Vice President Gore announces efforts to
expand and improve online services
Dateline: 12/18/99
Speaking in Washington on Friday (12/17/1999) Vice President Gore announced two new government initiatives designed to expand the benefits of the Internet to all Americans.
The "E-Government Directive", calls on all federal agencies to expand their use of technology to ensure that governmental services and information are easily accessible to the American people.
Example projects include an online "portal" through which citizens will be able to connect to any US Government web site and making the 500 most-requested government forms available via the Internet.
In addition, the National Science Foundation is directed to conduct a one-year feasibility study of online voting to consider whether "cybervoting" might increase voter turnout without problems of fraud and privacy.
The second initiative, the "E-Society Directive", calls on federal agencies to use information technology to help enrich the education and lives of all citizens. Under both directives, federal agencies will work cooperatively with the private sector.
The Vice President also released Towards Digital eQuality, the Second Annual Report of the Electronic Commerce Working Group, which details the Clinton Administration's accomplishments over the past year in promoting electronic commerce. Highlights include steps taken to protect consumer rights and privacy online, facilitate the growth of the Internet, and bring the benefits of electronic commerce to more people.
Each initiative "moves us beyond the world of bits and bytes and into the fabric of our society," Vice President Gore said. "As we enter the new millennium, we must use technology to unleash the full benefits of the digital age for all our citizens."
Related Resources
Presidential Memorandum: Use of Information Technology to Improve Our Society
Official directive to all federal agencies issued 12/17/99 by President Clinton from the White House.Presidential Memorandum: Electronic Government
Official directive to all federal agencies issued 12/17/99 by President Clinton from the White House.
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