FW: Clinton/Gore: Electronic Government and Information Technolog y for Society

FYI,
Cynthia D. Waddell

---------------------------------------------------
Cynthia D. Waddell   
ADA Coordinator
City Manager Department
City of San Jose, CA USA
801 North First Street, Room 460
San Jose, CA  95110-1704
(408)277-4034
(408)971-0134 TTY
(408)277-3885 FAX
http://www.rit.edu/~easi/webcast/cynthia.htm
http://www.aasa.dshs.wa.gov/access/waddell.htm 



-----Original Message-----
From: Jonathan_M._Young@who.eop.gov
[mailto:Jonathan_M._Young@who.eop.gov] 
Sent: Sunday, December 19, 1999 9:30 PM
Subject: Clinton/Gore: Electronic Government and Information Technology
for Society


On Friday, Vice President Gore announced the release of two Presidential
Memoranda that help to expand the benefits of information technology for
all citizens.  The "E-Society" Directive calls on federal agencies -- in
cooperation with the private sector -- to expand the benefits of
information technology to enrich the education and lives of all our
citizens.  The "E-Gov" Directive will tap technology to strengthen our
civil society by providing better, more efficient government services and
increased government accountability to its citizens.

Below please find the complete text of both of these memoranda, each of
which make specific mention of access for people with disabilities.  Please
take particular note of number 5 in the Electronic Government document, and
numbers 5 and 6 in the Electronic Society document,


                ==========================================

                              THE WHITE HOUSE

                       Office of the Press Secretary

  _______________________________________________________________________

     For Immediate Release                          December 17, 1999


                             December 17, 1999




MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES

SUBJECT:       Electronic Government


My Administration has put a wealth of information online.  However, when it
comes to most Federal services, it can still take a paper form and weeks of
processing for something as simple as a change of address.

While Government agencies have created "one-stop-shopping" access to
information on their agency web sites, these efforts have not uniformly
been as helpful as they could be to the average citizen, who first has to
know which agency provides the service he or she needs.  There has not been
sufficient effort to provide Government information by category of
information and service -- rather than by agency -- in a way that meets
people's needs.

Moreover, as public awareness and Internet usage increase, the demand for
online Government interaction and simplified, standardized ways to access
Government information and services becomes increasingly important.  At the
same time, the public must have confidence that their online communications
with the Government are secure and their privacy protected.

Therefore, to help our citizens gain one-stop access to existing Government
information and services, and to provide better, more efficient, Government
services and increased Government accountability to its citizens, I hereby
direct the officials in this memorandum, in conjunction with the private
sector as appropriate, to take the following actions:

1.  The Administrator of General Services, in coordination with the
National Partnership for Rein-venting Government, the Chief Information
Officers' Council, the Government Information Technology Services Board,
and other appropriate agencies shall promote access to Government
information organized not by agency, but by the type of service or
information that people may be seeking; the data should be identified and
organized in a way that makes it easier for the public to find the
information it seeks.

2.  The heads of executive departments and agencies (agencies) shall, to
the maximum extent possible, make available online, by December 2000, the
forms needed for the top 500 Government services used by the public.  Under
the Government Paperwork Elimination Act, where appropriate, by October
2003, transactions with the Federal Government should be available online
for online processing of services.  To achieve this goal, the Director of
the Office of Management and Budget shall oversee agency development of
responsible strategies to make transactions available online.

3.  The heads of agencies shall promote the use of electronic commerce,
where appropriate, for faster, cheaper ordering on Federal procurements
that will result in savings to the taxpayer.

4.  The heads of agencies shall continue to build good privacy practices
into their web sites by posting privacy policies as directed by the
Director of the Office of Management and Budget and by adopting and
implementing information policies to protect children's information on web
sites that are directed at children.

5. The head of each agency shall permit greater access to its officials by
creating a public electronic mail address through which citizens can
contact the agency with questions, comments, or concerns.  The heads of
each agency shall also provide disability access on Federal web sites.

