Report criticizes administration's e-gov efforts

A governmental oversight agency on Thursday criticized the Bush administration for its initiatives designed to migrate government services online, saying that the Office of Management and Budget chose to implement various projects without establishing a clear strategy or business plan.

The General Accounting Office said the 24 e-government projects lack key accountability measures to ensure that the programs are implemented efficiently. Senate Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., released the study (GAO-03-229).

OMB embarked upon the 24 initiatives in August 2001 without developing comprehensive cost-benefit assessments for each project, the report said. GAO added that OMB lacked necessary information to adequately measure and monitor implementation of the projects.

"Without accurate cost, schedule and performance information, OMB cannot ensure that its e-government initiatives are on schedule and achieving their goals of providing value to customers and improving government efficiency," the report stated.

Lieberman expressed concern over the findings. "It troubles me that OMB decided upon its signature e-government initiatives without considering the very factors that it has identified as essential to successful e-government," Lieberman said of the initiative, which aims to create a government-wide process for enabling citizens and employees to send secure documents online and sign them electronically.

Lieberman said he hopes the agency will revaluate its e-government project more carefully now that legislation designed to bolster online government services, which Lieberman sponsored, has become law. President Bush signed the measure this week.

GAO recommended that OMB Director Mitchell Daniels instruct managers of the e-government initiatives to solicit feedback from the public and better assess needs of potential users of the online services. GAO also called for the e-government project manager to deliver the necessary information to OMB so it can properly monitor the costs and effectiveness of the initiatives.

The report includes a paragraph summarizing OMB's perspective on the report's finding. According to GAO, OMB generally agreed with the study. Additionally, OMB emphasized that federal agencies ultimately are responsible for leading the e-government initiatives.

Calls to the OMB were not returned Thursday afternoon.