Simultaneously, digital government will allow us to increase efficiency and reduce costs for the government, for businesses, and for individual citizens. It is a chance to rethink our current structures and processes and perhaps even our concepts of governance. And most of all, digital government provides new methods of increasing citizen participation in the democratic process. With public alienation from government at nearly record levels, those of us in public service are at a crossroads. As the Internet creates exciting new opportunities in the private sector, the government will either be left behind, or we will seize the chance and use this technology to re-engage the public, to restore their trust in the efficacy and responsiveness of government.
Many efforts are already underway, with some notable successes.
The Vice President s National Partnership for Reinventing Government has been a strong advocate of electronic commerce and of providing government services electronically. Several agencies have created imaginative web sites, putting numerous services and a wealth of information online. A number of states have taken leadership roles, experimenting with online motor vehicle registration or linking community training centers to the Internet, using technology to reduce the wait times for receiving government services and to improve the quality of life. But overall progress in digital government is uneven. Computer security is an area needing improvement.