively participating in and contributing to the 

construction of OPM’s enterprise architecture, and coordinating 

with other OPM initiatives on data requirements, standards, and 

technology to promote data standardizations, architectural integrity, 

and interoperability. 

Performance 

The table lists key performance metrics established for the 

Enterprise HR Integration initiative. 

Table 14: Performance Metrics 

Metric Target Reported status 

Cost/cycle time savings per transaction due to 

reduction in manual paper processing 

Not reported Not reported 

Time for intra-agency transfers Not reported Not reported

Usage of analytics by all cabinet-level agencies in 

the human capital planning process 

Not reported Not reported 

Source: President’s Fiscal Year 2005 Budget submission. 
Page 33 GAO-04-561T 

e-Payroll 

Managing partner agency: Office of Personnel Management 

(OPM) 

Purpose: Consolidate 22 federal payroll systems to simplify and 

standardize federal human resources/payroll policies and 

procedures to better integrate payroll, human resources, and 

finance functions. 

Reported fiscal year 2004 budget: $56.1 million 

Table 15: Status of Original e-Payroll Objectives 

Objectives 

Assessed 

status 

Develop a business case. z

Benchmark federal payroll services and systems. z 

Integrate payroll policy with HR policy. ◑

Incorporate partners in decision process. z 

Leverage existing investments. ◑

Source: GAO analysis of OPM data. 

Legend: z = objective fully or substantially achieved; ◑ = objective partially achieved; 

{ = no significant progress made toward this objective; ∅ = objective no longer 

applicable. 

Project Progress 

E-Payroll has completed three of its five objectives: a business case 

has been completed, an initial benchmarking study was completed 

for 26 agencies, and partners have been incorporated in the 

decision-making process. With regard to the third objective, ePayroll officials have identified approximately 92 specific payroll 

policy issues and have resolved four of them to date. According to 

the project manager, e-Payroll providers are working to leverage 

existing investments but have not completed this objective. 

Performance 

The table lists key performance metrics established for the e-Payroll 

initiative. 
Page 34 GAO-04-561T 

Table 16: Performance Metrics 

Metric Target Reported status 

Payroll cost per transaction/per employee “In line with industry 

averages” 

Not reported 

Accuracy of Treasury disbursements, post

payroll interfaces, and periodic reporting 

Not reported Not reported

Source: President’s Fiscal Year 2005 Budget submission. 
Page 35 GAO-04-561T 

e-Records Management 

Managing partner agency: National Archives and Records 

Administration (NARA) 

Purpose: Provide policy guidance to help agencies to better manage 

their electronic records, so that records information can be 

effectively used to support timely and effective decision making, 

enhance service delivery, and ensure accountability. Four major 

issue areas are correspondence management, enterprisewide 

electronic records management, electronic information 

management standards, and transferring permanent records to 

NARA. 

Reported fiscal year 2004 budget: $0.6 million 

Table 17: Status of Original e-Records Management Objectives 

Objectives 

Assessed 

status 

Providing correspondence management models to enable agencies to 

use modern techniques for cross-agency decision making and 

correspondence. 

∅

Developing revised baseline functional requirements for records 

management applications for governmentwide use. z

The development of enterprisewide e-records management practices. ◑

Giving agencies tools for transferring electronic records to the National 

Archives in a variety of data types and formats so that records may be 

preserved for future government and citizen use. 

◑

Source: GAO analysis of NARA data. 

Legend: z = objective fully or substantially achieved; ◑ = objective partially achieved; 

{ = no significant progress made toward this objective; ∅ = objective no longer 

applicable. 

Project Progress 

According to the project managers, the first objective was 

terminated based on stakeholder input that there was no need for a 

correspondence tracking system. Regarding the second objective, 

NARA established baseline functional requirements for records 

management applications by issuing guidance endorsing the use of 

Defense Department standards. Concerning the development of 

enterprisewide e-records management practices, progress was 
Page 36 GAO-04-561T 

reported to be partially complete. The initiative issued guidance on 

capital planning for enterprisewide record management applications 

in June 2003. NARA is awaiting OMB approval of draft guidance that 

would direct agencies in developing agency-specific electronic 

record management system requirements. Additionally, part of the 

planned effort to address the third objective has been delayed due to 

funding shortfalls. For the last objective, four of the six planned data 

standards types—which serve as the initiative’s tools for 

transferring electronic records—have been defined. 

Performance 

The table lists key performance metrics planned for the e-Records 

Management initiative and their reported status. 

Table 18: Performance Metrics 

Metric Target Reported status 

Percent of eligible data items 

archived/preserved electronically 

Not reported Not reported 

Document search/retrieval burden Not reported Not reported

Document recovery burden Not reported Not reported

Median time for processing archival 

electronic records 

250 calendar days 759 calendar days

Source: President’s Fiscal Year 2005 Budget submission. 
Page 37 GAO-04-561T 

e-Rulemaking 

Managing partner agency: Environmental Protection Agency 

(EPA) 

Purpose: Allow citizens to easily access and participate in the rule 

making process. Improve access to, and quality of, the rulemaking 

process for individuals, businesses, and other government entities 

while streamlining and increasing the efficiency of internal agency 

processes. 

Reported fiscal year 2004 budget: $11.5 million 

Table 19: Status of Original e-Rulemaking Objectives 

Objectives 

Assessed 

status 

Provide an easy and consistent way for the public to find and comment 

on proposed rules. z

Create a governmentwide, centralized online capability to access and 

search all publicly available regulatory material. ◑

Build a unified, cost-effective “back room” regulatory management 

system to ensure efficiency, economies of scale, and consistency for 

public customers and the government. 

{

Source: GAO analysis of EPA data. 

Legend: z = objective fully or substantially achieved; ◑ = objective partially achieved; 

{ = no significant progress made toward this objective; ∅ = objective no longer 

applicable. 

