CIOs: Politics not prompting e-gov

Political grandstanding evidently will not contribute much to making "e-government"

a reality.

A survey of federal, state and local chief information officers attending

the Government CIO Summit in Savannah, Ga., this week found that pressure

from the executive and legislative branches of their governments carried

less weight than a wide variety of other factors.

Only 18 percent of the 100 or so CIOs identified pressure from the legislature

as a critical factor, with only a slightly higher percentage citing pressure

from their executive branch, be it city hall, the state capitol or the White

House.

In contrast, more than half of the CIOs said recent advances in commercial

technology provided the impetus for e-government applications. A similar

number cited the potential to improve their efficiency, maintaining or improving

services without increasing their staff.

Even taxpayer demand ranked higher than internal pressures, with 35

percent of the CIOs ranking that as a critical factor in their plans.