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U.S. Department of State Strategic Plan (2000) Released by the Office of Management Policy and Planning U.S. Department of State, October 25, 2000

[ Contents ]

DIPLOMATIC ACTIVITIES

The United States has important economic, security, political and humanitarian interests on every continent. At any time, U.S. representatives are engaged around the world in negotiating treaties, responding to crises, supporting Presidential or other high-level visits, observing foreign elections, promoting American exports, providing relief to victims of natural disasters, delivering sensitive government-to-government messages at the highest levels, assisting American citizens in emergencies, and enhancing border security. In order to meet our nation's foreign policy goals, we rely heavily on two types of diplomatic activities: our information and exchange programs, and our Diplomatic Readiness.

On October 1, 1999, the United States Information Agency became part of the Department, with the bulk of USIA's programs going to two new Bureaus of the Department: International Information Programs and Educational and Cultural Affairs.

Our information programs support key U.S. foreign policy goals and are distributed through a variety of means, including increased use of the internet, and in a number of languages in order to convey U.S. Government positions without distortion. These information programs directly support the 16 Strategic Goals.

Another goal of our foreign policy is to foster mutual trust and understanding between the U.S. and other countries. One of the best ways is to reach future leaders and inform the opinions of current leaders through academic, professional and cultural exchanges. While some of the exchanges that take place between the U.S. and other countries can be linked to specific strategic goals, many long-term academic exchanges cannot be immediately categorized. Accordingly, we have established a separate goal for the important task of promoting mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries by means of exchanges.

That goal is more fully explained in the passage which follows. It is followed by a description of the three principal components of Diplomatic Readiness: - particularly long-term Human Resources, Information , and Infrastructure and Operations.

Mutual Understanding

GOAL: Improve and strengthen the international relations of the United States by promoting better mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the peoples of the world through educational and cultural exchanges.

The United States often is a complex and puzzling nation when viewed from abroad, and the rapid and profound changes taking place around the world often are not well understood by Americans. New centers of non-governmental influence in all nations are demanding engagement by American diplomacy. In this increasingly interdependent global society, it is essential to foster a clear understanding among future and current foreign leaders of the social, political and economic context shaping U.S. foreign policy, and to project the creativity, idealism, dynamism and democratic tradition of the American people. Systems of higher learning in all countries form the views of leaders in all fields. Cultural exchanges shape the understanding of all citizens of their own and foreign cultures. One way to improve mutual understanding is to reach future leaders and inform the opinions of current leaders through academic, professional and cultural exchanges. Successful diplomatic relations between the U.S. and other countries are dependent upon establishing trust and creating credible partnerships based upon this trust. Without mutual understanding and the trust it engenders, it would be virtually impossible for American diplomacy to pursue successfully our 16 Strategic Goals. Like Diplomatic Readiness, Mutual Understanding provides the Department a platform of support from which to address strategic goals with foreign audiences.

Since the passage of the U.S. Information and Educational Exchange Act of 1948 (the Smith-Mundt Act), the United States has viewed the main objective of exchange programs as increasing "mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries." In 1961, Congress established a separate statutory basis for exchange programs in the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act of 1961 (the Fulbright-Hays Act), with the stated purpose of enabling the Government of the United States "to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries by means of educational and cultural exchanges."

Programs Authorized by the Fulbright-Hays Act

Section 112 of the Fulbright-Hays Act establishes the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs as the element of the United States Government "responsible for managing, coordinating and overseeing programs established pursuant to this Act..." Currently, programs specifically named in Section 112 of the Fulbright-Hays Act include:

• J. William Fulbright Educational Exchange Program
• Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program
• International Visitor Program
• American Studies Program
• Arts America Program
• Office of Citizen Exchanges, "to support a program of working with private, not-for-profit groups through contracts, grants or cooperative agreements so as to provide financial assistance to NGOs engaged in implementing and enhancing exchange-of-persons programs."