Project Progress 

In January 2003, www.regulations.gov was launched, which enables 

citizens and businesses to search for and respond electronically to 

proposed rules open for comment in the Federal Register.15 The 

ability to search full rulemaking dockets—the complete set of 

publicly available material (i.e., economic analyses, models, etc.) 

associated with a proposed rule—is not yet available and is 

contingent on developing a governmentwide electronic docket 

system. At the request of OMB, the e-Rulemaking initiative was 

asked to reassess the centralized architecture it had originally 

 

15 For a more detailed examination of the first phase of this initiative, see U.S. General Accounting 

Office, Electronic Rulemaking: Efforts to Facilitate Public Participation Can Be Improved, GAO-03-

901 (Washington, D.C.: Sept. 17, 2003). 
Page 38 GAO-04-561T 

proposed for this system, identify alternatives, and submit a 

recommendation to OMB. The e-Rulemaking executive committee 

submitted its recommendation to adopt a centralized architecture to 

OMB in late February 2004. Officials expect OMB to endorse this 

recommendation in the near future. Program officials anticipate 

rolling out “Version 1.0” by the end of January 2005 and expect all 

other rulemaking agencies will migrate to it by mid–fiscal year 2006. 

Development of a regulatory management system (objective 3) will 

depend on implementation of the docket architecture, and, 

according to program officials, OMB has directed that agency 

participation in this objective be voluntary. 

Performance 

The table lists key performance metrics used for the e-Rulemaking 

initiative and their reported status. 

Table 20: Performance Metrics 

Metric Target Reported status 

Number of electronic comments 

submitted through Regulations.gov 

200,000 509 

Number of downloads of rules and 

regulations 

4,000,000 More than 700,000 page 

views or downloads from 

July to November 2003

Number of public participants in the 

rulemaking process 

150,000 Almost 200,000 unique 

visitors to 

Regulations.gov from 

January through 

November 2003

Number of online docket systems 

decommissioned with the associated 

cost savings and cost avoidance 

5 systems, $8 million 

in cost savings, $5 

million cost 

avoidance 

Not reported

Source: President’s Fiscal Year 2005 Budget submission. 
Page 39 GAO-04-561T 

e-Training 

Managing partner agency: Office of Personnel Management 

(OPM) 

Purpose: Create a premier e-Training environment that supports 

development of the federal workforce through simplified and onestop access to high quality e-Training products and services, and 

thus advances the accomplishment of agency missions. 

Reported fiscal year 2004 budget: $19.4 million 

Table 21: Status of Original e-Training Objectives 

Objectives 

Assessed 

status 

Reduce redundancies and provide economies of scale for the purchase, 

development, and implementation of e-learning products and services 

across government. 

z

Implement a premier e-training portal that provides enhanced one-stop 

access to high quality training and development opportunities for 

government employees. 

z 

Provide increased access to common need government-centric/highinterest e-training courses. z 

To support and advance the use of “communities of practice” to improve 

human capital within agencies and across the federal government. ◑

Source: GAO analysis of OPM data. 

Legend: z = objective fully or substantially achieved; ◑ = objective partially achieved; 

{ = no significant progress made toward this objective; ∅ = objective no longer 

applicable. 

Project Progress 

According to the project manager, the project realized $15 million in 

cost avoidance/savings in fiscal year 2003 by reducing redundancies 

in federal training programs and providing economies of scale 

(objective 1). GoLearn.gov was launched in July 2002, with 

additional modules released in January and September 2003 

(objective 2). The e-Training initiative has provided increased access 

to government-oriented courses, such as “Merit Systems Principles 

and Prohibited Personnel Practices” and “Foreign Voting 

Assistance” (objective 3). In September 2003 the initiative 

implemented the Competency Management Center on its 

GoLearn.gov site. The Competency Management Center currently 
Page 40 GAO-04-561T 

contains career path and competency data for the IT workforce 

based on the CIO Council’s IT Workforce Development Roadmap. 

Additional communities in the acquisition, human resources, and 

finance domains will be added with the September 2004 update 

(objective 4). 

Performance 

The table lists key performance metrics used for the e-Training 

initiative and their reported status. 

Table 22: Performance Metrics 

Metric Target Reported status 

Cost avoidance: total tuition/travel cost 

reductions for participating agencies 

Minimum of $50 

million in reductions 

$15 million as of July 31, 

2003 

Percent of executive branch agencies 

receiving their e-Training via 

GoLearn.gov 

Not reported 14 as of July 31, 2003

Number of registered users with 

GoLearn.gov 

Not reported 190,000 

Total number of courses completed Not reported 160,000 

Source: President’s Fiscal Year 2005 Budget submission. 
Page 41 GAO-04-561T 

e-Travel 

Managing partner agency: General Services Administration (GSA) 

Purpose: Provide a governmentwide Web-based service that applies 

world-class travel management practices to consolidate federal 

travel, minimize cost, and produce superior customer satisfaction. 

From travel planning and authorization to reimbursement, the 

e-Travel Service (eTs) will leverage administrative, financial, and 

information technology best practices to realize significant cost 

savings and improved employee productivity. 

Reported fiscal year 2004 budget: $12.4 million 

Table 23: Status of Original e-Travel Objectives 

Objectives 

Assessed 

status 

Rationalize, automate, and consolidate the federal government’s travel 

process. This travel management service will be accessed through the 

Web and will cover the travel process from planning, authorization, and 

reservations, to travel claims and voucher reconciliation. 

◑

Assess the operational concepts to include critical success factors and 

requirements. z

Identify at least three realistic alternative business models. z

Draft legislative changes, redefine a Travel Management System, and 

act on enabling regulatory changes. z

Source: GAO analysis of GSA data. 

Legend: z = objective fully or substantially achieved; ◑ = objective partially achieved; 

{ = no significant progress made toward this objective; ∅ = objective no longer 

applicable. 

