Briefing Packet for Under and Assistant Secretaries

1

• Briefing Packet for Under and Assistant
  Secretaries
• USDA eGovernment Executive Council

January 30, 2002
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Why eGovernment?

• Presidents Management Agenda makes Expanding
  Electronic Government one of five major
  initiatives for reforming government
• The Presidents Management Council is requesting
  that all Departments develop a strategy for
  moving towards electronic government OMB has
  developed a scorecard to track each Departments
  progress
• Departmental strategy must prioritize
  opportunities for leveraged funding decisions
• In this context single agency initiatives are
  obsolete. Blended and collaborative ventures are
  the present and future.
• Citizen-centered government - Internet banking,
  online shopping and travel arrangements, and
  electronic bill pay are available to consumers in
  the private sector and they are expecting the
  same level of service as citizens and taxpayers
  from their government
• Must enable the public to easily transact with
  and receive quality service from USDA, no matter
  which channel (e.g., online, in person, over
  phone) is chosen
• Link to government-wide Quicksilver efforts
• Internal Pressures and Demands - Duplication of
  many support and common core functions in each
  agency increases the need for consolidation and
  Departmental integration, i.e. human resources,
  procurement, and content and knowledge management
• Efficiency and productivity gains similar to
  private sector
• Reduce costs and improve resources utilization
• Unify USDA while at the same time simplifying for
  customers and partners

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Table of Contents

• eGovernment Opportunity Identification and
  Prioritization Process
• eGovernment Smart Choice Candidates and Final
  Descriptions
• Potential Smart Choice impacts on agencies and
  business case development

4
eGovernment Opportunity Identification
Under Secretary and Executive Interviews

• Evaluation Criteria
• Strategic
• Improves fulfillment of USDA Mission and
  satisfies at least 1 USDA strategic goal and
  objective
• Fulfills eGovernment Mission and satisfies at
  least 1 eGovernment goal and/or objective
• Addresses legislative priorities, GAO material
  weaknesses, OMB guidelines, and/or IG findings
• Expands reach and participation of USDA programs
  (i.e. numbers of beneficiaries)
• Mitigates redundancy, duplicative processes

Mission Area Visioning Sessions
Long List of Opportunities
Working Group Visioning Sessions

• Financial
• Lowers costs across Department
• Revenue generation potential
• Leverages existing funding stream, budget
  priorities
• Mitigates waste, fraud and abuse

More than 60 proposed opportunity areas,
suggestions and ideas

• Implementation
• Responds to an immediate Dept. need (Urgency)
• Can be implemented easily/low level of complexity
• Leverages core business capabilities and/or
  Dept./agencies have experience with similar
  effort
• Links to current/planned eGovernment initiatives
• Level of executive support and leadership
  priorities
• Transfer solution from other government or
  private sector

Industry and Government Best Practice

• Similar themes and ideas combined
• Did not affect more than one agency
• Out of the scope or beyond the range of
  feasibility for a 5 year time frame

Readiness Assessment1
1 Focus groups, employee survey and CIO
interviews 2 Based on eGovernment Readiness
Assessment of current capabilities
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eGovernment Opportunity Prioritization
Short List- eGovernment Opportunities
Shorter List- Smart Choice Candidates
Ranking Considerations
Reprioritization based on new information and
weighting

• Weighted short list based on ease of
  implementation and executive level support

Executive Council deliberations yielded 12 Smart
Choice Candidates
26 eGovernment Opportunities for Strategic Plan
Strategic
Enabling

• Balance of Strategic and Enabling

Portfolio Approach
StartSmall

• Balance of Goals and Objectives met
• Balance of Level (1)

Think Big

• 6 Strategic Candidates
• 6 Enabler Candidates

Agency program and administrative managers
agencies
Working Group Rankings

• Urgency Ranking
• Importance Ranking

Rankings Yielded

• Top 10 Strategic Candidates
• Top 10 Enabler Candidates

(1) Interdepartmental, Enterprise-wide, Cross
Mission Area/ Cross Agency
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Smart Choice Candidates
The Executive Council determined the final Smart
Choice candidates based on the following criteria
Opportunity Areas

