OMB sets plan for next-generation e-gov efforts

Agencies will submit business cases for a second round of e-government projects by Sept. 8, a senior administration official told lawmakers today.The Office of Management and Budget will accept cross-agency e-government proposals for four lines of business: public-health monitoring, criminal investigation, human resources administration and financial management.Mark Forman, OMB’s administrator for e-government and IT, detailed the efforts at a hearing of the House Government Reform Subcommittee on Technology, Information Policy, Intergovernmental Relations and the Census.The Health and Human Services Department, the Justice Department, the Office of Personnel Management and OMB have been leading teams that are analyzing possible collaborative efforts for the four areas, he said.Forman said the four areas cover 281 projects with an estimated value of $2.8 billion for fiscal 2004. OMB estimates the government can save roughly that same amount over the next five years through consolidating these projects under e-government initiatives in the four areas, he told the subcommittee.OMB originally identified six areas for cross-agency projects. But based on a recent analysis by Touchstone Consulting Inc. of Washington, OMB decided the four areas offer the largest opportunities for cost savings and efficiencies, Forman said.“There are billions of savings potentially possible on the IT and operations sides,” he said. “We are looking at the convergence between business processes and operations.”The administration has not abandoned the other two areas—monetary benefits, and data and statistics—but sees them as mainly benefiting two agencies.The Social Security Administration will submit a business case in September for a citizen payment services system based on the monetary benefits area, and the Census Bureau will establish an enterprise license for data and statistical software.