Project Progress 

The e-Travel initiative has taken a number of steps to establish a 

governmentwide Web-based travel management service. In 

November 2003, GSA awarded contracts for the Web-based e-Travel 

system to three vendors. All civilian federal agencies will be 

required to use the new system by September 30, 2006. Regarding its 

second objective, the project team developed a concept of 

operations in December 2001 based on an initial OMB assessment, 

meetings with partnering agencies, and market and best practices 

research. According to the project manager, three potential business 

models were identified (objective 3) including maintaining the 
Page 42 GAO-04-561T 

existing paper-based travel process, establishing a simple electronic 

booking system with paper-based voucher processing, and a full 

e-Travel option incorporating both electronic booking and 

electronic voucher processing. The initiative selected the full 

e-Travel option. Regarding the fourth objective, a federal travel 

regulation (FTR) that became effective January 21, 2004, outlines 

three key milestones for agency implementation. Agencies are 

required to submit migration plans to the e-Travel project 

management office by March 31, 2004, and have a signed task order 

to implement eTs with one of the three vendors by December 31, 

2004. The FTR also establishes September 30, 2006, as the date by 

which all agencies covered by the FTR must migrate to the eTs for 

full agencywide use. According to the e-Travel project manager, an 

additional objective has been added to the original four that involves 

development of a business intelligence capability based on analyzing 

travel data captured by the system. 

Performance 

The table lists key performance metrics established for the e-Travel 

initiative. 

Table 24: Performance Metrics 

Metric Target Reported status 

Percentage of users expressing high level of 

satisfaction 

Not reported Not reported 

Number of agencies using e-Travel Not reported Not reported

Percentage use of e-Travel services within each 

agency 

Not reported Not reported

Number of trips serviced through e-Travel Not reported Not reported

Percentage of trips planned and completed online Not reported Not reported 

Significant reduction in duplicative systems (Currently 

6+ online booking channels, 50+ travel planning/ 

processing channels, 200+ licensed and governmentdeveloped expense reporting systems) 

Not reported Not reported 

Reduction in administrative cost per trip Align with 

commercial 

best practices 

Not reported 

Source: President’s Fiscal Year 2005 Budget submission. 
Page 43 GAO-04-561T 

e-Vital 

Managing partner agency: Social Security Administration (SSA) 

Purpose: Establish common electronic processes for federal and 

state agencies to collect, process, analyze, verify, and share death 

record information. Also promote automating how deaths are 

registered with the states. 

Reported fiscal year 2004 budget: $2.0 million 

Table 25: Status of Original e-Vital Objectives 

Objectives 

Assessed 

status 

Automate state-based processes for death registration. ◑

Simplify, through use of Internet-based technology, processes 

associated with collecting, reporting, and verifying vital records. ◑

Establish a framework that will facilitate more efficient processing and 

effective use of other state-owned vital record information (e.g., divorce, 

fetal death data). 

{

Source: GAO analysis of SSA data. 

Legend: z = objective fully or substantially achieved; ◑ = objective partially achieved; 

{ = no significant progress made toward this objective; ∅ = objective no longer 

applicable. 

Project Progress 

Of e-Vital’s three original objectives, the project team has partially 

completed two. Regarding the first objective, the team has 

developed a framework for states to build electronic death 

registration (EDR) systems, which provide an automated 

registration process for making death record information available 

electronically. In addition, they have established standards, 

guidelines, and requirements for states to use to implement these 

systems. Three states and New York City have signed contracts to 

implement EDR and are scheduled to implement the systems by 

April 2004. Four more states are scheduled to implement EDR by 

September 2004, and five more by 2005. The Electronic Verification 

of Vital Events (EVVE), which is intended to provide the federal 

government with online access to vital records such as birth 

records, was piloted in 8 states, and it proved successful in 

providing electronic access to vital records. However, the project 
Page 44 GAO-04-561T 

was terminated in December 2003 because state governments were 

unwilling to lower their fees for providing vital record information. 

The rationale for the initiative had been based on realizing 

substantial cost savings for the Social Security Administration (SSA) 

by allowing it to obtain vital records electronically at reduced cost; 

however, states were reluctant to forgo an important source of 

revenue and, in some cases, fees could not be lowered because they 

were set by state law. Given this obstacle, SSA decided to 

discontinue work on this objective. According to the SSA officials, 

no effort is under way to address the third objective, because it is 

intended to build on the infrastructure of the EDR project once it is 

in place. 

Performance 

The table lists key performance metrics established for the e-Vital 

initiative. 

Table 26: Performance Metrics 

Metric Target Reported status 

Time for state to report death to SSA 15 days Not reported 

Number of verified death records Not reported Not reported

Time to verify birth and death entitlement factors 24 hours Not reported

Number of false identify cases Not reported Not reported

Source: President’s Fiscal Year 2005 Budget submission. 
Page 45 GAO-04-561T 

Expanding Electronic Tax Products for Businesses 

Managing partner agency: Department of Treasury 

Purpose: Reduce the number of tax-related forms that businesses 

must file, provide timely and accurate tax information to businesses, 

increase the availability of electronic tax filing, and model simplified 

federal and state tax employment laws. 

Reported fiscal year 2004 budget: $3.2 million, based on official 

direction by OMB as part of the fiscal year 2004 budget process 

Table 27: Status of Original Expanding Electronic Tax Products for Businesses 

Objectives 

Objectives 

Assessed 

status 

Reduce the number of tax-related forms that businesses must file and 

that government agencies must process. ◑

Provide timely and accurate tax information to businesses. ◑

Increase the availability of electronic tax filing. ◑

Simplify federal and state tax employment laws and related reporting 

requirements. {

Source: GAO analysis of Treasury data. 

Legend: z = objective fully or substantially achieved; ◑ = objective partially achieved; 

{ = no significant progress made toward this objective; ∅ = objective no longer 

applicable. 

Project Progress 

The Expanding Electronic Tax Products for Businesses initiative 

consists of seven separate projects, of which four have been 

implemented to date. Implementation of these four projects 

contributes to the partial achievement of the first three objectives. 

In January 2003, employment tax reporting forms were made 

available for electronic filing. In April 2003, IRS deployed its 

Internet-based employer identification number (EIN) tool, allowing 

businesses to apply for and obtain EINs online. In February 2004, 

corporate and exempt organization tax returns were made available 

for electronic submission, completing the third and fourth projects. 

According to the program manager, the fourth objective is to be 

addressed by providing support for three additional projects, which 
Page 46 GAO-04-561T 

have not yet been implemented: Harmonized Wage Reporting, 

Standardized EIN, and Single Point Electronic Filing of Form W-2/3. 

