Use this version. The private sector has automated teller machines and gasoline pumps activated by electronic wands.
Government has slow-moving lines and ponderous paperwork.
That needn t be the case, according to the Council for Excellence in Government, which has developed a blueprint for upgrading to an electronic government. The plan also urges greater collaboration between the government and the private sector and among federal, state and local agencies. It can improve access to information, speed up transactions and make participation in democracy easier, according to the council. Such improvements are important because 44 percent of Americans now believe the government is ineffective at solving problems and helping people, according to a poll conducted for the council. The electronic infrastructure needed for e-government would be costly.