New initiatives

In an apparent bid to bring the government up to speed on the Internet revolution, President Clinton has signed a pair of "executive memorandums" aimed at increasing the amount of government information available online, and examining the feasibility of e-voting. Vice President Al Gore unveiled the two memos, dubbed the "E-Government Directive" and "E-Society Directive". The goal of the initiatives is "to make government as accessible as Internet commerce has made shopping...for everyday consumers," a Gore aide told Newsbytes. The E-Government Directive - which is targeted directly at federal agency heads - urges agencies to make better use of the Internet to disseminate critical information. The Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), which has repeatedly harangued the federal government to make better use of the Internet, applauded the E-Government Directive. The CDT maintains a list - located at http://www.cdt.org/righttoknow/10mostwanted/wanted.html - of the "10 Most Wanted" pieces of government information not currently available online. Calling for less direct action than the E-Government Directive, but bearing the potential for far greater long-term ramifications is the E-Society Directive, which directs the National Science Foundation (NSF) to examine the feasibility of online voting.