Gore, Bush answer IT questions
- By Judi Hasson
- Sep 22, 2000
Presidential candidates Al Gore and George W. Bush would deal with information
technology policies in the federal government in vastly different ways — from how they spend money to the delivery of services.
In answering questions posed by Federal Computer Week, the candidates showed
major differences and some similarities in their views toward e-government.
The full text of their comments will be available Monday on FCW.com. Here
are some key topics on which the candidates differ:
IT czar
* Gore would not appoint an IT czar but would give a senior White House
economic official the responsibility of overseeing the IT agenda.
* Bush would issue an executive order designating a chief information officer
at the Office of Management and Budget to coordinate the government's digital
policies.
IT funding
* Gore said he would spend as much money as necessary to protect information
technology but did not specify how much.
* Bush didn't say how much he would spend either but said he would create
a $100 million fund for interagency e-government initiatives.
E-government
* Gore would give private citizens digital certificates or electronic signatures
to do business with the government.
* Bush would make it possible for citizens to tailor government information
to their interests and needs, much like a personalized newspaper or Web
site.
"I'm sure it matters who is the next president as far as IT, but I'm not
sure which candidate would be better," said Roger Baker, chief information
officer at the Commerce Department.
"The biggest internal issue the next president will need to deal with is
the dichotomy between our drive toward e-government and its focus on how
customers view government," Baker said.