Performance 

The table lists key performance metrics used for the Expanding 

Electronic Tax Products for Businesses initiative and their reported 

status. 

Table 28: Performance Metrics 

Metric Target Reported status 

Burden reduction for businesses per return 

and/or application filed 

Not reported 290,991 burden hours 

saved from Internet EIN 

as of November 29, 

2003 

Administrative cost to federal government per 

return filed 

Not reported Not reported

Cycle time to grant EIN—valid EIN granted 

immediately 

Immediately 5 seconds for Internet 

EIN application

Number of electronic “94x” forms submitted Not reported 11,244 as of December 

5, 2003 

Number of electronic “SS-4” forms submitted Not reported 581,981 as of December 

20, 2003 

Number of states participating in integrated 

registration and EIN 

Not reported 2 as of July 1, 2003 

Source: President’s Fiscal Year 2005 Budget submission. 
Page 47 GAO-04-561T 

Federal Asset Sales 

Managing partner agency: General Services Administration (GSA) 

Purpose: Identify, recommend, and implement improvements for 

asset recovery and disposition, making it easier for agencies, 

businesses, and citizens to find and acquire/buy federal assets. 

Reported fiscal year 2004 budget: $7.24 million 

Table 29: Status of Original Federal Asset Sales Objectives 

Objectives 

Assessed 

status 

Serve as the focal point for the development of a Web-based single 

point solution to federal asset sales with increased value to the citizen 

that provides a consistent and standardized experience for the 

government customer base. 

◑

Reduce redundant investments, minimize costs, maximize agency 

participation, and maximize sales proceeds. {

Through the use of proven marketplace solutions, increase the number 

of buyers and active users; enhance satisfaction for agency sellers as 

well as citizen and business buyers. 

{

Source: GAO analysis of GSA data. 

Legend: z = objective fully or substantially achieved; ◑ = objective partially achieved; 

{ = no significant progress made toward this objective; ∅ = objective no longer 

applicable. 

Project Progress 

According to project officials, the first objective is being addressed 

through development of Web portals for the sale of excess personal 

and real property. The team plans to award a contract for the 

personal property portal in the near future. Project documentation 

states that the portal will be operational in July 2004. Project 

officials have scheduled the real property portal contract to be 

awarded in September 2004. Efforts to draft and award these 

contracts have taken up most of the time of the initiative, as the 

initiative has worked to gain stakeholder consensus and approval. 

According to agency officials, the second and third objectives will 

also be addressed by implementation of these portals; however, no 

progress has yet been made on these objectives. 
Page 48 GAO-04-561T 

Performance 

The table lists key performance metrics used for the Federal Asset 

Sales initiative and their reported status. 

Table 30: Performance Metrics 

Metric Target Reported status 

At least 10 federal departments and 

agencies actively contributing and 

supporting Federal Asset Sales effort by 

offering assets for sale by end of fiscal 

year 2003 

At least 10 agencies GSA and NASA have 

committed assets to 

Federal Asset Sales as 

of December 2003 

Reduce the number of existing Web 

sites that sell or list federal assets for 

sale by 25 percent in fiscal year 2004 

Reduction by 25 

percent 

Not reported

Reduce the cost to process a personal 

property sales transaction by 5 percent 

in fiscal year 2004 

Reduction by 5 

percent 

Not reported

Increase the number of unique visitors 

to Federal Asset Sales by 5 times the 

January 2003 baseline in fiscal year 

2004 

Increase of 5 times 

January 2003 

baseline 

Not reported

Decrease average cycle time 

associated with the personal property 

asset disposition process by 21 

business days in fiscal year 2004 

Decrease cycle time 

by 21 business days 

Not reported 

Net proceeds generated through 

personal property sales 

Not reported Not reported 

Net proceeds generated through 

real property sales 

Not reported Not reported 

Source: President’s Fiscal Year 2005 Budget submission. 
Page 49 GAO-04-561T 

Geospatial One-Stop 

Managing partner agency: Department of the Interior 

Purpose: Provide federal and state agencies with a single point of 

access to map-related data to enable consolidation of redundant 

data. 

Reported fiscal year 2004 budget: $9.95 million 

Table 31: Status of Original Geospatial One-Stop Objectives 

Objectives 

Assessed 

status 

Provide fast, low cost, reliable access to geospatial data needed for 

federal, state, and local government operations. ◑

Facilitate government-to-government interactions needed for vertical 

missions such as homeland security. ◑

Facilitate the improved delivery of government services to the public. ◑

Obtain multisector input for coordinating, developing, and implementing 

geographic information standards to create the consistency needed for 

interoperability and to stimulate market development of tools. ◑

Source: GAO analysis of Interior data. 

Legend: z = objective fully or substantially achieved; ◑ = objective partially achieved; 

{ = no significant progress made toward this objective; ∅ = objective no longer 

applicable. 

Project Progress 

The Geospatial One-Stop project team has taken actions that 

partially complete all four of the initiative’s original objectives. To 

address the first objective, in June 2003, the project team developed 

a portal, www.geodata.gov, intended to provide a central location to 

identify geospatial data held by both federal and nonfederal 

agencies. The project plans to award a contract in August 2004 to 

develop a revised version of the portal. In addition, according to the 

fiscal year 2005 budget submission, the project team has created a 

draft framework of data standards that have been submitted to the 

American National Standards Institute for review. To address the 

second objective, project officials are working to organize the 

content of the portal into content categories and lines of business, 

such as homeland security. According to the executive director, the 

team is working on the third objective by setting up an online 
Page 50 GAO-04-561T 

“marketplace” intended to provide information on federal agencies’ 

future data acquisitions, allowing state and local governments the 

opportunity to find and potentially make use of geographic 

information systems (GIS) projects in their areas. Regarding the 

fourth objective, the project team recently conducted the first of a 

series of teleconferences aimed at sharing information about 

federal, state, and local government GIS activities. 

Performance 

The table lists key performance metrics used for the Geospatial 

One-Stop initiative and their reported status. 

