About OMB Watch

were not to be trusted because we were a national organization. In 1989, the behavioral
change that was needed was even greater: Most people had never heard of e-mail,
modems, or online services; the Internet had not yet been popularized. To complicate
things even more, some organizations felt RTK NET was a threat. Many of these groups
provide technical assistance and thought RTK NET would undercut them; others simply
felt that they would be by-passed.
Given those conditions, one would think that RTK NET could not have survive — yet, it
not only survived, it flourished. Today, roughly 5,000 groups use RTK NET. In fact, many
of the most vocal critics in 1989 are now its most vocal supporters.
The point is that, over time, these thorny issues do get resolved if the initiative has
merit. Over time:
❏ Trust builds among the potential participants, dispelling the worst nightmares that
were imagined;
❏ People become more familiar with technologies and fears about technologies
dissipate, as well as concerns about their “turf” being invaded; and
❏ The services become more responsive to the needs of the participants, improving
utility.
Next Steps
The key to success is to commit to an endeavor with the necessary resources for a
period of time. For our part, OMB Watch will:
❐ Convene a working group of technology experts and nonprofit groups engaged in
public policy to discuss improved coordination and collaboration that can occur;
❐ Identify existing case examples of using newer information technologies to engage
in public policy issues, launch several pilots that give nonprofit organizations
opportunities to apply technologies to public issues in ways that they have
not done before, and develop demonstrations of how a “coordination matrix” could
be implemented;
❐ Disseminate information about applications of information technologies in the context
of public policy matters;
❐ Promote the need for additional foundation funds for building nonprofit technology
skills, particularly for engaging in public policy matters; and
❐ Work with other organizations interested in launching their own pilots or in strengthening
communications linkages within the nonprofit sector.
In addition, OMB Watch will continue its work on improving access to government information
for the nonprofit sector. One project, planned during the NPA effort, which was
called the U.S. Nonprofit Gateway, is a “one-stop” web site for nonprofit organizations to
get easy access to agency information about grants, regulations, and other materials.
Over the next two years, we will work with the government to implement the Gateway. (A
description of the Gateway and what OMB Watch plans over the next two years is found
in Chapter IV.)
OMB Watch — May 1997
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