New Technology Used For Streamlining Data

The administration began a Web program Tuesday that eliminates red tape in the immigration process by allowing applicants to follow their status via text message and e-mail. It is the latest example of how President Obama and his advisers are bringing the technological innovations of his 2008 campaign to the federal bureaucracy. Administration officials said they also are developing a central method for Americans to receive government emergency information, consumer product recalls and other alerts electronically. The administration recently compiled all data from various federal agencies onto one Web site, Data.gov, and employed new technologies used by private businesses to run the government-sponsored "Cash for Clunkers" auto trade-in program. President Obama created two positions -- chief information officer and chief technology officer -- to try to make government more efficient. Vivek Kundra, the chief information officer, said efforts such as the new electronic immigration status system and Data.gov site are "fundamentally changing the default of the public sector" to make it more transparent. "You're seeing a result of a transparent and open government the president talked about," Kundra said.