PEOPLE AND THEIR GOVERNMENTS IN THE INFORMATION AGE -- NATIONAL ELECTRONIC OPEN MEETING

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

      PEOPLE AND THEIR GOVERNMENTS IN THE INFORMATION AGE


                 NATIONAL ELECTRONIC OPEN MEETING
                          MAY 1-14, 1995


                       DETAILED INFORMATION




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 citizenry in creating an 
electronic government.  This notice is in furtherance 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 will receive all the mail 
messages which everyone posts to the mailing list.  It is much 
like putting a note on a bulletin board at the water cooler, but 
instead of having to go to the water cooler, one will have the 
note passed across one's desk.  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.