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Computer Undergroud Digest Vol. 07 Issue 27
Computer underground Digest Wed Mar 29, 1995 Volume 7 : Issue 27
ISSN 1004-042X
Editors: Jim Thomas and Gordon Meyer (TK0JUT2@NIU.BITNET)
Archivist: Brendan Kehoe
Semi-retiring Shadow Archivist: Stanton McCandlish
Intelligent Agent: David Smith
Shadow-Archivists: Dan Carosone / Paul Southworth
Ralph Sims / Jyrki Kuoppala
Ian Dickinson
Monster Editor: Loch Nesshrdlu
CONTENTS, #7.27 (Wed, Mar 29, 1995)
File 1--Full text of the Open Meeting in Cyberspace Conference.
File 2--CLINTON ADMIN ANNOUNCES A NAT'L ELECTRONIC OPEN MEETING (fwd)
File 3--Cu Digest Header Info (unchanged since 19 Mar, 1995)
CuD ADMINISTRATIVE, EDITORIAL, AND SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION APPEARS IN
THE CONCLUDING FILE AT THE END OF EACH ISSUE.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 5 Apr 1995 00:30:42 -0500 (CDT)
From: David Smith <bladex@BGA.COM>
File 1--Full text of the Open Meeting in Cyberspace Conference.
Board of Directors, CTCLU * April 29th -- Eyore's Birthday party
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 5 Apr 95 01:25:29 EDT
From: Info Open Meeting Conference <info@meeting.fedworld.gov>
PEOPLE AND THEIR GOVERNMENTS IN THE INFORMATION AGE
NATIONAL ELECTRONIC OPEN MEETING
MAY 1-14, 1995
DETAILED INFORMATION
AND PRELIMINARY AGENDA
PREFACE: The descriptions of the five topics found below
constitutes a preliminary agenda for the Electronic Open Meeting.
The substantive contents of this posting will not change
significantly prior to the open meeting, however, as the
subtopics may evolve from discussions with selected hosts, we
reserve the right to amend this posting as necessary.
SUMMARY: The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) seeks
comments from all interested parties on the topic of the
respective roles of the Federal government, State, local, and
Tribal governments, industry, the public interest and library
communities, academia, and the general public in creating an
electronic government. This notice is part of the work of the
Information Policy Committee of the Information Infrastructure
Task Force. To facilitate public input, OMB, along with the
Commerce Department's National Technical Information Service
(NTIS) and National Telecommunications and Information
Administration (NTIA), the National Performance Review (NPR), and
assistance from the US Government Printing Office, will host a
nationwide electronic open meeting to discuss a number of
questions related to this topic.
DATES: An electronic open meeting will be held from May 1 to 14,
1995. Those who wish to may submit written comments no later
than May 31, 1995.
ELECTRONIC AVAILABILITY AND ELECTRONIC OPEN MEETING: General:
This document, along with the other documents referenced herein,
are available by any HTML viewer, such as Mosaic or Netscape,
at: URL:http://meeting.fedworld.gov, or via FTP from
meeting.fedworld.gov
For those with electronic mail access who wish to find out more
about the open meeting, send a blank electronic mail message to:
info@meeting.fedworld.gov This will result in delivery of a more
detailed description of the electronic open meeting.
Public Access Sites: A primary goal of the meeting is to enable
as many Americans as possible to participate. This includes
people who do not have a computer with a modem, or access to the
Internet. In order to permit their participation, a number of
"Public Access Sites" have been established. To either locate
the nearest Public Access Site, or to order a list of all Public
Access Sites, call the GPO Access Support Team at (202) 512-1530.
In addition, through May 1, 1995 we will continue to solicit
institutions interested in serving as Public Access Sites. The
following criteria will apply to an institution interested in
serving as a Public Access Site:
* Willingness and ability to make computer facilities
available, free-of-charge, to the general public on a
full-or part-time basis throughout the two-week meeting, and
to provide logistical and technical support to the public.
* Ability to access Internet e-mail, newsgroups, or the
World Wide Web. Public Access Sites should not use Telnet
to access the FedWorld bulletin board. Because the number
of access ports at FedWorld is finite, FedWorld prefers to
reserve dial-in and Telnet capacity for individuals who seek
to use the FedWorld BBS as their primary means of
participating.