• Smart Choices must achieve tangible and
  measurable results within an 18 month timeframe
• Some Smart Choices will be complete in 18 month
  timeframe
• Some Smart Choices will be the initial steps of a
  longer term vision
• Mix of Strategic and Enabling opportunities
• Addresses all three eGovernment strategic goals
• Fulfillment at all levels- Interdepartmental,
  Enterprise-wide and Cross-Mission Area/Cross
  Agency

Strategic
Enabling
Short Term
Smart Choices
Long Term
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Table of Contents

• eGovernment Opportunity Identification and
  Prioritization Process
• eGovernment Smart Choice Candidates and Final
  Descriptions
• Potential Smart Choice impacts on agencies and
  business case development

8
Final Smart Choice Candidates
The following are the final smart choice
candidates recommended by the Executive Council
Strategic Opportunities
eLoans
Online Export Assistance and Marketing
Web-based Supply Chain Management
eGrants
eProcurement
Food Safety/Security Tools
Enabling Opportunities
User Authentication and Electronic Signatures
USDA Web Presence (includes Portal strategy)
Document/records/correspondence management/workflow tools
eLearning
Content/Knowledge management
Data Management
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eLoans (Strategic)

• Description Provide opportunities for citizens
  and businesses, including farmers, producers, and
  rural entrepreneurs, to apply for, obtain and
  manage USDA loans (direct and guaranteed?) via
  the Internet. This initiative should include
  online customer access to accounts, credit
  approval and income verification, bill
  presentment, automatic disbursement to bank
  accounts and loan documentation routing to
  appropriate local representatives. eLoan services
  should be provided through a common customer
  interface to simplify customer access to multiple
  agency services. The initiative requires full
  integration with the government-wide effort under
  Quicksilver.
• Value Proposition This initiative will empower
  farmers/producers, rural businessmen, lenders,
  and rural homeowners to proactively manage their
  accounts in a manner convenient to their own
  schedules and preferences. As a major provider
  of federal loans, USDA will significantly benefit
  from electronic loan processing and management. A
  consolidated approach will reduce delays in
  processing and receiving financial payments,
  provide a more efficient, streamlined loan
  process, and reduce the time customers and
  employees spend seeking and providing personal
  updates, completing forms, and performing
  administrative tasks. This initiative could also
  improve the internal processes of handling loans
  shorten decision time and remove human error.
  Finally, online management of customer loans will
  enable 24/7 service by the USDA.

Short and Long Term Vision
Start Small
Think Big

• Complete and submit loan applications online
• Automatically notify applicants of loan
  application status
• Make customer account updates available online
• Online bill presentment and loan statements
• Provide contact information of guarantee
  providers
• Provide risk management education and resources
•  

• Integrate with industry and partners for
  guaranteed loans and risk-management tools
• Real-time integration with customer data to
  determine qualification, assess preliminary
  approvals/denials and provide counseling
• Proactive management of high-risk accounts and
  defaults

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Online Export Assistance and Marketing (Strategic)
Description Establish a virtual export center
for USDA customers, regulated industries, and
partners to learn about exporting agriculture
commodities, including accessing permits and
requirements for exporting, and gaining market
information about potential selling
opportunities. The online export environment
would focus on expanding marketing opportunities
for small agriculture producers, reduce
information gaps and search time, and create an
opportunity for collaboration within the
industry. This initiative would allow small
farmers to aggregate supply to fulfill
international demand, access a central location
for agriculture trade promotion, and use an
export assistance toolkit that would provide
step-by-step guidance and assistance for
exporting agriculture products. This initiative
will integrate with the International Trade and
Streamlining effort under Quicksilver. Value
Proposition This initiative will help achieve
USDAs goals to increase U.S. agriculture market
share from 18 to 22 internationally. It will
empower small, medium and disadvantaged farmers
with education and toolkits to expand their
reach. It would also provide a central resource
for the meat and poultry industry and other USDA
regulated industries to expedite their
international trading processes, further
encouraging exports.
Short and Long Term Vision
Start Small
Think Big

• Develop online wizards that guide citizens
  and/or partners through the export process from
  online wizards, users have access to all relevant
  forms, contact information, and assistance
• Integrate with new CRM capabilities to provide
  real-time assistance, both live and via online
  chat
• Integrate with citizen and public/private partner
  databases to enable collaboration

