.gov Reform Effort: Improving Federal Websites

State of the Federal Web Report

The .gov Reform Task Force released the State of the Federal Web Report (PDF | download Adobe Reader) on December 16, 2011.

The report highlights — for the first time — the size and scope of federal websites, how agencies are managing them, and opportunities for improvement.

The .gov Reform Task Force and its partners will use the report to develop a Federal Web Strategy and create tools, best practices, and other resources that will make federal websites more efficient and useful for citizens.

Download the Federal Web Report (PDF | download Adobe Reader)

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What is the .gov reform effort? 

The .gov reform effort is part of President Obama's Campaign to Cut Waste, identifying unnecessary websites that can be consolidated into other websites to reduce costs and improve the quality of service to the American public. The President signed Executive Order 13571, "Streamlining Service Delivery and Improving Customer Service," April 27, 2011, which requires federal agencies to take specific steps to strengthen customer service, including how they deliver services and information on federal ".gov" websites.


How will it benefit the public? 

This effort will eliminate and improve websites that are redundant, outdated, hard to use, or have poorly maintained content, which ultimately will improve the online experience you have with federal agencies. While many federal websites provide taxpayers with valuable services and information, there has been a proliferation of separate websites over many years. With thousands of unique federal .gov domains and websites, sometimes it can be difficult to find the content you need. This effort aims to get your input to help us address those problems.

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What is the federal government doing to improve federal websites? 

In the June 13, 2011, OMB Memorandum M-11-24, Implementing Executive Order 13571 on Streamlining Service Delivery and Improving Customer Service (PDF | download Adobe Reader), agencies are directed to improve online services and eliminate wasteful spending. They must develop a strategy to manage web resources efficiently and assure that valuable content is readily accessible and available online. To date, the reform effort has:

  • Instituted a freeze on the approval of new .gov domain names, still in effect.
  • Set up the .gov Reform Task Force to recommend updates to federal web guidelines and policies.
  • Posted and updated a list of all registered .gov domain names on Data.gov.
  • Asked agencies to identify sites that can be eliminated, consolidated, and/or streamlined.
  • Conducted an inventory of federal domains and sites, a survey of federal web governance policies and a national dialogue on improving federal web sites, and used the data to create the State of the Federal Web report.
  • Required agencies to develop Web Improvement Plans (included in the State of the Federal Web Report). Agencies are required to update these plans in Spring 2012 after release of the Federal Web Strategy.

Web improvement plans 

Agencies have posted their current web improvement plans to help identify where they can streamline web operations and improve customer service. These plans are the baseline plans – and agencies are required to update these plans in Spring 2012 following the release of the Federal Web Strategy.

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Who's responsible for managing this effort? 

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the General Services Administration (GSA), the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), the Chief Information Officers Council, and the Federal Web Managers Council are working with agencies to manage this effort. The .gov Task Force, whose members are listed below, is leading this effort.


Where can I see a list of federal websites? 

The list of federal executive branch .gov domains was published July 12, 2011 on Data.gov. Examples include: NASA.gov, USDA.gov, NIH.gov, Let'sMove.gov, etc. It does not include.gov domains/URLs in the federal legislative or judicial branches or from state, local, or tribal governments. It also does not include sub-domains that are below the root domain, such as ers.usda.gov or niaid.nih.gov.

Since each domain can have an unlimited number of potential websites and URLs under them, the total number of websites in the entire federal government is much larger than the number of domains listed on Data.gov. The inventory will allow us to more closely identify the total number of federal websites over time.

The list of domains will be regularly updated and published on Data.gov. Putting the list on Data.gov will have several benefits:

  • Provide increased access to, and transparency of, government data.
  • Foster accountability in how we manage our federal websites and encourage input from public and private sector experts, customers, developers, and other members of the public.
  • Make it easier for agencies to see the websites they own, that are owned by other agencies, and to increase opportunities for collaboration across government.

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Who is on the .gov Task Force and how were they selected? 

