May 11, 2004

Welcome to your latest edition of the FirstGov Buzz e-letter!

This issue includes:

• The E-Gov Spotlight - CIO Kim Nelson
• USA Services Partner List Grows
• Learn How to Improve Citizen Services at the 2004 Management of Change Conference
• Seniors.gov Transferred From the Social Security Administration to FirstGov.gov
• More New Content on FirstGov.gov
• Spanish-Language Web Content Specialists’ Network and ListServ in Development
• ACSI Survey Awards 77 to FirstGov en Español
• FirstGov Remains in PC Magazine’s Top 100 Classics
• Forbes Honors FirstGov

The E-Gov Spotlight

Kimberly T. Nelson

Chief Information Officer
Assistant Administrator for the Office of Environmental Information
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency


The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and its 18,000 employees have been working for three decades to provide Americans with a cleaner, healthier environment.

Chief Information Officer Kim Nelson's job involves helping Administrator Mike Leavitt use technology, collaboration, results-based solutions and market-based solutions to find a better and faster way to achieve environmental protection.

"An important part of my role in finding better ways to accomplish our mission includes implementing the e-government component of the President's Management Agenda," says Nelson, who also serves as Assistant Administrator for the Office of Environmental Information (OEI).

OEI helps ensure that EPA collects high quality environmental information and makes it available to the public. It provides guidance to assist the agency about the way EPA collects, manages, analyzes and provides and allows access to environmental information.

Regulations.Gov is EPA's flagship e-gov initiative. Nelson says her team is proud to be working with 19 other agencies as EPA designs and builds the next version of the website, which will likely be available to the public in early 2005.

The new version will include "the first centralized docket for federal government rulemaking efforts and pave the way for democratizing citizen access to the government regulatory world," she says.

"We are also very proud of the tremendous partnership we have with state environmental agencies as they begin to operationalize the Environmental Information Exchange Network," Nelson says. "This is a cooperative effort among states, tribes and EPA to revolutionize the way we share information."

Nelson says that within the last two months, EPA had eight states stand up fully operational nodes that use web services to share information with EPA. "By the end of the year, we expect this number to surpass 30. As the network matures, we expect academic institutions, local governments and regional consortia to implement nodes to begin sharing environmental and human health information," she says.

A graduate of Shippensburg University and the University of Pennsylvania, Nelson was appointed by the President to her current post in late 2001. She came to EPA from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, where she worked for 22 years in the state Senate, the Public Utility Commission, and the Departments of Aging and Environmental Protection.

At the state environmental agency, she was the first Director of the Program Integration and Effectiveness Office, the first executive to hold the position of Chief Information Officer, and most recently served as Executive Deputy Secretary, the second highest position in the department. She was primarily responsible for managing department-wide projects with a goal toward improving processes and integrating programs and functions.

Nelson says that Regulations.gov and EPA's own e-Docket are perfect examples of how the agency is using technology to break down program barriers and provide an easy-to-use citizen tool for commenting on federal rules and requirements.

"Citizens will also begin to see changes in EPA's website as we implement the Administrator's challenge of developing 'topics-based' pages that ignore organizational lines," she says. "These topics-based pages will address issues of common concern to citizens and include information from many EPA offices."

Nelson says that EPA's Environmental Information Exchange Network will provide the foundation for the sharing of environmental and public health information between and among the many co-regulators--EPA, states, tribes and local government organizations--in the environmental and health arena.

"Aggregating higher quality, standardized information will allow all agencies to do a better job of monitoring environmental progress and results," she says.

USA Services Partner List Grows

The National Science Foundation recently became the newest partner to take advantage of USA Services' free misdirected e-mail and telephone calls program. Any e-mails or telephone calls from the public that are not part of NSF's mission will be forwarded or referred to USA Services, which will assist the public with finding the right answer or agency contact. Twenty-one partners have signed up for this valuable service since its inception last year. Of these, seven partners use USA Services "Tier One" reimbursable service of handling basic calls and e-mails from the public under the direction of the partner agency. Contact Stuart Willoughby at 202-501-9121 or stuart.willoughby@gsa.gov for more information.