* Willingness and ability to publicize your institution's
participation as a Public Access Site to the local media and
community, and answer local public and press questions about
participation.
* Willingness to be listed in a national directory of Public
Access Sites that will be made available to the public and
press, before and during the meeting.
If your institution would like to serve as a Public Access Site,
please do one of the following:
Point your World Wide Web browser to:
http://meeting.fedworld.gov
Or, send a blank e-mail message to:
pas-info@meeting.fedworld.gov
In response to your e-mail, you will receive an automated
response detailing how to register as a Public Access Site. If
you do not presently have e-mail, newsgroup, or World Wide Web
capability but plan on having such capability by the time of the
meeting, you may register as a Public Access Site or receive
general end user information by calling the GPO Access User
Support Team at (202) 512-1530.
Participation options: It is possible to participate in the
electronic open meeting in four ways depending upon desired level
of interaction -- electronic mail of comments, subscription to a
"Listserv," subscribing to a "Usenet" newsgroup, and accessing
the open meeting homepage via an HTML viewer, such as "Mosaic" or
"Netscape".
Electronic mail of comments -- This is the easiest way to
participate in the open meeting. However, interaction will be
limited. Choosing one of the options below is recommended.
Subscribing to a Mailing List -- Subscribing to a mailing
list allows more interactive participation in the meeting. When
one subscribes to a mailing list, one receives all the mail
messages which everyone posts to the mailing list. It is much
like putting a note on a bulletin board. However, instead of
having to go to the bulletin board to look for new messages, the
bulletin board comes to you in the form of electronic mail. For
help on subscribing to a mailing list please send an e-mail
message, the body of which contains the single word "help" to:
join@meeting.fedworld.gov You will receive an e-mail message
which tells you in detail how to subscribe to a mailing list.
Subscribing to a USENET newsgroup -- Subscribing to a
USENET newsgroup is similar to joining a mailing list. The
difference is that to subscribe to a USENET newsgroup, one needs
to have a newsreader configured for his or her own computer. If
you are familiar with a newsreader on your system, you will be
able to participate in the newsgroups like any other regular
newsgroup. The newsgroups have the following names:
alt.gov.meeting.services alt.gov.meeting.benefits
alt.gov.meeting.infoaccs alt.gov.meeting.partdemo
alt.gov.meeting.techgoal
Each of the newsgroups corresponds with one of the five subject
areas, described in detail below.
World Wide Web Access -- Using a World Wide Web browser
offers the greatest level of interaction for participating in the
electronic open meeting. Point the browser to:
URL:http://meeting.fedworld.gov
The participant will arrive at a user friendly interface from
where one can search the different newsgroup mailing list
responses and reply (either anonymously or not) as one deems
appropriate. The participant will also be able to view
background documents on-line, and complete a voluntary
participant survey.
Accessing Background Materials On-line -- Any user who has
access to a file transfer program, such as FTP or Fetch, may
access the document archive from: meeting.fedworld.gov or may
view the relevant documents by pointing a Web browser to the open
meeting homepage URL cited above.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION OR TO SUBMIT WRITTEN COMMENTS CONTACT:
Lew Oleinick, Information Policy and Technology Branch, Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and
Budget, Room 10236, New Executive Office Building, Washington,
D.C. 20503. Telephone: (202) 395-4638. E-mail:
OLEINICK_L@A1.EOP.GOV.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The world has entered the age of electronic information. We
are present at the creation of a Global Information
Infrastructure that will build on what aviation and
communications have already done to shrink the world into ever
more interdependent communities. Our U.S. National Information
Infrastructure (NII) will in many ways be the paradigm upon which
the global infrastructure is modeled.
The NII is a combination of facilities, services, and people
that will allow all Americans to send and receive information
when and where they want it at an affordable cost. The NII
includes the physical facilities used to transmit, store,
process, and display voice, data, and images. It includes
software and services, including security services, that will
integrate and interconnect these physical components through the
efforts of a wide variety of private sector providers. It
includes vast quantities of information that exist today in
government agencies and the valuable information produced every
day in the private sector. Finally, it includes all Americans,
but especially the people who create information, develop
applications, information products and services, construct
facilities, and train others to tap the NII's potential.