Table 32: Performance Metrics 

Metric Target Reported status 

Number of data sets posted to the portal Not reported 5,417 as of November 5, 2003 

Number of users Not reported 12,299 unique visitors for 

month ending November 3, 

2003

Number of cost sharing partnerships for 

data collection activities 

Not reported Not reported

Number of data set hits Not reported Not reported

Number of federal agencies posting 

data sets to geodata.gov 

Not reported 16 as of November 3, 2003

Source: President’s Fiscal Year 2005 Budget submission. 
Page 51 GAO-04-561T 

GovBenefits 

Managing partner agency: Department of Labor 

Purpose: Provide a single point of access for citizens to locate and 

determine potential eligibility for government benefits and services. 

Reported fiscal year 2004 budget: $11.9 million 

Table 33: Status of Original GovBenefits.gov Objectives 

Objectives 

Assessed 

status 

Provide potential beneficiaries instant access to information for all 

government benefit programs and services through a single Web site. z

Enable individuals to apply for benefits online through a streamlined 

application process. {

Source: GAO analysis of Labor data. 

Legend: z = objective fully or substantially achieved; ◑ = objective partially achieved; 

{ = no significant progress made toward this objective; ∅ = objective no longer 

applicable. 

Project Progress 

The GovBenefits program has made progress in allowing citizens to 

locate and apply for government benefits and services. The 

GovBenefits.gov portal currently provides information about over 

500 benefits programs at 22 agencies, including some state benefits 

programs. The portal uses a structured set of questions to identify 

benefit programs that may apply to citizens, eliminating the need to 

try to identify such programs individually at separate government 

agencies. According to GovBenefits officials, the project’s next 

phase will focus on working with partner agencies to develop 

standards for benefit eligibility and application information. 

GovBenefits officials reported that until such standards are 

developed, an online application capability cannot be deployed. 

Performance 

The table lists key performance metrics used for the 

GovBenefits.gov initiative and their reported status. 
Page 52 GAO-04-561T 

Table 34: Performance Metrics 

Metric Target Reported status 

Visits to site per month 350,000 498,743 for month 

ending October 31, 2003

Number of unique visitors per month Not reported 251,304 for month 

ending October 31, 2003

Number of referrals to partner benefit 

sites 

10% increase 35,000 for month ending 

October 2, 2002; 

107,484 for month 

ending October 31, 2003

Average time to find benefits and 

determine eligibility 

20 minutes or less 15 minutes as of 

September 1, 2003

Source: President’s Fiscal Year 2005 Budget submission. 
Page 53 GAO-04-561T 

Grants.gov 

Managing partner agency: Health and Human Services (HHS) 

Purpose: Create a single portal for all federal grant customers to 

find, apply for, and ultimately manage grants online. 

Reported fiscal year 2004 budget: $10.67 million 

Table 35: Status of Original Grants.gov Objectives 

Objectives 

Assessed 

status 

Pilot a simple, unified way to find grant opportunities via the Web. z

Evaluate the use or expansion of interagency and agency specific 

capabilities for discretionary grant programs. z

Work with e-authentication PMO and privacy groups. z

Define application data standards. z 

Deploy simple, unified application mechanism. z 

Source: GAO analysis of HHS data. 

Legend: z = objective fully or substantially achieved; ◑ = objective partially achieved; 

{ = no significant progress made toward this objective; ∅ = objective no longer 

applicable. 

Project Progress 

The Grants.gov initiative (formerly e-Grants) has achieved all of its 

original objectives. In July 2002, the initiative piloted its “Find” tool, 

which serves as a simple, unified way for grant applicants to find 

discretionary grant opportunities via the Internet. In May 2002, a 

technology evaluation report was published that examined the use 

or expansion of interagency and agency-specific capabilities 

including commercial off-the-shelf software. In consultation with 

the e-Authentication initiative, Grants.gov selected a commercial 

provider of e-authentication credentials for the Grants.gov site. The 

initiative worked to define a standard grant application for its 

“Apply” tool, which would allow an applicant to download an 

application form and submit an application online. In October 2002, 

after consultations with stakeholders in the grantee community, an 

existing OMB-approved standard grant application form already in 

use by many grant-making agencies was selected for use in the 

“Apply” tool. On October 31, 2003, the www.Grants.gov site was 

deployed with both “Find” and “Apply” tools. A grant applicant may 
Page 54 GAO-04-561T 

search for grant opportunities via the site, download an application 

form, and submit the application online. According to project 

documentation, as of February 2004, the Grants.gov portal allowed 

prospective grants applicants to find and apply for a total of 835 

grant opportunities at 29 grant-making agencies. 

Performance 

The table lists key performance metrics used for the Grants.gov 

initiative and their reported status. 

Table 36: Performance Metrics 

Metric Target Reported status 

Number of grant-making agencies 

publishing grant opportunities in portal 

Not reported 26 as of December 9, 2003 

Number of grant programs available for 

electronic application 

Not reported 6 as of December 9, 2003

Percent of reusable information per grant 

application 

Not reported Not reported

Number of applications received 

electronically 

Not reported 8 as of December 9, 2003

Number of grant announcements posted 

in Grants.gov (Total Postings) 

Not reported 1,516 as of December 3, 

2003 

Source: President’s Fiscal Year 2005 Budget submission. 
Page 55 GAO-04-561T 

Integrated Acquisition Environment (IAE) 

Managing partner agency: General Services Administration (GSA) 

Purpose: Create a secure business environment that will facilitate 

and support the cost-effective acquisition of goods and services by 

agencies, while eliminating inefficiencies in the current acquisition 

environment. 

Reported fiscal year 2004 budget: $44 million 

Table 37: Status of Original Integrated Acquisition Environment Objectives 

Objectives 

Assessed 

status 

Deploy a single point of registration and validation of supplier data 

accessed by all agencies. z

Implement a central point for consolidated collection and access of 

statistical and management information related to government 

acquisitions. 

z

Implement a directory of governmentwide acquisition contracts (GWAC) 

and multiple award contracts (MAC) to simplify selection and facilitate 

leverage of government buying. 

z

Develop a standard glossary and vocabulary to facilitate exchange of 

data between and within agencies. ◑

Reduce the cost of and make transparent the ordering, billing, and 

collections of intergovernmental transactions. ◑

Source: GAO analysis of GSA data. 

