The NSF's award for "Achievement of Cost Efficiencies" was one of five made in four categories. At the ceremony, the coalition also released a report on "Creating a Performance-Based Electronic Government," in which NSF is cited for its electronic process that handles 300,000 grant proposals and reviews each year.
"We're pleased to be recognized for our leadership and excellence in e-government," said NSF Director Rita Colwell. "The staff at NSF has risen to the challenge of successfully managing taxpayer resources, especially at a time of increased scrutiny and evaluation from inside and outside the federal government."
The report highlights NSF's FastLane system for electronic proposal processing and a planned next-generation capability, the Proposal, Review, and Awards Management Integration System (PRAMIS). Developed by NSF's Division of Information Systems, FastLane allowed NSF to handle a 19 percent increase in proposals in fiscal year 2002 while reducing handling costs by 33 percent. FastLane has been presented to the Department of Health and Human Services as a model for a government-wide E-Grants initiative.
The result of a 24-agency research project by the good government coalition, the report provides a catalog of "citizen centered" initiatives in each agency along with key lessons learned. The Performance Institute, Reason Public Policy Institute, Fujitsu Consulting, the National Academy of Public Administration, the Council for Excellence in Government, the Progressive Policy Institute and the American Society for Public Administration sponsored the project. The project identified the best practices in defining and measuring e-government initiatives by federal agencies.
"This award recognizes an outstanding NSF-wide effort," said George Strawn, NSF's chief information officer. "And its announcement coincides with the achievement in fiscal year 2002 of exceeding our goal for research proposals processed within six months of submission. The award further demonstrates that our management plan is on track."
The report complements the evaluation of NSF's performance by the Office of Management and Budget, which gave NSF the top rating in both financial management and e-government--the only one of 26 agencies to receive the top rating--and recognized NSF as a leader in information technology.
For more details, see http://www.performanceweb.org/research/egovernment.htm
Program contact:
George Strawn
(703) 292-8900/gstrawn@nsf.gov