ButI think it sends a positive message to people if Congress were to do it. It tells you you're a value, and we're going to trust you with a valuableasset. It indicates that all workers are information technology workers,and all workers use these tools to do their work. The program also sends a message that employees need to spend more timeon their own development, Thompson added. Alan Balutis, deputy CIO at the Commerce Department, said the programshould be thought of in the bigger context of e-government.
Agencies wouldhave to address property issues, such as computer tracking, accounting andownership.
They would have to ensure that an adequate number of user ports,security and high-speed access are provided for users to dial in from home,he added. Still, vendors say they could step in to help. Mark Barden, vice presidentof marketing at PeoplePC, said the company would be interested in offeringits services if the bill passed and if its existing relationships with CompaqComputer Corp., Toshiba America Information Systems Inc., Hewlett-PackardCo. PeoplePC is providing computers to 350,000 Ford employees worldwideand 72,000 Delta employees. Ford is using HP machines for its program becauseof an existing relationship it had with the computer maker.