Bureaus that need administrative systems must develop them under the auspices of the Commerce Information Technology Review Board. The goal is to foster systems that can benefit users departmentwide. The plan also calls for Commerce to borrow and adapt ideas used successfully by other government agencies. Part of the move to a digital department includes switching long-haul communications service providers. The plan calls for Commerce by September to use the MCI WorldCom Corp. FTS 2001 contract for its voice and data communications.
Money is the biggest hurdle.
In an assessment of factors that could hinder success, the plan noted that administrative systems historically have had difficulty receiving full funding at Commerce. Daley announced his plans for a paperless department in July. At the time, he challenged Hogan and Baker to complete the plan in 45 days. They met Daley's challenge and, according to the plan, the department began implementing some of the ideas in August. But Commerce repeatedly postponed release of the plan until this month.