MAILBUSTERS log

12 april 2005

E-Mail: Government Tool

A survey shows that federal employees consider e-mail critical for "getting the job done."
Voting online may still be a futuristic concept, and hotly debated, but two recent surveys agree that e-mail has already become an important part of running the government on a day-to-day basis. It is changing how the US government works — as well as how US citizens interact with government agencies.
ZyLAB surveyed government workers, including representatives from the FBI, DISA, EPA, IRS, and the World Bank, at FOSE, a convention focusing on information technology in government. The survey found that not only do government employees heavily rely on e-mail — when it comes to getting their jobs done, it is their primary means of communication. Even so, many of the employees neither adequately back up nor effectively manage their e-mail files.

The survey findings include:
* 100% of the respondents believe that e-mails should be considered "official records"
* 44% claimed to have trouble locating e-mails — even though those mails are considered records
* 65% noted that their government agencies do have an e-mail policy in place
* 59% said that they have implemented a specific e-mail solution to help manage the growing number of e-mail received on a daily basis
* 54% back up their e-mail on a daily basis
* 24% never back up e-mails
* 65% receive 50+ e-mails daily
* 24% receive 26 - 49 e-mails daily
* 11% receive 25 or less e-mails daily

In addition, when asked "Will there ever be a paperless office?" 100% of the respondents answered "no," although 58% said "yes" when asked whether e-mail would ever replace paper communications.

"I think what this survey shows is that government organizations are making great strides in getting their arms around managing the vast amount of e-mail that is circulated on a daily basis," says Dr. Johannes Scholtes, President of ZyLAB North America. "One area that needs improvement, however, is the ability for people to easily locate e-mails from today or five years ago — especially when everyone agrees that e-mails are official records."

Obviously, US government workers rely on e-mail to communicate, and recent data from the Pew Internet and American Life Project shows that US citizens are increasingly turning to e-mail to communicate with their government as well.


Published: April 12, 2005

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posted by Mailbusters at 00:39