• Define customer requirements through focus groups
  and define pain points for exporting and
  marketing products
• Integrate with existing Government efforts
  offering export assistance (within USDA and
  Quicksilver)
• Create user-supported knowledge base of best
  practices and lessons learned during export
  process

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Web-based Supply Chain Management (Strategic)

• Description This initiative will leverage
  supply chain management technologies to enable
  USDA agencies (i.e., FAS, FSA, AMS, FNS) and
  their partners (primarily USAID, US school
  districts, domestic producers, State agencies and
  industry), to manage commodity purchasing and
  food distribution seamlessly for USDA programs.
  Isolated USDA initiatives will be consolidated
  and supported by flexible new technologies that
  provide real-time inventory management, food
  tracking and estimated delivery cycles, order
  fulfillment, and financial management and
  allocation.
• Value Proposition USDAs commodity operations
  exceed 40 billion every year. Migrating to an
  electronic supply chain capability for USDAs
  commodity programs will dramatically reduce cost
  for USDA agencies and their partners and improve
  service delivery and management of one of the
  USDAs largest functions. In addition supply
  chain improvements will eliminate duplicative
  processes, improve service to customers and
  partners, and streamline administrative
  functions. Additionally, this initiative will
  support U.S. National Defense and Security
  interests by enhancing USDAs ability to
  effectively provide international food
  assistance.

Short and Long term Vision
Start Small
Think Big

• Define larger set of requirements for the
  Department to build on FATES solution
• Construct model (on paper) that includes real
  performance data from system and manual processes
  to understand potential benefits all
  participating partners and agencies
• Limited-use pilot program

• Integrate with specialized portals for buyers and
  sellers
• Develop just-in-time (JIT) inventory tracking and
  purchasing capabilities across the supply chain
• Develop advanced data mining and reporting
  capabilities in central data repositories

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eGrants (Strategic)
Description This initiative will include a
central source for all organizations/agencies
that receive USDA grant assistance, including
rural businesses, State/local governments, and
universities, to access, apply for and manage
awards for all USDA grants. Seamless integration
with back-end capabilities will allow USDA
agencies to manage the grant lifecycle online
from customer applications through USDA financial
disbursements. This initiative will be developed
in conjunction with the eGrants Quicksilver
initiative, to provide seamless access to all
Federal grants. Value Proposition eGrants will
provide public and private organizations faster,
flexible and more direct means to navigate and
manage the USDAs grant process. Similar to
online loan management, eGrants will enable
better two-way communication between USDA
agencies and grant recipients and more efficient
financial allocations and performance reporting.
eGrants will also enable better management of
grants internally.
Short and Long-term Vision
Start Small
Think Big

• Partnership and participation in
  interdepartmental grant effort (Quicksilver)
• Deploy a comprehensive list and search engine for
  all USDA grants (in conjunction with the Web
  Presence initiative)
• Deploy online tools to support eligibility
  determinations, applications, and provide
  procedures for obtaining grants

• Web-based grants management workflow system that
  web-enables entire grant life cycles
• Grant-writing collaboration capability and
  integrate with web-based grants management system

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eProcurement (Strategic)

• Description- This initiative reinforces USDAs
  Integrated Acquisition System (IAS) capability
  which is a web-based solution designed to
  streamline and automate contract management and
  acquisition processes throughout USDA.
• Value Proposition- IAS is being pursued, in
  conjunction with multiple agency efforts
  including FSA, FS, and NRCS. Efforts to provide
  a single gateway for all USDA suppliers and
  buyers will optimize the value of the USDAs
  investments in this area by passing along cost
  savings to every agency that uses the system.
  With over 2 billion dollars in transactions
  annually, an eProcurement solution has the
  potential to show large impact. The IAS will
  provide a streamlined eProcurement tool that will
  allow USDA to use the functionality in the
  government-wide Quicksilver project called the
  Integrated Acquisition Environment (IAE).

