“
The proposed amendment to the Federal Travel Regulation requiring executive branch agencies to begin implementing the ETS no later than December 31, 2004 with complete agency-wide migration no later than September 30, 2006.
According to the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA): “The E-Gov Travel Service (ETS) is government-wide, web-based, world-class travel management service. It was launched in April 2002 to save significantly on costs and improve employee productivity.”
Well stated, so why does my agency not use the E-Gov service? Why are we stuck with an out- dated system with only about 15 people in the agency having access to? A very cumbersome way of doing business and worst of all, employee productivity goes down, due to spending hours just trying to figure out the non-user friendly system. What happen to having the end user be involved? The E-Gov Travel is a comprehensive, end-to-end service to plan, book, track, approve, and request reimbursement for travel services for the Federal employee. Who would not want that?
Yes, I sound frustrated; because I am… I believe in efficiency and productivity; working smarter versus harder… so, why aren’t people trying to do the same?
The vision for ETS was to leverage proven industry practices with “best-of-breed” technologies to deliver a common, automated approach for managing the Government’s travel function. It was also envisioned that the new ETS will significantly improve the efficiency of the Government’s travel management function by:
- Creating a common platform and eliminating inefficient, stovepipe systems
- Broadening the range of travel-related services available to federal employees while complying with travel policy
- Providing immediate agency cost savings through on-line transaction processing
- Creating a self-service environment that is both easy-to-use and customer focused
- Unifying data government-wide and maximizing distribution channels
So, why aren’t agencies being held to the FTR Case 2003-303?
By: Anna Smith
Resources:
http://www.gsa.gov/portal/content/105399
http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/omb/egov/c-4-6-eTravel.html