Mixed progress has been made in achieving the 91 objectives
originally defined for the 25 e-government initiatives
sponsored by the Office of Management and Budget, the
General Accounting Office has said.
It said to date 33 have been fully or substantially achieved,
38 have been partially achieved and that no significant
progress has been made towards 17 objectives. In addition,
three of the objectives no longer apply.
In the plus category are Grants.gov, which established a
Web portal that as of February 2004 allowed prospective
grants applicants to find and apply for a total of 835
grant opportunities at 29 grant-making agencies–and the
Integrated Acquisition Environment, which created a single
point of registration and validation for vendors and a
directory of interagency contracts that currently references
16,000, said GAO.
Not making the grade was project SAFECOM, which has been
held back because management teams have changed four times
among the three federal agencies involved.
OMB may have underestimated the challenge of progressing
with these objectives–partly undertaken due to their
likelihood of being deployed in 18 to 24 months — given
the number that are still unmet or only partially met,
said GAO.
The criteria used in determining whether the initiatives
have met objectives are how well they focus on achievable
objectives addressing customer needs, maintaining management
stability through executive commitment, collaborating
effectively with partner agencies and stakeholders,
driving transformational changes in business processes,
and implementing effective funding strategies.
GAO said initiatives that overcame those challenges have
largely succeeded.