6.  The Director of the National Science Foundation, working with
appropriate Federal agencies, shall conduct a 1-year study examining the
feasibility of online voting.

7.  The Secretaries of Health and Human Services, Education, Veterans
Affairs, and Agriculture, the Commissioner of Social Security, and the
Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, working closely with
other Federal agencies that provide benefit assistance to citizens, shall
make a broad range of benefits and services available though private and
secure electronic use of the Internet.

8.  The Administrator of General Services, in coordination with the
Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Commerce, the Government
Information Technology Services Board, the National Partnership for
Reinventing Government, and other appropriate agencies and organizations,
shall assist agencies in the development of private, secure, and effective
communication across agencies and with the public, through the use of
public key technology.  In light of this goal, agencies are encouraged to
issue, in coordination with the General Services Administration, a
Government-wide minimum of 100,000 digital signature certificates by
December 2000.

9.  The heads of agencies shall develop a strategy for upgrading their
respective agency's capacity for using the Internet to become more open,
efficient, and responsive, and to more effectively carry out the agency's
mission.  At a minimum, this strategy should involve:

a.  expanded training of Federal employees, including employees with policy
and senior management responsibility;

b.  identification and adoption of "best practices" implemented by leading
public and private sector organizations;

c.  recognition for Federal employees who suggest new and innovative agency
applications of the Internet;

d.  partnerships with the research community for experimentation with
advanced applications; and

e.  mechanisms for collecting input from the agency's stakeholders
regarding agency use of the Internet.

10.  Items 1-8 of this memorandum and my July 1, 1997, and November 30,
1998, memoranda shall be conducted subject to the availability of
appropriations and consistent with agencies' priorities and my budget, and
to the extent permitted by law.

11.  The Vice President shall continue his leadership in coordinating the
United States Government's electronic commerce strategy.  Further, I direct
that the heads of executive departments and agencies report to the Vice
President and to me on their progress in meeting the terms of this
memorandum, through the Electronic Commerce Working Group in its annual
report.

WILLIAM J. CLINTON


               =============================================



                              THE WHITE HOUSE

                       Office of the Press Secretary

      _______________________________________________________________

      For Immediate Release                         December 17, 1999


                             December 17, 1999




MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES

SUBJECT:  Use of Information Technology to Improve Our Society


The Internet and other information and communications technologies are
changing the way we work, learn, communicate with each other, and do
business.  These technologies are shaping our economy and our society in
the same way that the steam engine and electricity defined the Industrial
Age.

In recent years, information technology has driven the U.S. economy.
Businesses are scrambling to use the Internet to increase productivity,
boost exports, cut the time required to develop new products, and forge
closer relationships with customers and suppliers.  My Administration has
pursued a market-led approach to global electronic commerce that relies
whenever possible on private sector leadership and seeks to eliminate legal
and regulatory barriers to electronic commerce while protecting the public
interest.

The Internet has the potential to enhance civil society as well as to boost
commerce.  Used creatively, the Internet and information technology can be
a powerful tool for tackling some of our toughest social challenges as well
as fostering economic growth.  Information technology can and is being used
to make it easier for working adults to acquire new skills, increase access
to healthcare in isolated rural communities, improve the quality of life
for people with disabilities, and strengthen our democracy.

My Administration has led the effort to explain and support the commercial
and societal benefits of information technology to the American people.
However, we can and must do more.  To that end, I am directing executive
department and agency heads in this memorandum to take certain actions.  As
they carry out these actions, they should:  (a) adopt policies that will
remove barriers to private sector investment in Internet applications; (b)
explore partnerships with companies, State, local, and tribal governments,
and other entities, such as nonprofit organizations and universities; (c)
explore innovative mechanisms for fostering a national discussion on the
potential of the electronic society; (d) consider other policies to promote
the electronic society, such as the establishment of national goals; and
(e) review the recommendations of the President's Information Technology
Advisory Committee, particularly as they relate to support for information
technology applications with broad societal benefits.

