ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We are grateful to Lloyd N. Morrisett, President of the Markle Foundation at the time this work was begun, and to Zoe Baird, his successor, for their support and counsel throughout this project.
Bruce C. Vladeck, Administrator of HCFA at the time this study was
begun, generously gave us permission to pursue our case study of
HCFA’s communications with Medicare beneficiaries. Joyce Somsak
and Megan Arts of the HCFA staff were instrumental in guiding us to
the many other staff members who patiently and clearly explained
the workings of the Medicare program and the vast flow of communications related to it. Staff members at ten HCFA contractors also
shared with us their procedures for managing the Medicare program
on a day-to-day basis. We are grateful to all of them.
At California EDD, our request to identify and explore areas of individualized communications for potential case study purposes met
with a positive response from Josetta Bull, Deputy Director,
Information Technology Branch, and Deborah Bronow, Assistant
Deputy Director, Unemployment Insurance Division. They facilitated meetings and made contacts for us with appropriate individuals throughout the department. We are especially grateful to Talbott
Smith, Chief of the Administrative, Workforce and Enterprise Solutions Section in the Information Systems Division, and to Gretchen
Jung, then Chief of the Oversight, Data and Support Section of the
Unemployment Insurance Division, for giving us considerable
amounts of their time and attention, providing us with needed data
and documentation, and helping us to schedule appointments with
representatives of other units over numerous visits to EDD. We ap-
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Citizens, Computers, and Connectivity: A Review of Trends
preciate as well the cooperation of the many other EDD unit representatives without whose assistance we could not have completed
the case study.
Staff at other government agencies also offered insights into the
potential for greater use of e-mail and the potential pitfalls that lie
along the way. Especially helpful were Leo Campbell of the United
States Postal Service and John Sabo of the Social Security Administration.
Among our RAND colleagues, Joanna Heilbrunn provided invaluable
assistance, collecting much of the information for the HCFA case
study and interviewing HCFA contractors. Maria Sanchez did much
of the basic work that led to our survey of current government use of
e-mail and the Internet. Ashin Rastegar assisted with the analysis of
access to e-mail.
Finally, we are indebted to Ingo Vogelsang of the Boston University
Economics Department, Lee S. Sproull of the Boston University
School of Management, and Norman G. Litell, Director of Corporate
Risk Management at Visa U.S.A., Inc., for insightful and constructive
reviews of early drafts of this report.
Any errors in fact or judgment that remain in this report despite the
efforts of all those noted above are, of course, our responsibility.