Cashing in on IT

President Bush's budget blueprint highlights the use of information technology at different agencies and in some cases sets aside specific dollar amounts. But other agencies with IT projects won't get precise budget numbers from the administration until April.

Programs mentioned in the blueprint include:

An increase in the Labor Department's Central Information Technology Fund, to help the department meet its IT architecture requirements and ensure that its information systems are secure. Funding for the Agriculture Department to develop a centralized management system to track its finances, em-ployees and purchases. $3 million for an interagency committee to better coordinate federal assistive technology R&D efforts. A commitment from the State Department to focus part of its $23.1 billion budget on "transforming the way IT is used to communicate, gather and share information within the department." $2.6 billion for a technology R&D initiative at the Defense Department that includes "leap-ahead technologies for new weapons and intelligence systems." Using part of the $13.1 billion budget for the Federal Aviation Administration to complete modernization of the air traffic control system. $25 million in grants for states through the Environmental Protection Agency to help integrate environmental information systems. Using part of the Social Security Administration's $7.7 billion budget to continue modernization of its computer infrastructure and its efforts to offer services online.