OPM and FEMA unveil e-gov sites

The Office of Personnel Management and the Federal Emergency Management Agency yesterday launched Web sites for their Quicksilver e-government projects.FEMA originally had planned to launch its first-response site, at , in August. But officials delayed the launch because they did not have content from all the participant agencies. The agency put up a prototype version of the site in September. FEMA director Joe M. Allbaugh said in a statement that the current version of DisasterHelp is a pilot that the agency will use to see how it can “maximize the availability of information to first responders.” The site provides links to information about eight kinds of disasters, including fires, tornadoes, earthquakes, floods and terrorist attacks, which FEMA labeled antiterror. There are also links to resources such as the Red Cross and tools to let visitors know about disaster information in every state and U.S. territory.FEMA also provides information to fire personnel, police, emergency managers and emergency medical technicians and the ability for them to share information.Disaster Management is one of two Quicksilver projects FEMA is managing. Project Safecom, a public safety wireless initiative, is the other.OPM is managing five of the 25 projects under the Office of Management and Budget Quicksilver program—all of which come under the Internal Efficiency and Effectiveness portfolio.The OPM site, at , provides an overview of the E-Clearance, E-Payroll, Enterprise Human Resources Initiative, E-Training and Recruitment One-Stop projects, including objectives, current status and future milestones.For each project, OPM also lists its partner agencies, contact information for project leaders, and the vision and goals of the project. The site also provides answers to eight frequently asked questions for the E-Training and HR projects.OPM joins the General Services Administration, Health and Human Resources Department and National Archives and Records Administration in having launched informational Web sites about their e-government projects.