One of the key provisions of the management agenda is the expansion of  electronic government. However, while the  projects are continuing to make progress, some of the tasks they face are  increasingly challenging, such as e-Payroll’s objective of establishing  governmentwide payroll processing standards or Geospatial One-Stop’s  goal of compiling a comprehensive inventory of geospatial data holdings. Initiatives Have Achieved Varying Degrees of Collaboration

The four initiatives we reviewed have all taken steps to promote  collaboration with their partner agencies. However, none of the initiatives  has been fully effective in collaborating with important stakeholders. The four initiatives have  all faced short time frames to accomplish their tasks, and they generally  have not fully adopted key collaboration practices because of other  competing priorities. However, without involving important stakeholders,  the initiatives increase the risk that they will not fully achieve their  objectives or the broader goals of the President’s management agenda. Interior has taken steps to include nonfederal  stakeholders on the project. A number of early goals have been  achieved, including establishing Web portals such as www.geodata.gov for  the Geospatial One-Stop initiative and www.BusinessLaw.gov for the  Business Gateway project. For example, while OPM has taken steps to promote  close collaboration with its four designated e-Payroll providers, it has not  fully addressed the concerns of a key stakeholder that may be required to  make costly changes to its payroll processes and policies in response to  OPM’s decisions. Until these issues are addressed, the initiatives  may be at risk of not fully achieving their goals. Recommendations for Executive Action

To enhance the effectiveness of collaboration as a tool for the four   e-government initiatives to use in achieving their goals, we recommend that  the Director of OPM (1) institute a review and feedback process with VA  to ensure that its concerns are reviewed and addressed before decisions  are made that could have a policy or resource impact on agency payroll  operations, and (2) ensure that a collaborative process is in place for  development of governmentwide payroll standards;  the Secretary of the Interior establish formal agreements with federal  agency partners to clarify collaborative relationships and develop an  outreach plan for the Geospatial One-Stop initiative that includes  specific tasks for contacting and interacting with a wider range of state  and local government GIS officials to facilitate and explain the benefits  of broad participation in the initiative and promote the use of federal  geospatial data standards;   the Administrator, GSA, modify the structure of its working groups and  other communication mechanisms for the Integrated Acquisition  Environment initiative to fully include the CFOs of partner agencies and  better ensure that agreed-upon partner resource contributions are  made; and  the Administrator, SBA, establish a more collaborative management  structure for the Business Gateway initiative by defining roles and  responsibilities, establishing formal collaboration agreements with  federal agency partners, developing a shared funding strategy, and  implementing projectwide communication and outreach mechanisms to  ensure that key decision makers at partner agencies are kept informed  and involved in the management of the project. General Services Administration.
Why GAO Did This Study

In accordance with the President's management agenda, the Office of Management and Budget has sponsored initiatives to promote expansion of electronic government--the use of information technology, particularly Web-based Internet applications, to enhance government services. Each initiative demands a high degree of collaboration among organizations. For four of these initiatives, GAO was asked to determine, among other things, their implementation progress and the extent of collaboration among agencies and other parties involved.

What GAO Found

All four of the e-government initiatives that GAO reviewed have made progress in meeting the objectives and milestones of their early phases. Two of the initiatives have established Web portals--www.geodata.gov for the Geospatial One-Stop initiative and www.BusinessLaw.gov for the Business Gateway. The projects face additional challenging tasks, such as e-Payroll's objective of establishing governmentwide payroll processing standards and Geospatial One-Stop's goal of compiling a comprehensive inventory of geospatial data holdings. All four initiatives have taken steps to promote collaboration with their partner agencies, but none has been fully effective in involving all important stakeholders. For example, for the e-Payroll initiative, the Office of Personnel Management has taken steps to promote close collaboration with its four designated e-Payroll providers, but has not addressed the concerns of a key stakeholder that will be required to make changes to its payroll processes and policies. For Geospatial One-Stop, Interior has established a board of directors with broad representation, but has not taken steps to ensure that key stakeholders at the state and local levels are involved in the initiative. For the Integrated Acquisition Environment initiative, the General Services Administration is using a variety of tools to promote collaboration, but has not involved partner agencies' chief financial officers (CFOs). Finally, for the Business Gateway, the Small Business Administration has not taken key steps to facilitate effective collaboration with its partners and stakeholders, such as establishing a collaborative decision-making process and reaching formal agreements on partner roles and responsibilities. All four initiatives have faced short time frames to accomplish their major tasks, so that competing priorities have sometimes hindered full collaboration. However, without effective collaboration on the tasks that remain to be completed, these initiatives may be at risk of not fully achieving their objectives or the broader goals of the President's management agenda.