[The following article appears in the August 1994 edition of
_Public_Sector_Quality_Report_, pages 1 and 2.]

                    NPR: UPCOMING ELECTRONIC TOWNHALL
                      LOOMS AS LEARNING OPPORTUNITY

     Some details remain to be worked out, but the National
Performance Review staff, backed by some high-powered computing
help from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and
others, is planning an electronic townhall meeting for later this
year that could unite as many as 5,000 U.S. government workers in
a unique "learning environment" focused on the NPR specifically,
and government improvement more generally.

     As envisioned the electronic gathering will take place over
several days, perhaps extending as long as two weeks. Among the
5,000 participants is likely to be U.S. Vice President Al Gore,
who is expected to listen in on the discussion, ask questions,
and occasionally receive and reply to queries from participants.

     Larry Koskinen, NPR's townhall project director, is quick to
point out that the townhall is not intended as an employee "Q&A"
or "gripe" session aimed at Gore and other government executives.
Instead, he describes the townhall as a systematic learning and
information-sharing opportunity, in which participants ask one
another questions and share performance improvement success
stories. Participants also will engage in group discussions
around the dozen or so major "systems" changes advocated by the
NPR (quality leadership, transforming organizational structures,
results-oriented budgeting, improving customer service,
reinventing federal procurement, etc.), and even download
documents, articles, and reports related to NPR recommendations
and implementation.

     "It's our goal to really evoke the learning model of the
traditional New England townhall meeting," Koskinen says, "where
you get people together around common issues to evaluate policy,
change things, make things better. We want to create a learning
environment. We want to get information flowing from the top down
and the bottom up."

     Anyone with e-mail access via the Internet, or able to
browse the Worldwide Web via a software program called Mosaic,
can participate in the townhall, although NPR's plan is to limit
participation to 5,000, and only U.S. federal employees at that.
Koskinen says NPR staffers have been gathering e-mail addresses
over time, and will invite many of those people to participate.
In addition, NPR staff is actively soliciting participation among
certain demographic groups-including women and minorities-in an
attempt to ensure that the townhall meeting isn't dominated by
white men, which tends to be the typical demographic profile of
Internet users.

     As envisioned, the townhall will unfold something like this:
Each participant will send an e-mail message to a designated
townhall e-mail address, receiving an invitation and electronic
survey form or forms in response. These surveys will allow the
participant to provide demographic data, respond to an employee
attitude survey about the NPR, and note the NPR-related subjects
that are of greatest interest to that participant. 

     With the surveys complete, the participant will relay the
information to the townhall e-mail address, a computer in the
artificial intelligence (AI) lab at MIT. Using AI, the computer
will analyze each response, then point the participant to
discussion groups and other information that coincide with that
person's expressed interests.

     For example, a Treasury department worker} would be
"pointed" to e-mail messages left by other participants from the
Treasury, or to messages involving Treasury-related change
efforts. An Environmental Protection Agency employee who
expressed interest in "improving customer service" would be
pointed to ongoing discussions about that topic. Using "natural
language analysis," the computer also will anticipate and
highlight information that might be of interest to a participant,
even if he or she did not specify that subject area in the
initial survey.

     Koskinen says NPR will have moderators assigned to the
various "systems" topics. The moderators will be subject-matter
experts who will summarize the electronic chatter and relay
summary information and key issues to the vice president. The
monitors also will respond directly to questions and discussion
taking place during the conference.

     "The goal is to establish a place where anyone with a
question on, say, federal budgeting, could be led instantly to
all the resource materials, people, and current activities that
would support that interest," Koskinen explains. "What we're
trying to do is bust down the boundaries that traditionally exist
between disciplines. We're creating a dynamic, cross-boundary,
team-building, computer-mediated environment."

     Once the townhall event ends, the NPR staff plans to
assemble the information and discussion generated by the event
into a "knowledge database" that will be "mineable'
electronically by researchers and government workers.

     Although tentative plans call for the townhall to take place
in September, Koskinen indicated a specific launch date has not
been set, and the event could be pushed back until "later this
fall."

CONTACT: Larry Koskinen, project director,
National Performance Review, (202) 632-0150,
ext. 1 2, or e-mail koskinen@tmn.com;

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