GAO notes that the recent terrorist attacks "have highlighted information as both an asset and a critical tool, essential to achieving the fundamental purposes of government." For instance, there is an imperative need to protect critical federal systems from computer-based attacks; there is a need for law enforcement officials across different agencies to share information on domestic and international criminals and terrorists; and there is an ongoing need to improve the public health infrastructure that detects disease outbreaks.

In 1980, the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) created the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) -- housed in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) -- to provide leadership, policy direction, and oversight of government-wide information activities, including collection, dissemination, security and privacy, and management of information technology (IT). To address these responsibilities, OIRA is required to develop and maintain a government-wide plan for information resources management (IRM).

To fulfill this obligation, OIRA designated the 2001-2002 strategic plan developed by the Chief Information Officers (CIO) Council as the government-wide IRM plan. The CIO Council was established by Executive Order 13011 in 1996 as the principal interagency forum for improving agency IRM practices. However, GAO found that the CIO plan is not effective or comprehensive enough to serve as a government-wide IRM plan or to fulfill OIRA's requirements under the PRA.

GAO's report comes on the heels of the release of the Bush administration's E-Government Strategy. This plan mostly ignores ways to increase public access to government information, which the public believes to be crucial for accountability, and the most important goal for e-government, according to a recent poll. See this OMB Watch analysis of the administration's E-Government Strategy.