Summary of Electronic Public Information Newsletter

Index

Volume 3 Number 17 1993

     SUMMARY OF ELECTRONIC PUBLIC INFORMATION NEWSLETTER
                  VOL. 3, NO. 17; September 10, 1993
    **********************************************************

INDEX:

1. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN THE NATIONAL PERFORMANCE REVIEW
2. THIRTEEN SPECIFIC INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY RECOMMENDATIONS
3. JCP AND GPO CONTEST THE NPR RECOMMENDATION ON GPO "MONOPOLY"
4. DIMARIO NOMINATED PUBLIC PRINTER
5. CHERYL RAE NYBERG'S GOVERNMENT SPONSORED ELECTRONIC BBS LIST


1. GORE REPORT PUTS HIGH VALUE ON INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY. The
report of the National Performance Review (NPR) headed by Vice
President Al Gore on =FEre-inventing government=FE by reforming the
Federal bureaucracy has concluded that electronic information holds
the promise of streamlining administrative functions, while at the
same time delivering better and more rapid services to the
population.  Released last week (9/7), the 180-page =FEFrom Red Tape
to Results,=FE while recognizing leadership as the indispensable
ingredient of change, holds that =FEinformation technology can be a
powerful tool for re-invention,=FE by helping to break down
organizational boundaries and speed service delivery. "We must give
federal employees better tools for the job=FEthe training to handle
their own work and to make decisions cooperatively, good
information, and the skills to take advantage of modern computer
and telecommunications technologies," the report stated.

2. RE-ENGINEER THROUGH THE USE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY. EPIN
lists the thirteen specific information technology recommendations
found in Appendix C of National Performance Review report. One of
the more intriguing recommendations is:=20
     Retain a portion of agency information technology savings to
     reinvest in information technology. Promote performance-based
     contracting for information technology. Establish a
     government-wide venture capital fund for innovative
     information technology projects.

3. JCP AND GPO CONTEST CONCLUSIONS OF NPR REPORT. Representatives
of the Joint Committee on Printing (JCP) and the U.S. Government
Printing Office (GPO)  took issue with the conclusion of the
National Performance Review's report, =FEFrom Red Tape to Results,=FE
that the GPO =FEprinting monopoly=FE be broken up and the executive
branch agencies be allowed to contract their own printing. JCP
Chief of Staff John Chambers predicted the proposal--which will
require changes in existing laws--will have a difficult time on
Capitol Hill. He said the JCP believes the current printing system
under the aegis of GPO to be more efficient and cost-effective.
This opinion was seconded by Frank Biden, the newly GPO Director of
Legislative, Public and Congressional Affairs, who said, "The one
thing the GPO does extraordinarily well is buy printing ...and they
do it more efficiently than any government agency." Chambers also
took questioned the recommendation that the Federal agencies
develop databases to sell to the private sector.=20

4. PRESIDENT CLINTON NOMINATES DIMARIO PUBLIC PRINTER. On August
17, President Clinton nominated Michael DiMario to the position of
Public Printer, the head of the U.S. Government Printing Office
(GPO). DiMario has worked for GPO since 1971, where he has served
in a variety of posts most recently as acting-Public Printer. The
nomination is subject to confirmation by the Senate. Hearings
before the Senate Rules and Administration Committee have not yet
been scheduled.

5. CHERYL RAE NYBERG'S GOVERNMENT-SPONSORED ELECTRONIC BBS LIST.
The newsletter printed the list of Federal government-sponsored
electronic bulletin boards (EBBs) as prepared by Cheryl Rae Nyberg,
Assistant Law Librarian, Documents/Reference, and Associate
Professor of Library Administration, University of Illinois. The
list is based on one that was published in the April 13, 1992 issue
of Government Computer News and uploaded on the NIST Computer
Security EBB. Additional EBBs known to the author were added.

James McDonough
Electronic Public Information Newsletter
epin@access.digex.com

Submitted by: unknown (cijs26@vaxb.strathclyde.ac.uk)
               Thu, 16 Sep 93 9:51 GMT