Legend: z = objective fully or substantially achieved; ◑ = objective partially achieved; 

{ = no significant progress made toward this objective; ∅ = objective no longer 

applicable. 

Project Progress 

Three of IAE’s five original objectives are complete, and the 

remaining two objectives are partially complete. The project team 

developed a single point of registration and validation through IAE’s 

Business Partner Network, which allowed the Small Business 

Administration to shut down its obsolete Pro-NET. In October 2003, 

the project launched the Federal Procurement Data System–Next 

Generation (FPDS-NG), which is intended to be the central point for 

collection of statistical and management information related to 

government acquisitions. In addition, the IAE project team 

developed and implemented an interagency contracts directory, 
Page 56 GAO-04-561T 

which became operational in July 2003. The directory references 

16,000 contracts as of February 18, 2004. Regarding its fourth 

objective, the project team has published a first version of 

eTransaction standards as well as a draft summary Extensible 

Markup Language guidance. While the fifth objective was listed in 

the project’s May 2002 work plans as involving “intergovernmental” 

transactions, it was actually intended to refer to intragovernmental 

(i.e., within the federal government) transactions. The IAE team has 

registered all agencies for intragovernmental transactions, and it is 

currently prototyping an intragovernmental transaction system with 

five agencies. 

Performance 

The table lists key performance metrics used for the IAE initiative 

and their reported status. 

Table 38: Performance Metrics 

Metric Target Reported status 

Percent reduction in time for delivery of 

products and services 

Not reported Not reported 

Cost-to-spend Not reported Not reported

Number of intra-governmental 

transactions going through the 

Intragovernmental Transactions 

Exchange 

Not reported 40 as of December 11, 2003

Number of interagency contracts in 

directory 

Not reported 16,000 as of December 11, 

2003

Number of vendors registered in the 

central contractor registration central 

database 

Not reported 262,823 as of December 11, 

2003 

Percent reduction in procurement 

transaction errors 

Not reported Not reported 

Percent of transactions reported directly 

to FPDS-NG 

Not reported Not reported 

Source: President’s Fiscal Year 2005 Budget submission. 
Page 57 GAO-04-561T 

Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Free File 

Managing partner agency: Department of Treasury 

Purpose: Create a single point of access to free online preparation 

and electronic tax filing services provided by commercial partners 

to reduce burden and costs to taxpayers. 

Reported fiscal year 2004 budget: $406,00016

Table 39: Status of Original IRS Free File Objectives 

Objectives 

Assessed 

status 

Work with a consortium of companies from the electronic tax 

preparation and filing industry to offer free online tax return preparation 

to a significant number of taxpayers. 

z

Host a Web page for the consortium and provide access to the 

consortium from appropriate government Web pages. z

Source: GAO analysis of Treasury data. 

Legend: z = objective fully or substantially achieved; ◑ = objective partially achieved; 

{ = no significant progress made toward this objective; ∅ = objective no longer 

applicable. 

Project Progress 

Formerly known as EZ Tax Filing, the IRS Free File initiative is now 

largely complete. The initiative’s strategy has been to leverage 

existing commercial service providers to offer a free tax filing 

option to some federal taxpayers. According to the IRS Free File 

program manager, the IRS signed an agreement with the Free File 

Alliance—a consortium of companies in the electronic tax 

preparation and filing industry—to make free electronic filing 

services available to 60 percent of taxpayers on October 30, 2002. 

On January 16, 2003, the IRS launched the free file service on 

www.irs.gov. Taxpayers visiting the project’s Web site can link to 

companies that are members of the Free File Alliance and receive 

free filing services, if taxpayers meet company-defined eligibility 

requirements, such as a maximum adjusted gross income. 

 

16 Estimate provided by IRS Free File initiative program staff. There was no fiscal year 2004 budget 

submission for this initiative. 
Page 58 GAO-04-561T 

Performance 

The table lists key performance metrics used for the IRS Free File 

initiative and their reported status. 

Table 40: Performance Metrics 

Metric Target Reported status 

Percentage coverage of tax filing public Minimum of 60 percent 60 percent minimum 

Number of citizens filing electronically 2.4 million 2.79 million as of 

September 30, 2003

Source: President’s Fiscal Year 2005 Budget submission. 
Page 59 GAO-04-561T 

International Trade Process Streamlining (ITPS) 

Managing partner agency: Department of Commerce 

Purpose: Make it easy for small and medium enterprises to obtain 

the information and documents needed to conduct business abroad. 

Reported fiscal year 2004 budget: $1.47 million 

Table 41: Status of Original International Trade Process Streamlining Objectives 

Objectives 

Assessed 

status 

Consolidate and integrate the export process online under Export.gov, 

which will include foreign partner matching/verification, export financing 

and insurance, and consolidated market research. 

z

Develop online applications for export financing, insurance, and loan 

guarantees offered through the Export-Import Bank and the Foreign 

Agriculture Service’s Credit Guarantee System. 

◑

Introduce “One-Stop, One Form,” which will reduce the time required for 

small and medium enterprises to fill out export-related forms and 

paperwork by providing a single online form for many export 

transactions. 

◑

Source: GAO analysis of Commerce data. 

Legend: z = objective fully or substantially achieved; ◑ = objective partially achieved; 

{ = no significant progress made toward this objective; ∅ = objective no longer 

applicable. 

Project Progress 

The ITPS project team has fully achieved one of its original 

objectives and has made progress towards achieving the other two. 

According to the ITPS project manager, other trade portals have 

been integrated into the export.gov portal, thus consolidating the 

online export process. The project team has deployed online tools, 

such as a guide for exporting, an automated North American Free 

Trade Agreement certificate of origin, and a streamlined application 

process for exporters. Additionally, the project manager stated that 

a tool has been put online that allows exporters to enter their 

information in a single form that is used to automatically populate 

all other applications that are linked to this form. According to the 

project manager, additional applications to more fully address the 

second and third objectives are currently in development. 
Page 60 GAO-04-561T 

Performance 

The table lists key performance metrics used for the ITPS initiative 

and their reported status. 

