Citizen at center of e-gov service

Successful electronic government has be truly citizen-centric, realigning

information and services so people do not need to know which agency is the

provider, federal experts said Tuesday.

The federal government is well into the first phase of its effort to

reach this goal, as highlighted by President Clinton's announcement Saturday

of an industry backer for the planned governmentwide home page, FirstGov.

However, the second stage, in which government realigns its fundamental

structure, is much more important, said James Flyzik, Treasury Department

chief information officer, speaking in Atlanta at the Management of Change

conference, sponsored by the Federation of Government Information Processing

Councils.

"I think we'll see pressure to move away from the hierarchical structures

we use today," he said. "In Phase II, I think we'll see realignment of government

itself."

E-government will require a much more transparent front end, and that

will force government to be more streamlined behind the scenes, said Steven

Hawald, CIO of student financial assistance at the Education Department.

While agencies are forming relationships to build an information portal

for citizens, they will be creating the pathways for the organizational

changes.

"You see that migration of moving from stovepiped-think to group-think,"

Hawald said.