USA Services Partner Agencies and Initiatives
Agency for International Development
Business Gateway*
Department of Agriculture
Department of Energy
Department of Health and Human Services
Department of Housing and Urban Development
Department of the Interior - Fish and Wildlife Service*
Department of Justice
Department of Labor
Department of State - Bureau of Consular Affairs*
Department of the Treasury
Department of Veterans Affairs
Environmental Protection Agency
General Services Administration*
GovBenefits.gov*
Grants.gov*
National Archives and Records Administration
National Science Foundation
Recreation One Stop*
Small Business Administration
Social Security Administration

*Tier One Partner

Learn How to Improve Citizen Services at the 2004 Management of Change Conference

The 2004 Management of Change Conference, May 24-26 in Philadelphia, will offer ways to improve the delivery of government information and services and create a more citizen-centric and results-oriented government. Entitled Citizen Services: Attaining Breakthrough Performance, the conference will give participants an opportunity to hear what citizens want, need, and expect from government services, and how governments around the world are gearing up to provide it. Exemplary citizen-and customer-service programs in the public and private sectors will be highlighted, and an eminent futurist will draw a vision of government services in 2020.

Conference participants will gain a better understanding of how E-government provides information and services related to benefits, healthcare, travel and recreation, business and commerce, and homeland security. Through workshops in these areas, Federal, State, and local officials can craft strategies for better service delivery.

Conference speakers and panelists include:

From GSA:

• Stephen A. Perry, GSA Administrator
• Management of Change Co-chair Mary Joy (M.J.) Jameson, Associate Administrator, GSA Office of Citizen Services and Communications
• Teresa N. Nasif, Executive Sponsor, USA Services and Director, Federal Citizen Information Center

From the Private Sector:

• Joseph Barstys, Manager of Customer Relationships, Subaru of America Inc.
• S. David Fineman, Chairman of the Board of Governors, U.S. Postal Service
• Clement Bezold, President, Alternative Futures Associates

From the Government:

• Terri Shaw, Chief Operating Officer for the Office of Federal Student Aid
• Dianah Neff, CIO for the City of Philadelphia
• Kevin Landy, Chief Minority Counsel, Senate Governmental Reform Committee

From Non-Profits:

• Paul Light, Director, Center for Public Service, The Brookings Institution
• Lee Rainie, Director, Pew Internet & American Life

From Other Countries

• Dave Thompson, Canada On-Line Services, Canada
• Helen Skrzeczek, National Manager for E-Solutions, Centrelink, Australia

For more information and to sign up, visit: www.gsa.gov/Portal/gsa/ep/contentView.do?contentId=15815&contentType=GSA_BASIC

Seniors.gov Transferred From the Social Security Administration to FirstGov.gov

At the request of SSA and OMB, FirstGov.gov will be maintaining the seniors.gov site. The content has been migrated into FirstGov.gov. Check it out by clicking on http://firstgov.gov/Topics/Seniors.shtml. We would love to hear your comments and suggestions as to whether we are missing anything your audience provides on the Web tailored specifically for senior citizens.

More New Content on FirstGov   

We have added several new and exciting pages to FirstGov.gov, including:          

State Travel and Tourism Sites

You can visit one of the 50 states or visit them all. You will see the U.S. offers the most diverse destinations in the world. The state and territorial tourism sites provide ideas for your vacations, meetings, and more.

http://www.firstgov.gov/Citizen/Topics/Travel_Tourism/State_Tourism.shtml

America's Hometowns--Cities, Counties, and Towns

Visit America's cities, counties, towns, and communities online by starting at one of the 50 state directories.

http://www.firstgov.gov/Agencies/Local_Government/Cities.shtml

Foreign Businesses Doing Business in the United States

This page is for foreign business owners desiring to invest in the U.S., create import and export opportunities, build partnerships, and learn more about the U.S. economy.

http://www.firstgov.gov/Business/Foreign_Business.shtml

Spanish-Language Web Content Specialists’ Network and ListServ in Development

GSA's Office of Citizen Services and Communications is helping to develop a network of Spanish-language Web content specialists across government. The purpose of the group is for members to share experiences, ideas, and best practices on how their Spanish language websites were developed and maintained. GSA recently set up a listserv to help the group communicate. Spanish-language government Web content specialists are invited to join the group and the listserv. Contact: Leilani Martinez, GSA Office of Citizen Services and Communications, FirstGov en Español, leilani.martinez@gsa.gov or call 202-208-5858.

ACSI Survey Awards 77 to FirstGov en Español