Table 42: Performance Metrics 

Metric Target Reported status 

Time to fill out export forms and locate 

information 

Reduce by 10 

percent annually 

Not reported 

Number of unique visitors to Export.gov Increase by 15 

percent 

598,290 as of January 7, 

2004 

Number of trade leads accessed by 

small and medium enterprises through 

export.gov 

Increase by 10 

percent 

28,716 as of January 7, 

2004 

Number of registered businesses on 

Export.gov 

Not reported 1,246 as of January 7, 2004 

Source: President’s Fiscal Year 2005 Budget submission. 
Page 61 GAO-04-561T 

Project SAFECOM 

Managing partner agency: Department of Homeland Security 

(DHS) 

Purpose: Serve as the umbrella program within the federal 

government to help local, tribal, state, and federal public safety 

agencies improve public safety response through more effective and 

efficient interoperable wireless communications. 

Reported fiscal year 2004 budget: $26.02 million 

Table 43: Status of Original Project SAFECOM Objectives 

Objectives 

Assessed 

status 

Achieve federal-to-federal interoperability throughout the nation. {

Achieve federal-to-state/local interoperability throughout the nation. {

Achieve state/local interoperability throughout the nation. {

Source: GAO analysis of DHS data. 

Legend: z = objective fully or substantially achieved; ◑ = objective partially achieved; 

{ = no significant progress made toward this objective; ∅ = objective no longer 

applicable. 

Project Progress 

As of March 2004, Project SAFECOM has made very limited 

progress in addressing its overall objective of achieving 

communications interoperability among entities at all levels of 

government. Program officials now estimate that a minimum level of 

interoperability will not occur until 2008, and that full 

interoperability will not occur until 15 years later, in 2023. 

SAFECOM has experienced frequent changes in management, which 

have hampered its progress. OMB originally designated the 

Department of the Treasury as the project’s managing partner. 

However, in May 2002, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, 

which had an emergency-response mission more closely aligned 

with SAFECOM’s goals, was designated managing partner. By 

September 2002, the Federal Emergency Management Agency had 

replaced its SAFECOM management team and shifted its 

implementation approach. Following the establishment of the 
Page 62 GAO-04-561T 

Department of Homeland Security17 in May 2003, the project was 

taken out of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and 

assigned to the department’s new Science and Technology 

Directorate because of a perceived need to incorporate more 

technical expertise. This marked the fourth major change in the 

project’s management team within 2 years. 

Project SAFECOM has pursued a number of activities since DHS 

took control of the project in May 2003 that are intended to lay the 

groundwork for future interoperability. Specifically, DHS 

established a governance structure for the project that includes 

executive and advisory committees to formalize collaboration with 

stakeholders. The department has also conducted several planning 

conferences that have provided an opportunity for stakeholders to 

modify program goals and the tasks planned to address them. 

Further, grant guidance has been developed within the SAFECOM 

project for use with awards to public safety agencies that encourage 

planning for interoperability. Also, project officials are working with 

the Commerce Department to catalog all existing federal agencies 

that use public safety communications systems and networks. 

Performance 

The table lists key performance metrics used for the Project 

SAFECOM initiative and their reported status. 

Table 44: Performance Metrics 

Metric Target Reported status 

Number of agencies that can communicate with 

one another 

Not reported Not reported 

Response times for jurisdictions and disciplines 

to respond to an event 

Not reported Not reported

Number of wireless grant programs that include 

SAFECOM-approved equipment 

Not reported 2

Voice, data, and video 

Convergence 

Not reported Not reported

Source: President’s Fiscal Year 2005 Budget submission. 

 

17 The Federal Emergency Management Agency became part of the Department of Homeland Security 

in March 2003. 
Page 63 GAO-04-561T 

Recreation One-Stop 

Managing partner agency: Department of the Interior 

Purpose: Provide a single-point-of-access, user-friendly, Web-based 

resource to citizens, offering information and access to government 

recreational sites. 

Reported fiscal year 2004 budget: $0.6 million 

Table 45: Status of Original Recreation One-Stop Objectives 

Objectives 

Assessed 

status 

Allow citizens to be able to obtain information about parks, museums, 

historical landmarks, and other recreation sites, including hours of 

operation, fees, public accommodations, and services. 

z

Allow citizens to be able to make reservations, order passes, conduct 

other service transactions online. ◑

Provide access to government-collected data relevant to recreation 

activities. ◑

Link to related information and services provided by nongovernmental 

partners. {

Source: GAO analysis of Interior data. 

Legend: z = objective fully or substantially achieved; ◑ = objective partially achieved; 

{ = no significant progress made toward this objective; ∅ = objective no longer 

applicable. 

Project Progress 

Of the four original objectives, the initiative has completed one, 

partially completed two others, and made no progress on the last. 

The original Recreation.gov Web site, which was launched in April 

1998, provided limited information on recreation sites and activities. 

The current site, developed by the Recreation One-Stop initiative, 

offers services that allow citizens not only to obtain information on 

recreation sites and activities—addressing the initiative’s first 

objective—but also to make reservations, partially addressing the 

second objective. The site does not yet allow for ordering passes or 

for conducting other online transactions. By providing online 

information and reservations, the Web site provides access to some 

government-collected data relevant to recreation activities, but not 

all state government recreation information is yet included. 
Page 64 GAO-04-561T 

Currently, the initiative is seeking to develop agreed-upon standards 

for data submission and display for a planned online clearinghouse. 

The site does not yet contain any links to information or services 

provided by nongovernmental partners. 

Performance 

The table lists key performance metrics used for the Recreation 

One-Stop initiative and their reported status. 