Therefore, to further promote the broader social benefits of the
Information Age to the American people, I direct the officials in this
memorandum to take the following actions:

1.  The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall identify additional
steps that can be taken to promote expanded access to higher quality,
cost-effective health care to underserved rural communities and inner city
clinics, and other health-care applications of information technology.

2.  The Secretary of Education shall support and encourage States and local
communities to make "school report cards" available on the Internet.  The
Secretary of the Interior shall make it possible for "school report cards"
on Bureau of Indian Affairs schools and tribally controlled schools to be
available on the Internet.

3.  The Secretaries of Education and Labor shall work with States and
institutions of higher education to remove legal and regulatory barriers to
high-quality distance learning, to increase awareness of the availability
of distance learning as an alternative means of education and training, and
to find ways to promote the earning of credentials through distance
learning.  The Secretary of Education shall assist the Tribal Colleges and
Universities in developing associate and baccalaureate programs in
information technology, using innovative distance learning technology.

4.  The Secretary of Education shall propose the next phase of my
Administration's Educational Technology Initiative.  The next phase should
address teacher training, the integration of technology in the curriculum,
the evaluation of technology, the market for educational software and web
content, the need for more multimedia computers in the classroom, and the
need for investments in educational technology research and development.

5.  The Secretary of Labor shall determine how telecommuting might be used
to help more disabled Americans get jobs and to provide jobs for Americans
located in geographic regions outside traditional commuting areas,
including isolated tribal communities.

6.  The Secretary of Education and the Director of the National Science
Foundation shall develop a research agenda for making the Internet and
information technology more usable by persons with disabilities.  The
Secretary of Commerce shall encourage the private sector to make web
content, software, and development tools more accessible for people with
disabilities by adopting technical standards consistent with the Web
Accessibility Initiative.

7.  The Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency shall develop
a national strategy for promoting environ-mental applications of
information technology (such as disseminating information about
manufacturing techniques that reduce pollution, and increasing the
timeliness of environmental information).

8.  The Secretary of Agriculture shall identify services that can be
delivered electronically to rural Americans (such as the results of
Federally funded research at our Nation's land-grant universities), and
develop the policies needed to promote the availability of advanced
telecommunications services in rural and tribal communities.

9.  The Secretary of Commerce shall identify policies that will encourage
more effective use of information technology by nonprofit organizations.

10.  The Secretary of the Treasury, in coordination with appropriate
Federal agencies and private sector stakeholders, shall identify policy
initiatives that promote greater access to financial services through the
use of information technology.

11.  The Secretary of the Interior shall identify policies that will
accelerate the use of unclassified geospatial information systems at the
State, local, and tribal level.

12.  The Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency shall work
with research universities and the private sector to apply advances in
information technology to managing the consequences of natural and man-made
disasters.

13.  The Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, the Director of the
National Science Foundation, the Director of the National Park Service, and
the Director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services shall work
with the private sector and cultural and educational institutions across
the country to create a Digital Library of Education to house this
country's cultural and educational resources.

14.  The Attorney General shall work with Federal, State, local, and tribal
law enforcement agencies to use information technologies to make our
Nation's communities safer.

15.  Items 1-14 of this memorandum and my July 1, 1997, and November 30,
1998, memoranda shall be conducted subject to the availability of
appropriations, consistent with the agencies' priorities and my budget, and
to the extent permitted by law.

16.  The Vice President shall continue his leadership in coordinating the
United States Government's electronic commerce strategy.  Further, I direct
that the heads of agencies report to the Vice President and to me on their
progress in meeting the terms of the memorandum, through the Electronic
Commerce Working Group (ECWG) in its annual report.  To the extent that
substantial new policy issues emerge, the analysis and action on those
policies will be coordinated in a manner consistent with the
responsibilities of the ECWG, the National Economic Council, and the
Domestic Policy Council, as appropriate.



WILLIAM J. CLINTON

Received on Tuesday, 4 January 2000 15:50:59 UTC