While much of the infrastructure already exists, information
will be so strategic a resource for U.S. competitiveness in the
21st Century that conscious and deliberate governmental action --
in concert with industry and the public -- is needed. Of course,
government is in no position, financially, technically, or
managerially, to design or build the information highway, or even
to re-pave it. So the NII will be designed, built and operated
by the private sector. What then is the government's role?
The Federal government should be in step with the change
from paper to electronic information. The U.S. government is the
world's largest creator, collector, user, and disseminator of
information. Sound scientific research, the public health and
safety, the equitable collection and distribution of tax
receipts, and the delivery of benefits and services are a few of
the national priorities that depend on Federal information
systems. In addition, the unique nature of information in a free
society -- Jefferson called it "the currency of democracy" --give
Federal policies special importance.
The government, then, should act as a facilitator and
catalyst to the development of the NII. It should help create a
legal and policy framework that allows the information highway to
develop in a manner consistent with consumer choice, universal
service, and security and privacy protections. It should also be
a model user -- creating a government that works better and costs
less by using technology to improve information dissemination and
service delivery.
For the NII to succeed, it must be built upon a partnership
of business, labor, academia, the public, and government that is
committed to deployment of an advanced, rapid, powerful
infrastructure accessible and accountable to all Americans. The
Administration has established the Information Infrastructure
Task Force (IITF) to coordinate the Administration's efforts to
formulate forward-looking telecommunications and information
policy. Its goals are set forth in the Agenda for Action,
published on September 15, 1993.
One of the fundamental tenets of the Administration's
philosophy is that government information is a public asset and a
valuable national resource. The government should make
information available to the public on timely and equitable
terms. It is also necessary to foster the existing diversity of
information sources, in which the private sector, along with
State and local governments, libraries, and other entities, are
significant partners. On the one hand, this means that the
government should not expend public resources filling needs which
have already been met by others in the public or private sector.
On the other, it means that the government should actively
disseminate its information at the cost of dissemination and not
attempt to exert copyright-like controls or other restrictive
practices on government information. These guiding principles
are set forth in OMB Circular A-130, most recently republished in
the Federal Register on July 25, 1994. (59 FR 26906).
Toward those goals, the recent revisions to the Office of
Management and Budget Circular A-130 have increasingly focused on
the exchange of information with the public and the promotion of
agency investments in technologies that improve service delivery
to the public. On December 7, 1994, OMB Bulletin 95-01 unveiled
the Government Information Locator Service (GILS) -- the "virtual
card catalog" called for in the Agenda for Action. This first
phase of GILS is a step toward improving the infrastructure for
information and service delivery to the public.
Even before GILS, a number of Federal agencies, such as the
Department of Commerce's "NTIS FedWorld" and the Government
Printing Office's "GPO Access" systems, were using dial-up
electronic bulletin boards and connections to the Internet. The
GILS initiative then is an effort to stimulate the expanded use
of electronic access and dissemination practices in a more
coordinated manner.
Beyond GILS, questions arise as to other appropriate courses
of action for the near and far term. Generally, what are the
respective roles of the Federal government, State and local
governments, industry, the public interest and library
communities, and academia in creating an electronic government?
More specifically, how can the delivery of services to the public
be enhanced by electronic means? What services should they be,
and how can they be delivered cost effectively and within overall
budgetary constraints? What methods are best suited to further
disseminate government information to the public, collect
information from the public, and reduce burden while maximizing
efficiency? In what ways can the interaction between agencies of
the Federal government, or between agencies at the Federal, state
and local levels be improved? How can we best encourage
partnerships among governmental entities at all levels with
private sector entities to ensure a diversity of information
sources, providers and facilitators? Finally, what are the
priorities? These topics are elucidated further below for
discussion in the electronic open meeting.
Five relevant topic areas have been identified:
Services -- from emergency help and health care to business
licenses,
Benefits -- from social security and food stamps to small
business grants,
Information -- from declassified secrets and travel aids to
satellite weather maps,
Participatory Democracy -- ensuring everyone's chance to be
heard in a democracy,
Technology -- how the technical portion of electronic
government will work.
The following sections provide additional information and
issues for discussion. Participants will provide us with
comments, questions, and suggestions to particular issues or
problems.
