Page 52 - GAO-02-327 Electronic Government: Challenges to Effective Adoption of the Extensible Markup Language

Chapter 3: The Federal Government Faces
Challenges in Realizing XML’s Full Potential

do not believe are necessary at this time. However, we believe that,
without a well-defined strategy, the government runs the risk that
incompatible data formats and standards will proliferate and prevent
agencies from being able to take full advantage of XML to substantially
improve governmentwide data sharing.

The XML Working Group was chartered by the CIO Council in September
2000 to (1) identify pertinent standards and best practices, (2) establish
partnerships with industry and public interest groups, (3) establish
partnerships with governmental communities of interest, and (4) promote
education and outreach. In addition, in its strategic plan for fiscal year
2001–2002, the CIO Council tasked the working group to use its Web site—
xml.gov—to lay out an evolving strategy with specific tasks for the
working group to undertake to promote the effective and well-coordinated
usage of XML to support governmental functions.

The XML Working Group has undertaken a number of education and
outreach efforts, including (1) holding monthly meetings as a forum for
presentations and discussions about XML-related topics, (2) establishing
the xml.gov Web site for information sharing and dissemination, and
(3) exploring opportunities for coordination with state governments.

As part of its effort to promote education and outreach, the working group
holds monthly meetings to hear presentations and engage in discussions
on XML-related topics. The meeting minutes, presentations, and
information on other XML-related activities are shared and disseminated
via the xml.gov Web site, as well as an electronic mailing list. In addition,
agencies choosing to share information about their XML efforts can do so
by registering with the working group, which then posts information about
each effort on its Web site. To further promote their activities, working
group officials met with state CIOs to explore opportunities to engage the
states more effectively in the group’s activities.

In an effort to identify best practices for XML adoption, the CIO Council
issued, in January 2001, a call for all federal CIOs to participate in
developing and improving the design and content of the xml.gov Web site.
In addition, the CIOs were encouraged to register their agencies’ XML-
related activities, especially those that cut across communities of interest.
As of December 2001, representatives from 24 projects and working
groups at the federal, state, and nonprofit levels had registered their XML-
related efforts. However, according to the co-chair of the XML Working
Group, there were likely many other federal activities under way that had

Page 48 GAO-02-327 Electronic Government