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OMB Watch Logo
August 5, 2002 Vol. 3 No. 16:   


Published: 08/05/2002

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FirstGov Folded Into New GSA Office

On July 23, the General Services Administration (GSA) announced the creation of a new Office of Citizen Services and Communications that will incorporate the Office of FirstGov, which oversees the federal government’s web portal, the Information Technology Office and the Intergovernmental Solutions Office. GSA Administrator Stephen Perry promised that the new office will serve as a "single front door to the services and information" the public requires in the medium it prefers.

While the formation of the new office is closely linked to the President's management agenda and strives to streamline citizen services, there are reports that the office is disorganized and unsure of its specific goals. Federal Computer Week reported that Casey Coleman, the new office’s chief technology officer, was only able to reiterate the Bush administration's commitment to "citizen-centric government" without offering details as to what this means.

Perry announced in an online chat on July 31 that the new office will "improve agency responsiveness to citizen inquiries through a modernized and streamlined process that will remove some of the barriers that currently impede responsiveness," though he offered no explanation of what that process will be, according to FCW. Agency employees say the structure for the new office is modeled after one in Canada, which pulls together a call center, a publications center, and a portal. But without concrete details on how GSA will improve its responsiveness to the public, its new Office of Citizen Services may continue to be a mystery to the citizens it's trying to serve.