US GSA Announces Access America Plan

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2-20-97. Newsbytes:

US GSA Announces Access America Plan

Washington. -- By Bill Pietrucha. The US General Services Administration (GSA) is betting that an electronic government will better serve the American people. The GSA's hopes its cyber government plan called Access America will change the way government does business through a series of electronic commerce initiatives.

According to GSA's acting administrator, David J. Barram, Access America "reflects a vision for an electronic government to better serve the American people."

Barram, announcing the plan at the Virtual Government `97 conference here this week, said the program calls for a series of initiatives involving Federal, state, and local governments and other national governments.

"Access America gives us a plan," Barram said. "The President talks about having only 1,000 days until the turn of the century. I'd like to see us beat that timetable, I believe we want to, and I believe we can."

Barram said that through the expanded applications of electronic commerce, "collaboration with the Federal community and stakeholders, and partnering with the private sector, GSA already is changing the way the Federal, state and local governments do business."

Key initiatives of the Access America plan, being run by the GSA's Office of Government-wide Policy (OGP), include: providing support to interagency groups; playing a central role in developing card technologies; expanding the current electronic benefits transfer (EBT) systems; and providing information technology training to government executives.

Barram said the plan also calls for "managing and expanding the capability of the Acquisition Reform Network; assisting Vice President Al Gore's state, local, and international objectives to make all governments more accessible to the public; co-chairing the Intergovernmental Enterprise Panel (IEP); and providing robust and cost-effective telecommunications."

Dave Barram is a member of the government's Electronic Processes Initiatives Committee (EPIC).

The GSA's Access America plan is available on the Web at http://www.gits.fed.gov .