Short and Long term Vision
Start Small
Think Big

• Integration with financial management tools
• Integrated document management capability to use
  with industry partners for seamless information
  exchange
• Fully electronic bidding and contract system
• Integrated eProcurement solution with
  eMarketplaces in the private sector
• Integrated eProcurement solution with Department
  supply chain management solution for extended
  automation to inventory and asset management

• Implementation of IAS as Department-wide
  procurement solution
• Migration effort from existing legacy procurement
  systems and processes to Departmental solution

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Food Safety and Security Tools (Strategic)
Description Develop interdepartmental
capabilities for collaboration, real-time data
collection, and tracking and retrieval of port
and plant specific data regarding food and
animals. All Government parties with
responsibility for food safety will have
real-time access to entering and tracking data
for decision-making purposes and for
investigations into causes of foodborne illness
which can be coordinated across USDA agencies as
well as other Federal and state agencies.  Value
Proposition Homeland security heightens the
expectations that the USDA can effectively
respond to emergencies, quickly communicate
outbreaks and thoroughly prevent threats of
bio-terrorism. By ensuring the safety of the US
food supply and improving USDAs execution of its
mission, this initiative will be critical to
protecting the health of all Americans.
Short and Long Term Vision
Start Small
Think Big

• Smart ID tags that link to a central data
  repository to assist in tracking food from
  initial processing to distribution
• Develop a harmonized coding system for
  identification of products.
• Handheld computers to field workers for data
  input and data access at time of need
• Integration with industry and government shipping
  and tracking data to provide field workers richer
  data to act on
• Advanced data mining and reporting capabilities
  on central data repositories

• Active collaboration on existing efforts in other
  government Departments (FDA, EPA, Customs)
• Integrate with the Wireless initiative under
  Quicksilver to improve instant communications
  capability
• Define and acquire hardware and software tools
  for field staff

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User Authentication and Electronic Signatures
(Enabler)
Description Create a Department-wide strategy
to define policies and a set of solutions for
electronic alternatives to traditional ink
signatures for citizens, partners and employees.
This initiative will outline the specifications
for selecting the most appropriate method based
on risk and security levels and will develop a
core set of Departmental capabilities around each
one. This initiative will be developed in
conjunction with the Quicksilver
initiative. Value Proposition A user
authentication and authorization capability is
critical to enabling eGovernment. Properly
identifying, verifying, and authenticating users
will enable USDA to execute business transactions
and accept data online. Further, implementing a
consistent solution will enhance capabilities for
cross-agency and cross-initiative integration and
reduce design, implementation, and support costs.
Short and Long Term Vision
Start Small
Think Big

• Publish electronic signatures guidance for the
  Department
• Develop enhanced employee database to serve as
  globally available user authentication tool
• Publish guidance and conduct vendor analysis on
  PKI and alternate solutions

• Integrate with other Government Departments on
  cross-government user authentication and rights
  management

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USDA Web Presence (Enabler)
Description Enhance USDA web presentation to
improve usability and provide a consistent
customer experience. This initiative would allow
all users to navigate USDAs websites and portals
based on their desired tasks or topics, rather
than by USDA's organizational structure. The
initiative should redesign and restructure USDAs
web sites based on standard user-interface
guidelines for a consistent look and navigation
across all USDA sites and web-based applications.
The initiative also includes the definition of a
portal strategy to ensure the Department is
implementing their customer-centric portals
consistently and in a manner that can be
integrated with other Department
applications. Value Proposition As the USDA web
presence matures, and increasing amounts of data
and applications are available online, USDA must
ensure a simple and consistent user experience
across the Department. While many USDA agencys
web sites and future portals are unique and do
not share customer groups, these web standards
will instill a high level of usability and ease
of navigation, ultimately translating to a more
effective customer experience. The web presence
is also highly visible to all of USDAs
constituencies and will likely become the primary
information dissemination mechanism. How
information and applications are presented will
shape opinions about working with the USDA.

