Digital Government Digital Government: From Information to Integration Robert Atkinson Vice President and Director, Technology & New Economy Project Progressive Policy Institute Presentation to the 2001 E-Gov Conference, Washington, DC

Digital Government Founded in 1989 by the Democratic Leadership Council 501 (c) (3) Mission is to define and promote a Third Way progressive politics for the Information Age An alternative to the liberal impulse to defend the bureaucratic status quo and the conservative bid to dismantle government The Progressive Policy Institute

Digital Government Related PPI Reports Breaking Down Bureaucratic Barriers: The Next Phase of Digital Government Digital Government: The Next Step to Reengineering the Federal Government The Best States For E-Commerce The Revenge of the Disintermediated: How the Middleman is Fighting E-Commerce and Hurting American Consumers The Failure of Cyber-Libertarianism: The Case for a National E-Commerce Strategy

Digital Government Benefits of Digital Government Reduces Costs to Government and Citizens Improves Quality and Accessibility (on-line, not in line) Helps Create A Digital Economy

Digital Government 5 Reduces Cost PaperOnline Check Processing$1.10$0.02 Mailing IRS Tax Forms$3.50$0.02 Error Rate in tax filing16%0.06%

Digital Government 6 Improves Quality - Online, Not In Line Consumers expect anytime, anywhere, on-my-schedule service. Citizens will expect the same performance from government. One study of on-line professional licenses found that the vast majority of participants preferred this channel.

Digital Government 7 Spur Ubiquitous Adoption of Digital Technologies Unless telephone-like ubiquity can be reached, large scale societal transformation will prove impossible. (David Moschella, Waves of Power) Were not there yet.

Digital Government Three Phases of Digital Government Phase 1: Information: Passive sites providing brochure-ware (Whitehouse.gov goes live in 1993) Phase 2: Transactions: ? Started as downloading forms; moving to completing forms on-line. Phase 3: Integration: 200? Web sites designed around citizen needs, not government agencies, programs and acronyms.

Digital Government E-gov is not about building web sites. Its about using the web to transform government.

Digital Government Customer Focused, Integrated Government: Were not there yet Too often agencies provide what they are interested in, not what the user is interested in. Do people really want to see press releases? Too often agencies view their mission as promoting their services, rather than solving problems. People want to access all solutions. Too often web site portals are unfriendly.

Digital Government What about EDA, DOI, and other agency programs?

Digital Government Why is a new HHS grant program important to me?

Digital Government How about other business development programs?

Digital Government What Should Integrated Digital Government (IDG) Look Like? Joined-up problems need joined-up solutions. Tony Blair We need to conceive of e-gov as pure-play e-gov. If we created government in the digital age, it wouldnt look like the government we have now. We have migrated old-economy government onto the Internet, instead of using the power of the Web to create a new kind of government.

Digital Government Principles For Creating IDG Smart e-government should be focused on one goal: helping citizens solve problems, not merely delivering same old services through a new medium. Most people are not interested in which government agency, or even which tier of government, is responsible.

Digital Government Principles (cont.) 1.Design websites based on consumer needs A) Topics: (e.g., Australia is designing site for parents whose children are starting school, contains information on term dates, immunization requirements, after-school care and statistics to help choose the right school, as well as to enroll and pay school levies online.) B) User Groups: (e.g. workers.gov; seniors.gov)

Digital Government To date, customer-focused has mostly meant putting a myriad of links on one web page. Its as if government is saying were customer focused, weve published an easy- to-use directory of all our individual agency-centric programs. Web links dont constitute integration. Customer Focused, Integrated Government: Were Not There Yet We Remain in an Agency-Centric World

Digital Government Principles (cont.) 2. Create inter-governmental-sites.

Digital Government Principles (cont.) 3. Dont think web directories constitute joined-up government.

Digital Government

Principles (cont.) 4) Allow users to personalize pages.

Digital Government

23 12 Key Principles for Implementation of Digital Government 1)Think Customer, Not Government 2)Reinvent Government, Dont Simply Automate It 3)Set an Ambitious Goal 4)Invest Now to Save Tomorrow

Digital Government Key Principles for Implementation of Digital Government (cont.) 5) Focus on Digital Transactions Between Citizens and Government 6) Make Government Application Interoperable with Commercial Ones 7) Pass on a Portion of the Savings From Electronic Transactions Back to the Citizens 8) Promote Access to Information on the Internet, Do Not Restrict It

Digital Government Key Principles for Implementation of Digital Government (cont.) 9) Respect the Rights of Americans for Information Privacy 10) Online Access to Government Should Not Eclipse Traditional Means 11) Federal Efforts Should Complement, Not Duplicate Private Sector Efforts 12) Take Action Now, and Learn From Mistakes

Digital Government 26 What Are the Barriers? Technology is not the barrier. Nor are issues of authentication, privacy and security issues. Cultural, institutional, and political factors are the major barriers to faster progress toward digital government.

Digital Government 27 Impediments to Faster Progress Toward Digital Government 1)Lack of Political Support – No Top-Level Agency and Government-wide Leadership 2)Lack of Funding and Flexibility 3)Agency Centric vs. Customer Centric 4)Lack of Competitive Pressures Forcing Change

Digital Government 28 Barriers II 1) DG requires shift from bureaucratic government to customer-oriented government. 2) DG requires shift from stove-pipe organized government to cross-cutting government. 3) DG requires the leadership for it to shift from IT staff to elected officials and agency heads.

Digital Government 29 Barriers III 4) DG requires that it not be viewed as a technical issue, but as a strategic, reinventing government issue. (English, not acronyms: GITS; FACNET; EBT; ACES; EFT; GWAC; FARA) 5) DG requires investments now, in in order to save money in the future. 6) DG requires bipartisan support.

Digital Government Customer-centered e-government requires a fundamental change in outlook on the part of government, with the focus being placed on the needs of citizens/customers. Customer-centered e-government requires moving from separate departmental websites to a seamless Internet presence, organized around the citizens needs. To make this work, integration must occur not only between agencies at the same level of government, but also between different tiers of government, and with the private sector. Its Hard to Give Up Control

Digital Government 31 Rob Atkinson (202)