STRATEGIES:

• Engagement: Within the precepts of the Fulbright-Hays Act as amended, engage emerging and current foreign societal leaders through a wide range of academic, professional, cultural and youth exchange programs to foster greater understanding of the political, economic and social context informing and shaping U.S. policies and institutions. Ensure participants have maximum opportunity to experience and understand U.S. and foreign societies at community and grassroots levels.
• Study and Research: Actively and energetically promote study and research at U.S. universities and institutions of higher learning among foreign students and scholars through student advising programs. Promote study and research in foreign countries by Americans.
• American Culture: Promote programs that demonstrate the creativity, diversity and openness of American culture.
• Networks and Linkages: Involve foreign and American professional, cultural and youth exchange program participants in enduring institutional, electronic and personal networks and linkages.

Responsible State Dept. Offices: ECA, Regional Bureaus, IIP, Overseas Missions.

Lead U.S. Government Agency: State

ASSUMPTIONS:

• The grass-roots efforts and actions of ordinary Americans and the continued success of the American experience will continue to be watched with interest, admiration and occasional envy by those around the world, and often will serve as a model for other countries.
• America's dominant position in the world will engender suspicions of hegemony and resistance to policies that are seen as one-sided or self-serving.
• American popular culture will continue to be disseminated around the world and engender prejudices that Americans are too materialistic and complacent, and enjoy too many freedoms.
• Culture is very important in many countries, and the United States must demonstrate a capability of engaging appropriate partner country audiences on cultural issues.
• Other nations will increasingly compete with American higher education for foreign students and scholars; our system of higher education will continue to address inherent systemic obstacles which limit accessibility to the U.S. higher education system by foreign students and scholars.
• Exchanges appropriations will continue to be supported by a strong domestic constituency but funding increases will be difficult to obtain for traditional programs.

INDICATORS:

• Objective and accurate public opinion, as expressed in public opinion polls, press and media commentary, and academic and intellectual debate.
• Readiness and willingness of current and emerging foreign and American leaders to participate in exchange programs.
• Demonstrations of heightened understanding among foreign exchange program participants of the role of American social and historical background in shaping U.S. policies and initiatives, and of foreign societies and cultures among U.S. participants.
• Attainment by foreign alumni of USG exchange programs of significant positions in their home countries as evidence of ongoing success of exchange programs.

STATE'S DIPLOMATIC READINESS PLATFORM:
OVERVIEW

America's diplomatic missions and consulates around the world represent the entire US Government. It is the Department of State alone, however, that provides the administrative expertise, logistical support, telecommunications network, and the physical infrastructure for the over 30 different US Government agencies that conduct overseas operations. To sustain that effort there must be a robust and up-to-date support structure. In essence, there must be a strong Diplomatic Readiness Platform.

Diplomatic Readiness -- the ability to implement the policies and goals outlined in this Strategic Plan -- is the essence of that structure and in turn, depends on the fundamentals of everyday diplomatic life. The standards for maintaining Diplomatic Readiness include a talented workforce operating in a secure environment with state-of-the-art equipment, including the latest in information technology. To recruit and train such a workforce, management structure must give the widest possible latitude to individual initiative, recognize and reward merit, and provide personnel and their families with a reasonable standard of living.

The State Department recognizes that an effective Diplomatic Readiness Platform is vital in the global environment in which the United States operates. In an atmosphere where the distinction between domestic and international affairs has evaporated, overseas personnel from all government agencies, but especially from the State Department, must be intelligent, adaptable and flexible. However, recruiting and retaining personnel with such qualities is nearly impossible in an environment where housing, running water, heat, electricity, education and health care are substandard, as is the case in many of the nation's Central Asian and other Third World posts.

While Americans who serve their country understand and accept that many overseas assignments entail a heightened level of risk and inconvenience both for themselves and their families, the State Department understands that there is an inverse relationship between high levels of hardship and the required high level of Diplomatic Readiness. To maximize the latter, the former must be reduced through the efficient use of increased resources.

The three principal components of the Diplomatic Readiness Platform are:

Human Resources: Employees with the foreign language, diplomatic, professional, scientific, and technical skills essential to representing the United States overseas, building effective working relationships with international counterparts, exercising foreign policy leadership, and providing operational support for the conduct of foreign affairs.

Information: Information resource management, information systems and highly skilled personnel to efficiently collect, analyze and communicate information for the conduct of foreign policy and efficient operations.

Infrastructure and Operations: Cost-effective and well-maintained domestic and overseas facilities, along with the management and security systems essential to support a world-wide network of posts and people.