Short and Long Term Vision
Start Small
Think Big

• Publish a comprehensive UI style guide for all
  USDA web-based portals, web sites, and online
  applications along with templates and graphics
  for use
• Define the scope for portals at USDA
• Define requirements for Departmental portal
  capability
• Sponsor an Agency pilot as a proof of concept
  prototype (AMS)
• Complete a vendor assessment and select a portal
  product for Department-wide use
• Develop an advanced search engine for searching
  all USDA web sites

• Enforce robust meta-data standards for all web
  pages available publicly and internally in order
  to yield better search results
• Create or outsource a usability lab for testing
  all online applications to ensure ease of use
• Implement multiple portals based on customer need
  and integrate with other smart choice initiatives
• Enforce global style sheet standards across the
  Department

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Electronic Document/Records Management with
Workflow (Enabler)
Description Develop a Departmental solution for
managing documents, official records, and
correspondence electronically. This initiative
would specifically develop the following 1)
Electronic management of records (record
identification, expiration tracking, archiving,
etc.), 2) Workflow defining the path and sign-off
documents, records, and correspondence need to
follow, and 3) A search capability for the
intelligent storage and retrieval of documents
and records. This initiative will integrate with
the corporate taxonomy development effort under
the content/knowledge management
initiative. Value Proposition As the Department
transitions to more electronic forms of
information, ensuring that information moves
throughout the organization and can be
appropriately stored and easily retrieved is
critical. A Department-wide model would provide
multiple benefits, not only consolidating the
multiple ongoing data and records management
efforts, but also greatly accelerating and
improving agencies ability to comply with
Federal records management requirements and the
information collection/reuse requirements
outlined in the Paperwork Reduction Act and
Government Paperwork Elimination Act.
Short and Long Term Vision
Start Small
Think Big

• Document/records/correspondence management client
  software to all PCs in the Department (or build
  a web-based solution accessible via a browser)
• Advanced search and retrieval capabilities
  (potential integration with web site search
  capabilities to locate other document types than
  web pages)
• Integrated solution with NARA for outsourcing
  storage and archiving capabilities
• USDA forms made available online using
  document/records management and workflow
  capability

• Consolidation of current agency efforts and
  define Department-wide requirements
• Approval and enforcement of electronic records
  management policy
• Pilot for single end-to-end workflow process for
  a standard office document, an official record,
  and/or a correspondence
• Department-wide deployment of the controlled
  correspondence initiative

18
eLearning (Enabler)
Description Develop a Department-wide eLearning
curriculum platform to facilitate online
training. A curriculum management system would
allow employees and citizens to track their
progress in completing a pre-defined curriculum,
register for new courses and allow management and
trainers to track progress and add new courseware
to the online repository. This capability allows
any employee or customer to develop, monitor, and
manage their respective training curriculum while
leveraging common training content. This
capability also allows individual Agencies to
publish courseware to one location to enable
sharing of courseware, etc. Value Proposition
During interviews with several Under Secretaries
and CIO's, a top priority was the training of
their people, either to bring them up to speed on
a computer skill set or to perform on the job
training to enhance their current skillet. The
definition of a Department-wide curriculum
management system will facilitate the steady
migration to a hybrid of online and
classroom-based training. This will ensure
training goals can be met more effectively than
with an exclusive classroom-based curriculum.
Short and Long Term Vision
Start Small
Think Big

• Department-wide curriculum management capability
  (outsourced or developed)
• Online registration capabilities for offline
  course material
• Migration of existing online course material to
  run within curriculum management system
• Definition of standards (user interface, language
  support, system requirements, etc.) for eLearning
  applications

• Outsourcing arrangements for migration of offline
  curriculum to be provided online
• USDA Graduate School as an online university and
  a potential profit center
• Advanced business simulation capabilities
• Integration with knowledge management system to
  provide training at point of need
•  

19
Data Management (Enabler)
Description Provide the guiding principles and
framework for implementing a corporate data
management program, including 1) The definition
of a Department-wide data dictionary for back-end
data sharing, 2) The creation of centralized
databases of record and a corporate data
architecture, and 3) Data life-cycle management
and data sharing strategy. Value Proposition The
number of legacy systems at USDA and the public
and private organizations with which it interacts
is very large. A data management strategy with
all of its components will enable the Department
to better perform back-end integration to bring
enhanced services, and consolidate disparate data
stores in to databases of record. This translates
to the reuse of data, large time savings for
system integration, additional support for a
knowledge management capability, and an
opportunity to lead Government and Industry in
setting data standards.
Short and Long Term Vision
Start Small
Think Big

• Common data dictionary for future development of
  database-driven applications
• Identification of redundant data elements across
  the Department
• Development of Department data management
  strategy for use by all application development
  efforts
• Develop migration plan for legacy data