Based on the following criteria, the Federal Chief Information Officer selected the members of the .gov Task Force:

  • broad range of agencies represented, both at cabinet level and sub-agency;
  • mix of perspectives and skills: Chief Information Officers, Web Managers, New Media Directors, Designers, marketing/public engagement, user experience, etc.;
  • knowledge of federal web requirements and policies and experience in formulating and implementing web policies for their agency; and,
  • passion for serving the public and customer service.

The task force will focus on the following activities:

  • Develop a national web strategy that lays out the long-term vision of what the user/citizen experience should be with .gov websites.
  • Conduct an inventory (PDF | download Adobe Reader) and collect ongoing analytics about the state of federal websites so we make good business decisions.
  • Upgrade federal web policies and best practices.
  • Ensure public and agency consultation throughout the process.
  • Develop common tools and best practices to make our web operations more effective and cost efficient.
  • Recommend how government websites can integrate with federal agencies' use of third-party sites and applications.

Current members of the .gov Task Force include:

  • Les Benito, Director, Public Web at Defense Media Activity
  • Gray Brooks, Associate CIO, Federal Communications Commission
  • Sheila Campbell, Director, Center for Excellence in Digital Government, Office of Citizen Services, General Services Administration
  • Sarah Crane, Director, USA.gov, Office of Citizen Services, General Services Administration
  • Cammie Croft, Senior Advisor, Director of New Media and Citizen Engagement, Department of Energy
  • Linda Cureton, Chief Information Officer, NASA
  • Terry Davis, IT Specialist, Department of Defense
  • Nick Fraser, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, Executive Office of the President
  • Miguel Gomez, Director, AIDS.gov, Health and Human Services
  • Jeffrey Levy, Director of Web Communications, Environmental Protection Agency, and Co-Chair, Federal Web Managers Council
  • Dan Munz, IT Specialist, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
  • Adam Neufeld, Office of Management and Budget, Executive Office of the President
  • Todd Park, Chief Technology Officer, Health and Human Services
  • Macon Phillips, Director of Digital Strategy, The White House
  • Stacy Riggs, Deputy Director, Office of Technology Strategy, Office of Governmentwide Policy, General Services Administration
  • Rand Ruggieri, EGov Program Manager, Department of Commerce
  • Janet Stevens, Chief Information Officer, Food Safety and Inspection Service, Department of Agriculture
  • Kodiak Starr, Creative Director of New Media, Executive Office of the President
  • Haley Van Dyck, Office of E-Gov and Information Technology, Office of Management and Budget, Executive Office of the President
  • Chris Vein, Deputy U.S. Chief Technology Officer for Government Innovation, Office of Science and Technology Policy, Executive Office of the President
  • Jim Wilson, Senior Editor, NASA.gov - on detail to GSA as Project Manager, .gov Task Force

We plan to consult with additional subject matter experts, customers, and others as needed, to provide expertise on such areas as user-centered design, search, information management policy, privacy and security issues, and overall Internet trends such as the growth of mobile and social media.

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How was the public involved in improving federal websites? 

During this initiative we’ve invited you to join the conversation about improving federal websites. Releasing the .gov dataset on Data.gov was the first step. We enabled commenting on the dataset, and considered your ideas and comments as we developed the domain inventory.

As we've seen in other efforts, making government data transparent can spark the creativity of many bright minds across the country. We hope the public will continue to explore, discuss, and remix this data, and maybe even use it to map the .gov domain in ways we haven't seen before.

From September 19–30, 2011, we hosted a "national dialogue"–an online conversation that brought together experts, innovators, and ordinary citizens who rely on federal information every day. We discussed how federal agencies can learn from, and contribute to, the best practices of the modern web. It was a discussion filled with ideas and energy.

The .gov Task Force will oversee all of these efforts, and is always looking for more ways to keep the conversation going. Stay tuned!

If you have questions about the .gov Task Force, contact Alycia Piazza at alycia.piazza@gsa.gov.

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