Washington's E-Gov Ambassador Resigns

Sacramento, Calif -- The man who many in state government would say set the stage for unprecedented collaboration with the federal government is leaving his high profile post for a job in the private sector. Mark Forman, administrator of e-government and the administration's ambassador to state and local government, announced that he will leave his post August 15.

Foreman was tasked with increasing efficiency and guiding e-government efforts at the federal level. Many insiders now question whether those initiatives -- including an enterprise architecture initiative -- will continue to progress without Forman behind the push. In addition, it was Forman who extended a federal government handshake to state leaders who had long felt ignored by Washington, D.C. He made frequent appearances at state and local events such as the National Association of State CIO's where he won the confidence of state IT leaders. He spoke at several Government Technology Events and was named one of GT's Top 25 IT digital government leaders.

Forman was appointed by President Bush in the summer of 2001. Since then, he built many bridges to state and local government, and also implemented significant changes within federal government -- streamlining operations through changing paper-based processes to electronic. His 25 Quicksilver Initiatives became his hallmark as he urged government to become increasingly customer oriented, efficient and economical about its IT purchases. A strong advocate of the "business case" in government, his approach challenged the bureaucratic culture in federal agencies.

Forman's resignation took many in Washington by surprise and came a few months after Mitchell Daniels, OMB director, resigned. Many lawmakers, particularly those advocating for e-government, expressed dismay that Forman would no longer be serving the public sector. According to an OMB spokesman, Norm Lorenz, the agency's CTO will temporarily assume Forman's duties.

Before accepting the president's invitation to head the nation's e-government effort, Forman was an executive with Unisys Corp. He also worked for the General Accounting Office and as a staff member on the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee. The OMB spokesman said Forman has accepted a position in the private sector but declined to specify the name of the company.