• Consolidation of redundant data to databases of
  record throughout the Department
• Department-wide data warehouses that include
  robust APIs for interaction with all
  applications
• Archiving, storage, back-up and aging strategy
• Both participate in and lead data exchange forums

20
Content/Knowledge Management (Enabler)
Description Develop Departmental solution(s) for
managing the development, approval, publishing,
sharing, and classification of web pages,
documents, multimedia, official records, and
correspondence. Value Proposition As the
Department transitions to increasingly creating
and utilizing information in an electronic
format, new tools and processes must be created
that facilitate the creation and sharing of this
information both internally and externally.
Content and knowledge management prevent the USDA
from re-inventing the wheel by giving
visibility to what employees have built
throughout the Department. Content and knowledge
management also increase collaboration
enterprise-wide, throughout the Federal
Government, and with the private sector,
potentially saving significant time and
resources.
Short and Long Term Vision
Start Small
Think Big

• Develop advanced search and retrieval
  capabilities (potential integration with web site
  search capabilities to locate other document
  types than web pages)
• Integrate Agriculture library as primary
  knowledge managers to review content and
  facilitate consistent classification, and manage
  corporate taxonomy
• Integrate content management toolset in to all
  information sharing processes
• Proliferate knowledge sharing culture
  throughout the Department by using knowledge
  contributions as formal job performance metric,
  etc.

• Define corporate taxonomy for consistent
  classification of all information
• Perform vendor analysis of content management
  capability and execute pilot
• Enhance employee directory for knowledge sharing
  purposes
• Create Yahoo-style directory of ALL internal
  sites that is classified using the corporate
  taxonomy

21
Table of Contents

• eGovernment Opportunity Identification and
  Prioritization Process
• eGovernment Smart Choice Candidates and Final
  Descriptions
• Potential Smart Choice impacts on agencies and
  business case development

22
Potential Impact on Agencies

• The following table showing impacts of
  implementing smart choice candidates

Strategic Opportunity Area FY02 Staffing Impacts (1) Impacts/projects to leverage Financial Implications Affected Agencies
eLoans Staff from representative agencies will develop business case track Quicksilver initiative support implementation Quicksilver Dept of Education and Small Business Administration has best practice solution RD and FSA efforts TBD FSA, RHS, RBU, RUS,
Online Export Assistance and Marketing Staff from representative agencies will develop business case track Quicksilver support implementation Quicksilver export.gov International Trade Data System TBD FAS,FSIS, APHIS
Web-based Supply Chain Staff from representative agencies will develop business case, support implementation FATES, Food Aid Database System, Food Distribution 2000 TBD FSA, FNS, FAS, AMS, USAID
eGrants Staff from representative agencies will develop business case support implementation track Quicksilver Quicksilver former Fed Commons TBD CRSEES, FS, RBU, RHS
eProcurement None Quicksilver DA IAS becomes USDAs common eProcurement tool TBD All Agencies
Food Safety/Security Tools Staff from representative agencies will develop business case, support implementation Integrate FSIS, APHIS information and tool requirements. Greater information sharing with external agencies. TBD FSIS, APHIS
(1) Presumes full integration with any
quicksilver initiatives
23
Potential Impact on Agencies

