Federal e-government efforts lagging, officials say

As the federal government moves toward increasingly paperless operations, it must do a better job keeping up with the private sector, both in Web site design and employee compensation, industry and government representatives said Monday.

George Molaski, the Transportation Department's chief information officer, told House lawmakers that the government needs to provide more leadership; maintain better security, privacy, and infrastructure; and encourage more skilled tech workers to work for the government if an "e-government" is ever going to be possible.

He also suggested that federal agencies give techies working for the government more power to take the wheel on these initiatives and to look at revamping government pay scales to keep pace with the private sector.

"Not only is government being hurt by the inability to attract and retain people, government is not getting the new blood it needs to challenge with new ideas," Molaski told the House Government Management, Information and Technology Subcommittee during a field hearing at the Center for Innovative Technology in Herndon, VA.

Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., who represents Northern Virginia's growing technology corridor, pointed to the government's delay in addressing the "Love Bug" virus, saying the federal government must also beef up its cyber security. Davis also called on the government to address digital divide issues, by making sure it is not just those who can afford a computer and Internet access who gain the benefits of online government services, such as contacting lawmakers by e-mail.

Donald Upson, Virginia's secretary of technology, told House lawmakers that while the federal government is making progress, it's still moving at old economy speed. He pointed to a plan by Gov. Jim Gilmore, R-Va., that would force all state agencies to submit plans to provide online government services, as something the federal government could do. Upson also said the government needs to make these services more "user friendly."

"Today's Web-savvy user knows that one-stop shopping based on the customer's needs is the de facto standard of service in commercial Web sites," he said. "Tomorrow's Web-savvy citizen will accept nothing less from government sites."

Congress has passed legislation that would require federal government Web sites to offer their services online by 2003.