SERVICES: From Emergency Help and Health Care to Business
Licenses
Governments provide a range of services from disaster relief
and public safety to public education. Already, information
technology is being used to help deliver these services. Fishing
licenses are being issued from electronic terminals and
reservations for a campground in a National Park can be made on-
line. Governments at all levels are creating electronic systems
like California's "Info/California" kiosk based service delivery
that, so far, includes twelve State agencies, two county
governments and the US Internal Revenue Service. The US Postal
Service has been a leader in kiosk-based service delivery and
continues to expand its use of kiosks.
In the public safety arena, for years the FBI's National
Crime Information Center has helped State and local police catch
fugitives from justice no matter where they attempt to hide. And
each year the American people and governments at all levels must
cope with natural disasters -- tornadoes, floods, earthquakes and
hurricanes. Property is destroyed and, most tragically, lives
are lost. In times like these how can governments best deliver
the services that are needed? How can information technology
assist governments and the public in these times of need?
Questions related to services: As electronic delivery systems
evolve what government services should they provide and where
should they be located -- in libraries, schools, shopping
centers, community centers? When are kiosks a good idea? How
should these services be paid for or funded? What types of
services would be best provided by using information technology?
BENEFITS: From Social Security and Food Stamps to Small Business
Loans
Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, Aid to Dependent
Children, and care to disabled veterans are some of the major
Federal benefits programs. Can governments deliver these
benefits more quickly and efficiently while maintaining the
accountability and security of the programs and the dignity of
the recipients?
Each year some $500 billion in cash payments and food
assistance are provided to needy Americans. Most of these
entitlements are delivered by checks or vouchers -- paper and
postage -- while some are directly deposited electronically into
bank accounts -- no paper, no postage. But, many recipients of
this form of assistance do not have bank accounts. In these
instances, how can we take advantage of emerging technologies,
avoid paper and postage and thus save time and money? An answer
may be electronic transfer of benefits to a credit card-like
benefits card. This is actually being done in several states
right now.
Systems using bank-like automated teller machines and retail
point-of-sale terminals (scanners already installed in many
grocery stores) are undergoing testing in six states (Iowa,
Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, and Pennsylvania) and
are planned in thirty-one more. This year Texas goes on-line
with the nation's largest electronic benefit transfer (EBT)
system. Elsewhere, eight other southern states are joining
forces to create the first regional system and every month since
1993, Maryland's "Independence Card" program has delivered some
$57 million in food stamps, welfare and child-support benefits to
170,000 households statewide. No paper, no postage, and no lost
or stolen checks.
Of course, entitlement programs are not the only types of
government benefits. Also included are small business loans and
grants for educational projects and agricultural research. For
example, notices of National Science Foundation grants are
available on-line. They may be downloaded and printed by the
applicant at his or her ease. When an application is completed,
it may be submitted to the National Science Foundation by
electronic mail. The whole process has been made more efficient
and user-friendly which ends up saving the tax payers' money.
Questions regarding benefits: What do people think about
the pilot EBT projects in Iowa, Minnesota, New Jersey, New
Mexico, Ohio, and Pennsylvania? What have people's experiences
been with the Maryland EBT program? How can governments
continue to improve the delivery of other benefits? Without
judging the merits of an individual benefits program, what do
Americans expect of their governments as technologies evolve?
Which enabling technologies should we pursue? Are added
safeguards needed to protect from fraud and abuse or will
electronic transfer make controls easier?
INFORMATION: From Declassified Secrets and Travel Aids to
Satellite Weather Maps
Government agencies at all levels collect, maintain and
disseminate an incredible array of information. It ranges from
routine data relating to consumer products to vital weather
information. It includes layers of regulations that apply to
small businesses, major corporations or even government agencies
themselves. We know the information is out there, but how do we
find it? Until recently, our only option was to write or call
the agency that had the information. Of course, first we had to
figure out which agency that was. And then we waited.
All of that is changing. In December 1994, the Federal
Government Information Locator Service (GILS) was launched. As
it evolves, more and more Federal data will be at our fingertips.
This locator service is similar to the card catalog at the local
library, only it is electronic and on-line. GILS allows one to
search on-line using a specific set of key-words of interest to
locate appropriate subject matter. For example, suppose one had
an interest in a major construction project and its effect on
wildlife habitat. Using GILS, one could locate the various
environmental impact statements. In addition, one might also
locate pertinent satellite photographs.
