Firstgov.gov will be able to search a half-billion documents in less than a quarter of a second and handle 100 million searches each day. The portal's business model also includes a branding incentive program, which will allow other portals like Yahoo, AltaVista, universities or other private sector concerns, to access data from Firstgov.gov and market it on their sites with the Firstgov.gov brand or icon if they agree to certain terms and conditions, Piatt says. It will be like the Intel Inside for the search engine. Citizens, when they see that brand, will know it means certain things. The branding incentive program will also require private sector portals to send any feedback received from users back to Firstgov.gov officials.
Agencies can then revamp sites to align with user needs.
The portal will not charge users, and agencies will be responsible for transaction support. The Department of Education has assembled multiple agencies for its Access America for Students portal. Spawned from the Clinton administration's National Performance Review program, this site is a student's gateway to the federal government. It offers a variety of information and services online, from applying for federal student financial aid and registering for selective service to searching for a job. In the site's first year since its launch in May 1999, the number of hits grew from 1,500 to 63,000 per month.