The Department of State continues to face challenges in each of these areas. To maintain and improve the Diplomatic Readiness Platform, State will undertake critical management reform strategies in three broad sectors:

Management Systems and Technology Investment:

• Reengineer and streamline management systems to deliver more essential services at reduced cost.
• Seek sufficient funds to ensure timely acquisition of infrastructure and up-to-date technology;
• Refine recruitment and training programs to ensure both new and current employees have, or are able to acquire, the professional, administrative, technical, and information systems knowledge needed to achieve policy and operational objectives;
• Improve the method by which services are provided to USG activities overseas and the way they are paid for by refining the International Cooperative Administrative Support Services System (ICASS) which is designed to ensure widespread, transparent and equitable user payment for services.

Policy and Resource Management:

• Match resources with policy priorities using a process based on strategic planning and performance measurement, characterized by broad-based participation and interagency coordination;
• Refine and integrate processes, such as Workforce Planning, Information Resources Management, and Mission Performance Planning, to ensure sound investments while retaining the flexibility to shift resources according to changing policy priorities.
• Improve response to international crises, manage increasingly complex policy issues, provide timely reporting and analysis, assist American citizens, contribute to border security and deliver management and support services.

Security at All Overseas Missions:

• In light of the threat posed by international terrorism, continue implementation of the Emergency Security Supplemental by providing equipment, services, and personnel.
• Maintain in the outyears the improved security infrastructure created by the Emergency Security Supplemental.
• Revise and enhance security standards to meet changing threats.
• Continue the application of existing and revised security standards at posts of all threat types and levels.

In all of these areas, the effective use of resources must be assured by the clear definition of priorities, the matching of resources to such priorities, and the termination of low priority or non-critical activities.

STATE'S DIPLOMATIC READINESS PLATFORM:
HUMAN RESOURCES

Goal: Successfully advance US national interests overseas by attracting and retaining a skilled, motivated, diverse and flexible workforce.

The men and women of the Department of State, who assist American citizens and represent the interests of the United States, are this country's first line of defense. The Department of State, which is responsible for the conduct of US foreign policy as well as for supporting and coordinating the activities of all other US government agencies operating abroad, must attract and retain highly qualified and motivated personnel in order to effectively carry out its mission.

While the merger in 1999 of the United States Information Agency (USIA) and the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA) with State brought additional skilled personnel into the ranks of the State Department (expanding the permanent employees on its rolls to 6,400 Civil Service, 8,850 Foreign Service, 7,200 Foreign Service National and 16,300 overseas Personal Service Agreement employees), it also brought increased responsibilities. In light of State's expanded mandate, and given the growing complexities of operating overseas, it has become even more crucial to have sound workforce planning, effective management, and a continuum of training and professional development for all employees.

Since the Department of State represents the nation to the world, its US workforce must not only be highly skilled, it should also be truly representative of the American people. In addition, State's employment practices worldwide must demonstrate a commitment to the American principles of fairness and equal employment opportunity.

STRATEGIES:

• Workforce Planning: Make accurate projections of the best size, distribution and occupational composition of State's workforce to enable the Department to meet its goal of protecting national security and promoting national interests. Identify the Department's future needs using annual Mission and Bureau Performance Plans, the Overseas Staffing Model, and other planning tools.

Responsible State Dept. Office: M/DGHR

• Workforce Management: Establish mechanisms to ensure the right number of people with the right skills in the right places. Ensure that the most qualified people are recruited, nurtured and moved through rewarding careers in the State Department by streamlining hiring, assignment, performance evaluation, training, promotion, awards, separation, discipline and retirement -- while meeting Federal personnel requirements and increasing customer satisfaction. Maintain a high quality foreign national workforce overseas by providing competitive salaries, benefits and appropriate training opportunities. Improve labor-management relations and communication with the workforce.

Responsible State Dept. Offices: M/DGHR, Foreign Service Institute (FSI).

• Workforce and Family Support: Maintain good health and high morale among State's workforce and family members, both domestic and overseas. Oversee policies and benefits affecting Foreign Service national employees working for all agencies attached to US missions overseas.

Responsible State Dept. Offices: M/DGHR, M/DGP/FLO, M/DGP/MED, all Bureaus, Overseas Missions.