Even declassified secrets are available electronically on
the Department of Energy's OpenNet service. More agencies will
follow. The National Archives and Records Administration is
developing a government-wide declassification database.
One information source which is quite useful when planning
to plant or harvest crops, or when planning a day at the beach,
is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA)
national weather forecasts. These forecasts are available for
any city in the United States which has a NOAA weather station.
At last count, there were over 150 city forecasts available from
NOAA's on-line computers.
For businesses, the Department of Commerce provides a
bulletin board which contains timely economic information. For
companies involved in export activities with Mexico and Canada,
such items as export and import levels for particular product
categories, such as paper products, from these two countries are
easily available.
For the academic community, the Department of Commerce's
Bureau of the Census provides a bulletin board containing
detailed demographic information about our country's citizens.
For the medical community, the National Institutes of Health
provide a bibliography of medical and scientific articles which
allow physicians and scientists to remain up-to-date with the
latest advances in medicine.
Questions regarding information dissemination. What level
of effort should governments devote to electronic dissemination
of government information? Are there benefits to the public at
large or only to relatively sophisticated professional
researchers, environmentalists, historians, or scientists?
Should the taxpayers foot the bill for information access or
should the direct users pay some of the cost? Where should
access be available--at libraries, schools, community centers, on
home computers? Which enabling technologies should be pursued?
PARTICIPATORY DEMOCRACY: Ensuring Everyone's Chance to be Heard
in a Democracy
What if everyone in the United States were to have instant
electronic access to their elected, appointed and career
government officials? Interested parties could participate in
the drafting of regulations and engage directly in debate on
government action. While several million Americans have
electronic mail capability, with a population of more than 250
million, such access is still relatively limited. More and more
agencies are advertising that they are now "on-line" and are
soliciting citizens to contact them at their electronic mail
address. It is also the case that more and more of our elected
officials are establishing e-mail addresses or Web sites.
There is little dispute that using information technology to
support government rulemaking can reduce costs for both agencies
and the public. And, as a practical matter, electronic
rulemaking is more efficient and can possibly reach a greater
number of interested parties than by merely publishing in the
Federal Register, corresponding by mail, talking by telephone and
traveling to hearings and meetings. This same technology also
enables interested parties to interact with other interested
parties, consider and devise new and better ways of doing things,
all prior to or without governments' involvement. For example,
the Department of Commerce's National Telecommunication and
Information Administration recently used electronic rulemaking to
gather responses to a report on reallocating the Federal radio
spectrum. The report was placed on-line and was made available
through an electronic bulletin board system and via the Internet
by Telnet. Sixty organizations responded to the report. These
sixty responses were then placed on-line for everyone to see and
discuss.
A related effort is making available to the public the rules
and regulations they are expected to follow. Also relevant are
legislative materials and supporting documents, such as
Congressional committee reports. The ultimate issue is how we
can make it possible, more practical, and more attractive for
Americans to participate in government at all levels.
Questions regarding participatory democracy. As more of us
utilize information technology to participate in governmental
processes will the volume become overwhelming? How do we balance
the level of involvement with expectations and governments'
ability to deliver? Is there a broad interest from the public to
participate, or would tax dollars be better spent elsewhere?
What are the best strategies for seeing that citizens have access
to the rules, regulations and related information needed to
comply with government requirements?
TECHNOLOGY: How the Information Infrastructure of Electronic
Government Will Work
We are in an era of technological upheaval--the information
age. The advances in information technologies of all types have
caused businesses to rethink the way they operate and governments
to reinvent the way they do business. The future look of
governments is what this electronic meeting is all about. How
will governments work, individually and together, for Americans.
In the other topical discussion areas, we are talking about
what electronic governments will do and generally how they will
do it. Here, it is more what they will do it with--the
technological tools to accomplish the tasks of governing.
The Information Infrastructure Task Force, a Federal
government body, along with the Information Infrastructure
Advisory Council, made up of representatives of State and local
governments, industry, and academia, are also looking at the face
of future governments. They are looking at issues such as the
need for telecommunications reform, security matters, privacy,
reliability and vulnerability, intellectual property rights,
health issues and the technologies themselves.
Interoperability, the ability to communicate with one
another, is a critical goal for future governments. Federal,
State, Tribal and local agencies must be able to interact
instantly and effectively.
