The odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot are approximately one in 135 million; Powerball odds are a slightly better one in 120.5 million. A CDW Government survey of attendees at the annual Information Processing Interagency Conference here also revealed that more federal executives believe the Boston Red Sox will win the World Series again in 2005 than those who believe agencies will receive full e-government funding. Nine percent of IPIC government attendees count on a second Red Sox championship, while only 5% are confident about e-government funding.
But measuring e-government success only through appropriated dollars would be a mistake, said Karen Evans, Office of Management and Budget administrator for e-government and information technology.
"My office isn't about how much dollars are appropriated into the e-gov fund," Evans said during the conference address this morning.
Achieved results are the most important metric, she said. OMB officials have requested $45 million for the fund in fiscal 2006 — $5 million in appropriated funds and authority to use $40 million in federal agency fees collected by the General Services Administration in the General Services Fund.
OMB officials made a similar request last year; lawmakers approved the $5 million in appropriations, but rejected authorization for the $40 million.
More money would "help us accelerate things in the technology arena, because technology solutions change," Evans said. In the past, OMB officials have emphasized the importance of funding e-government through agency contributions and fees for shared services, however.
"It's primarily finalizing the packaging to release it," she said. "We included all the high level points in the budget rollout," she added. The time differential between the initial release target and the actual release is primarily due to OMB's overwhelming workload, Evans said.
Autor: David Perera
Quelle: USA Today, 03.03.2005
