Privacy, funding issues here to stay
- By Dibya Sarkar
- Feb 15, 2001
State and local officials will continue to grapple with privacy issues and
the funding of government technology this year, a panel of e-government
experts agreed this week at the 2001 Southwest Government Technology Conference
in Austin, Texas.
"[E-government] is hard work over a long period of time, and it requires
great effort politically and economically," said Steve Kolodney, director
of the Washington Department of Information Services. Governments are facing
a "reality check" this year regarding how they can fund and implement technologies,
he said.
Companies haven't been charging governments to implement electronic
services, but they have charged transaction fees to citizens and businesses
to get return on their investment. But Doug Doerr, a partner with Accenture,
said he has seen a dramatic shift to governments becoming more disciplined
in how they approach implementing technology instead of accepting "free"
technology.
Joiwind Ronen of the Council for Excellence in Government said a majority
of people want e-government, and she cited a survey in which 68 percent
to 77 percent said using tax dollars to do so should be a medium to high
priority.
But Carolyn Purcell, executive director of the Texas Department of Information
Resources, said, "regionalism is alive and well." She cited a University
of Texas study in which respondents favored paying for IT with convenience
fees and advertising on government Web sites rather than tax dollars.
Kolodney said that transaction fees were "problematic" and that governments
need to find another revenue model. But he said the transaction-fee model
might offer some governments a way to get started in implementing and using
technology.
Privacy is another major issue that's not going away. Standards and
policies have to be in place so government doesn't unintentionally use citizen
information illegally. Ronen said that was the second-most cited citizen
concern after the threat of hackers. Kolodney called it the No. 1 issue
this year.