Questions regarding the technology of electronic government.
What will be the role of the Internet or its progeny? What
criteria should be used for selecting one platform over another?
Or, should a portfolio of platforms be the goal? Does
interoperability of governmental systems cause concerns? What if
some government agencies systems aren't interoperable or they
can't afford a system at all? Will their citizen customers
suffer as a result? Will the information they use be as accurate
and timely as necessary? What about reliability? We know it is
essential, but won't technological vulnerabilities still exist?
Will governments become so dependent on the use of advanced
technologies that they will be unable to function if the system
fails during an emergency? Are there alternatives?
Relevant Information Sources
The following documents relevant to the topics to be
discussed in the electronic open meeting are available
electronically via anonymous FTP at: meeting.fedworld.gov The
description of each document is followed by its file designation.
"Public Information in the National Information
Infrastructure," Report to the Regulatory Information Service
Center, General Services Administration, and to the
Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory
Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, Henry R. Perritt, Jr.,
Villanova University Law School, September, 1994.
PERRITT1.TXT
"The Electronic Agency and The Traditional Paradigms of
Administrative Law," Henry R. Perritt, Jr., Administrative Law
Review, Vol. 44, pp. 79-105, Winter 1992.
PERRITT2.TXT
"Agenda for Access: Public Access to Federal Information for
Sustainability through the Information Superhighway," The Bauman
Foundation, Washington, DC, January 1995.
BAUMAN.TXT
"Information Superhighway: Issues Affecting Development," US
General Accounting Office, Report to the Congress, September,
1994, Wash., DC, GAO/RCED-94-285
GAO94285.TXT
"Information Superhighway: An Overview of Technology Challenges,"
US General Accounting Office, Report to the Congress, January,
1995, Wash., DC, GAO/AIMD-95-23
GAO9523.TXT
"Executive Guide: Improving Mission Performance Through Strategic
Information Management and Technology -- Best Practices," US
General Accounting Office, Comptroller General of the United
States, May, 1994, Wash., DC, GAO/AIMD-94-115
BESTPRAC.HTM (only by HTML viewer)
"Making Government Work: Electronic Delivery of Federal
Services," US Congress, Office of Technology Assessment,
September, 1993, Wash., DC, OTA-TCT-578
GOVWORK.TXT
"Reengineering Through Information Technology: Creating a
Government That Works Better and Costs Less," National
Performance Review, Accompanying Report of the National
Performance Review, Office of Vice President, September, 1993,
Wash., DC, REENGIN.TXT
"Management of Federal Information Resources, Office of
Management and Budget Circular A-130," 59 Federal Register 37906,
25 July 1994.
OMB_A130.TXT
"National Information Infrastructure; Draft Principles for
Providing and Using Personal Information and Commentary; Notice,"
60 Federal Register 4362, 20 January 1995.
PRIVPRIN.TXT
"The National Information Infrastructure: Agenda for Action,"
Information Infrastructure Task Force, 15 September 1993.
AGENDA.TXT
"The Information Infrastructure: Reaching Society's Goals,"
Report of the Information Infrastructure Task Force Committee on
Applications and Technology, National Institute of Standards and
Technology, US Department of Commerce, Wash., DC, September,
1994.
GOALS.TXT
"Protecting Privacy in Computerized Medical Information," US
Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, September, 1993,
Wash., DC, OTA-TCT-576
MEDPRIV.TXT
"Putting the Information Infrastructure to Work," Report of the
Information Infrastructure Task Force Committee on Applications
and Technology, National Institute of Standards and Technology,
US Department of Commerce, Wash., DC, May, 1994.
PUT2WORK.TXT
"Breaking the Barriers to the National Information
Infrastructure," A Conference Report by the Council on
Competitiveness, Wash., DC, December, 1994.
BARRIERS.TXT
Conclusion
After the public meeting and receipt of comments, we will
analyze the results and prepare a report. The report will
summarize not only the substantive comments received, but will
evaluate the success of the meeting in terms of both the level
of participation experienced and the experience with the
technologies utilized. Notice of availability of the report will
be published on-line and in the Federal Register.