Table 46: Performance Metrics 

Metric Target Reported status 

Number of partners sharing data using 

common (Recreation Markup Language) data 

standard 

Increase by 15% Not reported 

Number of facilities listed in Recreation.gov Increase by 25% 3,800 as of 1/7/04

Number of federal Web sites with 

consistent recreation data 

Increase by 25% Not reported

Number of online reservations Not reported Not reported

Source: President’s Fiscal Year 2005 Budget submission. 
Page 65 GAO-04-561T 

Recruitment One-Stop (ROS) 

Managing partner agency: Office of Personnel Management 

(OPM) 

Purpose: Outsource delivery of USAJOBS Federal Employment 

Information System to deliver state-of-the-art online recruitment 

services to job seekers including intuitive job searching, online 

resume submission, applicant data mining, and online feedback on 

status and eligibility. 

Reported fiscal year 2004 budget: $6.7 million 

Table 47: Status of Original ROS Objectives 

Objectives 

Assessed 

status 

Increase customer satisfaction with the federal application process 

through Recruitment One-Stop. ◑

Decrease the amount of time it takes to source candidates. ◑

Source 75 percent of federal job candidates through Recruitment OneStop by the end of fiscal year 2003. { 

Desired quality level of new hires is achieved. { 

Identify and work to eliminate unnecessary legal and regulatory 

constraints to effective recruitment. { 

Source: GAO analysis of OPM data. 

Legend: z = objective fully or substantially achieved; ◑ = objective partially achieved; 

{ = no significant progress made toward this objective; ∅ = objective no longer 

applicable. 

Project Progress 

The ROS team has worked primarily to enhance the USAJobs Web 

site, which is intended to serve as the foundation for achieving most 

of the initiative’s objectives. Regarding the first objective, ROS has 

used the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) as a 

measure. The ACSI rates customer service with a score of 0 to 100, 

and the customer satisfaction rating for the USAJobs Web site has 

increased from a score of 68 to a score of 73. OPM officials stated 

that although they have increased customer satisfaction, their 

intention is to significantly surpass the government average score of 

71. The projects’ second objective has been partially realized; a 

resume-mining tool to source candidates has been implemented, but 
Page 66 GAO-04-561T 

it has not been widely used to date. The third objective has not been 

achieved; currently only approximately 21 percent of federal job 

candidates have been sourced through ROS. Further, ROS has not 

developed or implemented a measure for whether the “desired 

quality level” of new hires has been achieved. ROS has made no 

significant progress toward the fifth objective; ROS has not 

identified nor has it worked to eliminate unnecessary legal and 

regulatory constraints. 

Performance 

The table lists key performance metrics used for the Recruitment 

One-Stop initiative and their reported status. 

Table 48: Performance Metrics 

Metric Target Reported status 

Cost per hire Not reported $2,790 as of August 30, 2003 

Time to fill vacancies Not reported 102 as of August 30, 2003

Percent of federal job applicants using 

Recruitment One-Stop 

80 percent Not reported 

Number of visitors to site (daily) Not reported 183,911 as of December 31, 

2003 

Number of applications (resumes) on 

file annually 

Not reported 273,820 as of December 31, 

2003 

Availability of applicant status Real time Not reported 

Source: President’s Fiscal Year 2005 Budget submission. 
Page 67 GAO-04-561T 

USA Services 

Managing partner agency: General Services Administration (GSA) 

Purpose: Develop and deploy governmentwide citizen customer 

service using industry best practices that will provide citizens with 

timely, consistent responses about government information and 

services. 

Reported fiscal year 2004 budget: $9.35 million 

Table 49: Status of Original USA Services Objectives 

Objectives 

Assessed 

status 

Implement a pilot routing and reporting solution for e-mail messages from 

FirstGov to a selected group of 10 agencies z

Deploy an integrated Web and call center point of service including e-mail 

management systems managed by GSA’s Office of Citizen Services z 

Assess citizen needs against existing federal government customer 

relationship management (CRM) environments and systems. Define 

citizen-focused response processes that are optimized for timeliness and 

quality of response, while incorporating privacy and security. 

◑

Develop and implement a prototype for a seamless, multiagency citizen 

response accountability solution. This will be an integrated case 

management and CRM system. Then implement the solution as an 

integrated cross-organization solution. 

{ 

Source: GAO analysis of GSA data. 

Legend: z = objective fully or substantially achieved; ◑ = objective partially achieved; 

{ = no significant progress made toward this objective; ∅ = objective no longer 

applicable. 

Project Progress 

USA Services developed and implemented a pilot reporting and 

routing solution for e-mail messages in December 2002, and in April 

2003, the project established a more robust e-mail capability through 

its Federal Citizen Information Center (FCIC) National Contact 

Center. Currently, a citizen can submit questions for the federal 

government via the FirstGov portal or by calling the National 

Contact Center. Inquiries submitted via FirstGov are routed to an 

FCIC “information agent” where the inquiry is resolved or forwarded 

to the appropriate agency contact. Currently USA Services resolves 

agency-specific requests for four agencies that have contracted for 
Page 68 GAO-04-561T 

such services and has newly signed agreements with two additional 

agencies. USA Services assesses citizen needs through various 

means, including the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) 

and by obtaining direct citizen feedback. However, the CRM 

component of the initiative’s objectives has not yet been realized. 

According to project officials, the project’s original vision of an 

integrated case management system has not been achieved and is 

currently on hold because of concerns about feasibility, cost, and 

protection of customer privacy. 

Performance 

The table lists key performance metrics used for the USA Services 

initiative and their reported status. 

Table 50: Measures of USA Services Performance 

Measure Target 

Reported status as of 

Sept. 30, 2003 

Average time to respond to inquiries 

through Firstgov.gov and FCIC 

100% of inquiries 

responded to within 

24 hours 

12 hours 

Average time to resolve inquiries 

through Firstgov.gov and FCIC 

Not reported 2 business days 

Number of governmentwide inquiries 

that call center and e-mail systems can 

handle 

3.3 million calls per 

year; 150,000 

e-mails per year 

1,756,700 calls; 60,198 

e-mails 

Achieve cost savings from outsourcing 

Tier 1 citizen contact center 

requirements to USA Services

10 agencies by Sept. 

30, 2004 

3 agencies; 13 agencies 

have established 

working agreements 

Source: President’s Fiscal Year 2005 Budget submission. 

(310703)