'Fed CIO' urges state participation
- By Dibya Sarkar
- Jan 01, 1990
Mark Forman, who essentially is the chief information officer of the federal
government, urged his state counterparts on April 8 to participate in several
federal initiatives to help foster citizen-centric government.
Forman, associate director of information technology and e-government
at the Office of Management and Budget, outlined a number of government-to-government
initiatives, such as electronic grants, the e-Vital project for accurate
death reporting, disaster assistance and crisis response, the geospatial
one-stop program, and GovBenefits, among others that will begin testing
within the next six months.
"At the end of the day, this is about transforming government to give
results to the citizen," Forman said at the National Association of State
Chief Information Officers' midyear conference in Denver.
In his remarks, Forman extended his hand to state officials for their
help and participation in many of these programs, which are among the 24
e-government initiatives the federal government has designated become customer-friendly.
"We have spent too long giving you burdens and not listening to you,"
he said.
For example, in the e-grants program, he said the federal government
would pilot a simple, unified way for states to find federal grants via
the Web beginning in July. He said the government would establish a unique
identifier by September 2003 so federal grantees can see all the grants
they have received from the government.
Another example is GovBenefits (www.govbenefits.gov/GovBenefits/servlet/govBenefits), which directs citizens
to benefit programs across the federal government. The pilot began April
8 and an online screening tool for 100 benefits programs would be established
by Sept. 30, Forman said.
Another initiative is a business compliance one-stop program that will
offer information and tools to help citizens understand compliance with
laws and regulations, he said. Illinois and Washington are involved in the
licensing and permitting application, and Forman asked for more state participants.