Government Printing Office
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Agency overview
Formed	March 4, 1861
Jurisdiction	Federal government of the United States
Headquarters	732 North Capitol St. NW Washington, D.C.
Agency executive	Robert C. Tapella, Public Printer
Parent agency	United States Congress Joint Committee on Printing
Website
www.gpo.gov

Named by Government Computer News as one of the best government Web sites. ^[1]

GPO’s Federal Digital System (FDsys) is a world class information management system which provides the public a one-stop site to the documents of the government of the United States. FDsys authenticates, preserves, versions and provides permanent public access to federal government information. The system automates the collection, management and dissemination of electronic information from all three branches of the federal government. The goal is to have a complete historical record from the founding of our nation to the present of all federal government documents. ^[2]

Link to FDsys website

[edit] Creating the Website

The story of FDsys began at the dawn of the 21st Century, when the public expected government information to be available in electronic form. GPO created GPOAccess, an information storage system to house electronic government documents, in 1994, but the Digital Age demanded the next generation platform for information lifecycle management of documents and publications. After becoming Public Printer, Bruce R. James, set out a vision to develop the next generation system. He tapped Mike Wash in 2004 to lead a team that would research, develop and execute this new digital information system.

GPO's Chief Information Officer, Mike Wash

GPO’s Chief Information Officer Mike Wash brought more than a quarter century of technology experience to the project. He holds 18 patents, one of which was awarded the National Inventor of the Year in 1996 by the Intellectual Properties Owners Association. Wash spent a total of 26 years at Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester, N.Y. At Kodak he served as the Worldwide General Manager of Digital Photo Finishing Systems. In this capacity, he directed the company’s digital photo finishing equipment business, driving more than $2 billion in services revenue for Kodak’s consumer imaging division. He was responsible for developing the system to deliver Kodak Perfect Touch Processing for the consumer photo market in North America and Europe.

[edit] Launching FDsys

After five years of research and development, Public Printer Bob Tapella announced the public release of FDsys in 2009. FDsys offers incredible search functions for users to find the documents they need in a quick, efficient manner. A few clicks of the keyboard, a user can have immediate access to Congressional Reports, Hearings, Bills and other documents. Hundreds of thousands of documents can be found on FDsys.

Within the first few months of the launch of FDsys, the public could find The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (the Stimulus Package) and President Barack Obama’s first budget for the federal government. The Office of the Federal Register’s (OFR) publication, Daily Compilation of PresidentialDocuments, was specifically engineered for FDsys. This publication contains information released by The White House Press Office regarding orders, statements and remarks made by President Barack Obama.

During its first year of operation, FDsys received several honors. Government Computer News named FDsys one of the top 10 Government’s websites.^[3] The publication sited FDsys and other web sites for providing more interactive tools for the public and aiding the Obama Administration in their goal to increase Government transparency. FDsys also received a Hermes Creative Award by The Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals--for the Public Relations Plan for the launch of the system. ^[4]

[edit] References