Some Assembly Required: Building a Digital Government for the 21st Century
Abstract
Information technology has been a vital component of government operations for decades. It plays a crucial role in public sector administration, decision-making, and service delivery in the next millennium. The technology tools we have today, such as digital communications and advanced networking, are already transforming some areas of government. In an effort to expand this trend of moving government toward the promise of transformed public services, the National Science Foundation (NSF) established the Digital Government Program. The program fosters connections between government information service providers and research communities, seeks innovative research to improve agency, interagency, and intergovernmental operations, and advocates enhanced interactions between citizens and government.
As a grantee of the program, CTG held a multidisciplinary workshop in October 1998 to elicit a number of pertinent recommendations for the Digital Government Program. This report is based on that workshop and outlines steps NSF can take to help develop a digital government for the next millennium.