• The following table showing impacts of
  implementing smart choice candidates

Enabling Opportunity Area Staffing Impacts Impacts/Projects to Leverage Ongoing Support Financial Implications Affected Agencies
User Authentication and Electronic Signature OCIO and Office of General Counsel will finalize policy begin requirements and technology options/recommendations with agencies Policy underway judgment from legal complete need to establish and communicate NFC PKI efforts CBA WebCAAF OCIO spearheads policy, standards and tool options Agencies implement with OCIO advice and counsel TBD All Agencies
USDA Web Presence OCIO, agency CIOs, OC, and Webmasters from various agencies would begin developing policy and planning complete any necessary business case. USDA Web redesign underway FS, AMS, and CBAs are in various stages exploring portal options leverage AMS efforts as a pilot for the Department. Simultaneously, Dept. will define requirements and make a recommendation on Dept-wide software solution Need ongoing vendor analysis capability portal enforcement need Web presence enforcement and communication from OC, OCIO and all agencies TBD All Agencies
Document/Records/Corresp-ondenceManagement/Workflow Tools OCIO and agencies need to complete business case for document management capability, issue and communicate eRecords and correspondence Management policies and procedures to Department Correspondence Management rollout by Executive Secretariat may be used as Department-wide pilot. Records management policy is completed and being reviewed. Manual processes can be leveraged to define workflows OCIO spearheads policy, standards, tool selection and potentially software solution itself all agencies need to support implementation of standards and are responsible for getting their own forms/records, etc. online using Dept system TBD All Agencies
Content/Knowledge Management OCIO and agencies need to complete business cases and help to define requirements OC has done vendor assessment, REE and other agencies are actively exploring solutions. OCIO spearheads policy, standards, and tool selection. Agencies implement and maintain own solutions and content TBD All Agencies
Data management OCIO begins policy development and document data warehousing as-is and best practices across Department and agencies AMS defining data-sharing standards SCMI data warehousing effort RMA data mining OCIO spearheads policy, standards and tool selections all agencies need to support implementation of standards TBD All Agencies
eLearning Ag Library, USDA Grad School and agencies and offices would develop business case Variety of outsource/ASP and in-house examples would be combined (e.g., OCIO) OCIO and HR plus agencies TBD All Agencies
24
Potential Impact on Agencies - Completing
Business Case
The first step in defining final smart choices is
to complete business cases
Strategic Opportunities Level of effort to complete Business Case
eLoans High Leverage Quicksilver, but 5 agencies must participate
Online Export Assistance and Marketing High - Leverage Quicksilver, but 3 agencies must participate
Web-based Supply Chain Management High Complexity of the initiative number of agencies that must participate
eGrants Medium Leverage Quicksilver, CRSEES
eProcurement Completed- IAS business case approved
Food Safety/Security Tools High- Complexity of the initiative
High 4-6 people, 5-7 weeks of development Medium
2-4 people, 3-5 weeks of development Low 1-3
people, 2-4 weeks of development
25
Potential Impact on Agencies - Completing
Business Case
The first step in defining final smart choices is
to complete business cases
Enabling Opportunities Level of effort to complete Business Case
User Authentication and Electronic Signatures Low - High interest and money already allocated
Web Presence (includes portal strategy) Low - Agencies have already allocated funds have high level of support
Document/records/correspondence management/Workflow tools Medium - High level of support but large Dept-wide effort requires coordination
eLearning High - Difficult to justify business case without large ROI
Content/Knowledge management Medium - Multiple agency efforts underway, high level of coordination across all
Data Management Medium - Low ROI, may be difficult to get buy-in from agencies
High 4-6 people, 5-7 weeks of development Medium
2-4 people, 3-5 weeks of development Low 1-3
people, 2-4 weeks of development
26
Table of Contents

• eGovernment Opportunity Identification and
  Prioritization Process
• eGovernment Smart Choice Candidates and Final
  Descriptions
• Potential Smart Choice impacts on agencies and
  business case development

27
USDA Strategic Opportunities vs. Quicksilver
Initiatives
USDA Strategic Opportunities Related Quicksilver Initiatives
Online Export Assistance and Marketing International Trade Process Streamlining
Department-wide eProcurement Integrated Acquisition Systems
Online Management of eLoans Online Access for Loans
Web-Based Supply Chain Management
eGrants eGrants
Food Safety and Security Tools
Human Resources Online Enterprise HR Integration
ePermits/Certificates One Stop Business Compliance, Recreation One-Stop
Financial Management Tools
eEligibility Eligibility Assistance Online
Nutrition/Dietary Guidelines/Food Assistance Programs USA Service (Customer Relationship Management)
eRulemaking Online Rulemaking Management
eMaps with GIS Knowledge Geospatial Information One-Stop
Physical Asset Management Federal Asset Sales
Survey Capability
28
USDA eGovernment Enablers vs. Quicksilver
Initiatives
USDA eGovernment Enablers Related Quicksilver Initiatives
USDA Web Presence USA Service (Customer Relationship Management)
User Authentication and Electronic Signatures E-Authentication
eLearning E-Training
Information Management with Workflow E-Records Management
Data Management
Application Hosting
Citizen and Public/Private Organization Database USA Service (Customer Relationship Management)
Service Center eEnablement
CRM for Service Centers USA Service (Customer Relationship Management)