We hope that the lessons learned from this meeting will be
extremely useful to future developers of nation-wide electronic
open meetings. With the understanding that information
technology has fundamentally altered the ways by which
governments interact with the public, we acknowledge this meeting
not only as an end in itself, but also as a basis for a new
beginning to government.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 5 Apr 1995 00:31:39 -0500 (CDT)
From: David Smith <bladex@BGA.COM>
File 2--CLINTON ADMIN ANNOUNCES A NAT'L ELECTRONIC OPEN MEETING (fwd)
Here is the press release concerning an open meeting about government in
cyberspace.
David Smith * Calendar of way cool Austin e-things:
bladex@bga.com * April 17th -- Celebrity.Net.Crisis.of.the.month
President, EFF-Austin * April 18th -- John Henry Faulk conference
Board of Directors, CTCLU * April 29th -- Eyore's Birthday party
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Department of Commerce News
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: CONTACT: Paige Darden
March 31, 1995 (202) 482-1551
CLINTON ADMINISTRATION ANNOUNCES
A NATIONAL ELECTRONIC OPEN MEETING
Organizations encouraged to serve as Public Access Sites
Washington, D.C. -- The Clinton Administration will hold a National
Electronic Open Meeting to seek public comments on how Federal,
State, Tribal and local governments should interact with citizens in
the Information Age. The meeting will begin at 9:00 a.m. (EST) on
Monday, May 1 and end at midnight on Sunday, May 14, 1995.
"Through this national open meeting, we hope to spur public
discussion and vigorous debate on how government can improve delivery
of services and benefits, and availability of information; and
increase citizen participation in our democratic process using
information technologies," said Secretary of Commerce Ronald H.
Brown.
During the two week meeting, Americans will have the opportunity to
discuss with experts and other participants five topics relevant to
"People and Their Governments in the Information Age." The topics
include: Services--from delivery of emergency help and health care
to issuing business licenses; Benefits--from delivery of Social
Security and food stamps to processing small business grants;
Information--from declassifying secrets to making Census data more
easily available; Participatory Democracy--from making access to
government easier to ensuring everyone's opportunity to participate
in government regulatory and policy-making; and Technology--from
ensuring compatible electronic systems at the various government
levels to ensuring system security and reliability. In order to
participate in the meeting, a person must use a computer with a modem
or with access to the Internet (World Wide Web, newsgroups, e-mail
listservs).
The Administration is calling on public and private organizations to
help facilitate participation by the American people who do not have
access to a computer. "We are asking public and private
organizations to make their computer facilities available, free of
charge, throughout the two week meeting," said Secretary Brown. To
participate as a "Public Access Site," institutions must have the
abilityto access Internet e-mail, newsgroups or the World Wide Web
and be willing to help encourage greater public participation by
publicizing the meeting through local press and outreach activities.
Because many organizations have not participated before in a meeting
held entirely via electronic networks, technical assistance for
Public Access Sites will be provided by the U.S. Government Printing
Office (GPO) before and during the meeting by calling (202) 512-1530.
Organizations wishing further information about serving as a Public
Access Site can point their World Wide Web (WWW) browser to
http://meeting.fedworld.gov or send a blank e-mail message to
pas-info@meeting.fedworld.gov. Organizations without WWW or e-mail
capability may call GPO for further information and to register as a
Public Access Site.
In addition, the general public may obtain further information about
the content and format of the meeting by sending a blank e-mail
message to info@meeting.fedworld.gov or by calling GPO at (202)
512-1530. GPO also will make a complete listing of Public Access
Sites available starting April 16.
The meeting is being sponsored by several federal agencies, including
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the National
Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), the
National Technical Information Service's FedWorld, and the National
Performance Review (NPR). The sponsoring agencies are participants
in the Information Infrastructure Task Force (IITF), an interagency
group formed to articulate and implement the Administration's vision
for the National Information Infrastructure, and which is chaired by
Secretary Brown. The GPO is also providing support for the
meeting.
Note to the editor: Members of the media who would like to be
briefed by the meeting coordinators prior to the conference
(date/time TBD) should notify Paige Darden, NTIA at (202) 482-1551.
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 19 Mar 1995 22:51:01 CDT
From: CuD Moderators <cudigest@sun.soci.niu.edu>
File 3--Cu Digest Header Info (unchanged since 19 Mar, 1995)
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End of Computer Underground Digest #7.27
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