E-GOV Initiatives

are working on a number of initiatives throughout the Coast Guard. Initiatives include:

a. An electronic forms package that will provide users the capability of completing interactive e-forms

via the Web.

b. The "Do-It-Yourself" (DIY) site on the Web allows citizens to pay for information requested under

the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) on-line.

c. The Certificates of Financial Responsibility System (COFRS). The National Pollution Funds Center

(NPFC) is partnering with The Department of Treasury's Pay.Gov project to develop an e-commerce

site for subject Certificates. Customers will be able to submit an application and user fees on-line.

d. Web Based Financial Document Imaging. The Coast Guard Finance Center (FINCEN) is partnering

with the Department of Transportation (DOT) to provide a document imaging system that will

integrate scanned images of commercial invoices with financial records in an automated system, thus

making document images easily and quickly accessible over the Web.

e. The Human Resource Management Directorate has implemented software that will provide

employees self-service capabilities for a number of transactions, as well as Web based employee

survey systems. Information Technology training is also available on the Internet.

Further, GPEA strengthens the legal admissibility of E-signatures in court, paving the way for

recognition of such signatures when needed. Commandant (G-CIT) is overseeing an effort to implement

a Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) at Coast Guard such that appropriate levels of security can be applied

to electronic transactions.

5. E-GOV INITIATIVES. To promote E-GOV initiatives, we are compiling a list of project summaries to

post on Commandant (G-CIT's) Web site. Commands/units shall submit an abstract of their E-GOV

6. DEFINITIONS. Following are terms discussed in this Instruction.

a. Cookies. A cookie is a small piece of information sent to one's computer browser, along with a Web

page, when a Web site is accessed. There are two types:

(1) Session Cookies describe place keepers' technology used to retain content during an individual

user session. They are discarded upon completion of a session or expire based on a short time

frame and are not used to track personal information.

(2) Persistent Cookies refers to a technology that collects user-identifying information such as

extensive lists of previously visited sites, E-mail addresses, or other information identifying or

building profiles on individual visitors to publicly accessible sites.