1994-02-07 United States FY95 Budget in Electronic Format

[David Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>]

                 THE BUDGET OF THE UNITED STATES
                    NOW IN ELECTRONIC FORMAT
                           Background


The U.S. Department of Commerce in cooperation with the Office of
Management and Budget(OMB) will produce the Budget of the United
States Government, Fiscal Year 1995 in electronic format using
compact disc-read only memory (CD-ROM) and on-line computer
delivery methods.  This marks the first time the entire budget
has been available to the public in electronic format.  Budget
analysts, public policy researchers, state and local governments,
libraries, and other members of the public will find the
electronic version to be a useful addition and versatile
alternative to the printed version of the budget.  Users will be
able to display exact images of the printed budget, search for
the occurrence of keywords within the text, and copy  or print
desired portions of the text for further reference or use.  And,
the same documents will be accessible on personal computers
running three popular operating systems -- MS-DOS, Windows, and
Apple Macintosh -- thereby making this information available to
the vast majority of personal computer users.


Tentative talks on producing an electronic version of the federal
budget were first conducted between technical staff at OMB and
Commerce's Office of Business Analysis (OBA) in December, 1993.
Several factors made this effort feasible.  First, commercial
software products became available in 1993 that facilitate the
electronic transfer or delivery of finished documents.  Creators
of highly formatted documents originally intended for print
distribution could now distribute electronic copies of the same
documents with the original print format characters intact.
Recipients of the electronic documents could see exact replicas
of the original formatted text on their computers without the
need to own a copy of the software that originally created the
document.  These programs greatly facilitate the creation of
electronic catalogs, books, and other large information
collections where formatted text is important.


Second, OMB uses electronic text composition software that
creates PostScript formatted output that is used by the
Government Printing Office to produce the printed version of the
budget.  One portable document delivery software product , Adobe
Acrobat uses PostScript formatted documents as the input to
create Portable Document Format (PDF) files, which may be read by
low-cost readers also distributed by Adobe.  Given that the
original budget documents are already in PostScript format, it is
a relatively simple matter to convert them to PDF format and
distribute them in electronic form.


Third, the proper mix of skills and services existed on the
Commerce/OMB team to bring this project to completion in a very
tight time frame; this project was conceived, implemented, and
delivered in 50 days.  OMB prepared the budget in the proper
format and acquired and learned to use the Acrobat software
necessary to create the PDF files.  OBA had significant
experience in producing CD-ROM titles and offering information
through other electronic distribution channels such as dial-up
bulletin boards and the Internet, had staff in place to produce
the budget CD-ROM quickly, was prepared to offer telephone
ordering to ensure prompt delivery to the public, and could
provide customer support.


Finally, the new spirit of the federal government encourages
agencies to take advantage of electronic tools to broaden access
to federal information.  New innovative methods to deliver
government services to the citizen at low cost both to the
government and the recipient are actively encouraged.  The
Commerce Department is taking a lead role in this endeavor.  In
short, the technical and organizational chemistry was just right
to ensure success of this project.


Electronic Versions of the Budget


CD-ROM


The CD-ROM versions of the Budget of the United States
Government, Fiscal Year 1995 will be available to the public at
the same time the printed budget is submitted to the Congress by
President Clinton.  The CD-ROM will contain exact page-image
replicas of the same documents submitted to Congress.  These
include:


o Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 1995
o Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 1995,
  Analytical Perspectives
o Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 1995,
  Historical Tables
o Budget System and Concepts of the United States Government


The Budget CD-ROM will be available for order from the Department
of Commerce after official release for $30.00, $24 less than the
comparable printed volumes.  Discs will be available for pickup,
by first class mail, and via overnight delivery ($10 additional.)
The CD-ROM will include the budget documents as well as copies of
the Adobe Acrobat Reader for MS-DOS and Windows operating
systems.  A set of diskettes containing the Acrobat Reader will
be supplied to users of Macintosh computers.


A supplemental volume, the Budget of the United States
Government, Fiscal Year 1995, Appendix contains the detailed
budget submissions for each agency.  It will be transmitted to
Congress later in February and will not appear on the Budget CD-
ROM.  However, the complete Budget including the Appendix will
appear on the February 1994 issue of Commerce's National
Economic, Social, and Environmental Data Bank (NESE-DB) CD-ROM
which will be available in late February.  In addition to the
Budget, NESE-DB will contain PDF images of current Internal
Revenue Service tax forms which may be reproduced exactly as the
original printed forms and over 100,000 documents containing a
core set of economic, social and environmental data.  Information
on the NESE-DB covers issues of widespread public interest such
as Vice President Gore's National Performance Review and the
Administration's proposed Health Care Reform legislation.


o NESE-DB is published quarterly in the months of February, May,
  August, and November.  Single issues are available for $95, an
  annual subscription costs $360.  Purchasers of the original
  Budget CD-ROM will be given full credit for their original
  order and may obtain the February issue of NESE-DB for the
  discounted price of $65.  Customers must mention they
  purchased the Budget CD-ROM when ordering the NESE-DB to
  obtain the discount.


NESE-DB is also available for free public access in 960 federal
depository libraries located throughout the Nation.


Dial-up Bulletin Board


ASCII versions of the Budget documents will be available on the
Commerce Department's Economic Bulletin Board (EBB) shortly after
official release to the public.  PDF and ASCII versions of the
Budget Appendix will be added to the bulletin board when they are
released by OMB.  There will be no charge for obtaining Budget
documents via the Economic Bulletin Board.  The EBB may be
accessed using a personal computer and modem by calling:


  2400 BPS :   1-202-482-3870 (N81)
  9600 BPS:    1-202-482-2167 (N81)


Users accessing the PDF versions of the Budget via the EBB must
supply their own copy of software capable of reading PDF files.


Internet


Free access to the Budget documents in PDF and ASCII forms will
also be available via the Internet.  The Internet version of the
EBB may be accessed by using the command


  telnet ebb.stat-usa


These files will also be available for gopher access by issuing
the command.


  gopher gopher.esa.doc.gov


As in the case of the EBB users accessing the PDF versions of the
Budget via the Internet must supply their own copy of software
capable of reading PDF files.






How to contact us:


  To order Budget and NESE-DB CD-ROMs:1-800-STAT-USA  (1-800-782-
8872)
  For technical assistance:1-202-482-1986
  Fax orders:1-202-482-2164


  Electronic mail:tac () esa doc gov


or write to:


     Office of Business Analysis
     Room H4885
     U.S. Department of Commerce
     Washington, DC 20230


Technical contacts


     Ken Rogers (202) 482-0434
     Paul Christy (202) 482-0123


Adobe, PostScript, and Acrobat are registered trademarks of Adobe
Systems, Incorporated.
Apple and Macintosh are registered trademarks of Apple Computer,
Incorporated
Windows and MS-DOS are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.