• Flexibility: Build increased flexibility into personnel systems to allow for greater ease in filling staffing needs including but not limited to: telecommuting, part time, flex time, Eligible Family Member employment, and the Alternate Exam Program.

Responsible State Dept. Offices: M/DGHR.

• Foster a Talented and Diverse Workforce: Ensure that all employees and job applicants enjoy equal opportunities, and that employees work in a positive environment that draws on and enhances their talents. Encourage the establishment of Individual Development Plans for civil service employees. Develop competency models for major Civil Service occupational series. Enhance the Career Development Resource Center's (CDRC) role in the career development process for Civil Service Personnel. Examine options for establishing management training benchmarks for Foreign Service officers.

Responsible State Dept. Offices: M/DGHR, S/EEOCR, all Bureaus.

ASSUMPTIONS:

• The Department's personnel policies must be flexible in order to respond to added foreign policy requirements, as well as changes in American society, scientific and technological fields and the economy, which will affect how and whom we recruit and hire. Programs that will allow this flexibility include the Alternate Exam Program, Civil Service to Foreign Service conversions, and targeted recruiting methods.
• Some workforce needs will be met through alternative and non-career employment sources such as temporary hires, family member appointments, telecommuting, part time and job sharing arrangements and contract hires, many of whom will need training.
• State Department personnel management must comply with the regulations set forth by multiple personnel systems: the Federal Civil Service personnel system under OPM; the Foreign Service personnel system as defined under the Foreign Service Act; and over 160 separate foreign national personnel systems overseas, that are dependent on foreign labor laws.

INDICATORS:

• Total authorized DOS staff compared to number of positions established and filled over a specified period time.
• Percentage of language designated positions filled with language qualified officers.
• Percentage of positions filled with FSI-trained personnel.
• Trends in the number of grievances and lawsuits.
• Number of Civil Service employee transfers to other agencies.
• Diversity of workforce.
• Increased attention to career development in CS workforce as measured by percentage of employees with approved Individual Development Plans.
• Customer satisfaction with the effectiveness of employee services and programs as measured by customer surveys.
• Number of supervisors who received Leadership and Management training.
• Number of end users and IRM personnel trained in appropriate computer skills.
• Number of people initially assigned to first-tour administrative or consular positions via appropriate training.

STATE'S DIPLOMATIC READINESS PLATFORM:
INFORMATION

GOAL: Provide commercial-quality information technology (IT) support for the full range of international affairs activities of the United States.

Achieving foreign policy goals effectively and serving the American public requires up to date tools for our employees. They must have at their desktops the tools to access, search, manipulate, filter, and present information that fully supports policy-making, crisis response, and services to American citizens. The ultimate goal is one recommended in the 1999 report of the Overseas Presence Advisory Panel: a common IT platform overseas for all elements of the US Government. The information revolution is radically transforming the very nature of diplomacy. The conduct of international affairs has never been more dependent on information management and information technology, and requires broad-based connectivity between representatives of the United States and those of other governments and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Modern diplomacy demands ready access to the wealth of information available within the international affairs community and external sources, such as the Internet.

STRATEGIES:

• Develop, deploy, and sustain a secure, commercial-style global IT network and infrastructure.

Having learned a costly lesson in the past regarding custom made, proprietary systems, the Department will rely on commercial services and products to the maximum extent possible to provide a worldwide network, scaled to meet the local and global capacity demands necessary for supporting the Department's mission. The infrastructure will include modern processing platforms and standards-based services for security, infrastructure management, and technical support. The modern infrastructure will enable information access, processing, and exchange -- employing web-based tools and collaborative processing technologies, and mobile computing to ensure reliable, secure connectivity. The aim is for State employees to have access to a world-class network infrastructure that mirrors the very best in the commercial world, plus the added security of a contingency backup capability for emergencies.

Responsible State Dept. Offices: IRM, A, All Bureaus, Overseas Missions.

• Provide systems and tools to ensure ready access to international affairs applications and information.

The Department's IRM planning group will work with key managers and staff to plan and test a suite of desktop tools and supporting applications and utilities that enable easy access to the information sources needed for diplomacy in the 21st century. The Department envisions an evolving series of tailored desktops, each focused on a segment of the end-user community (e.g., political officers or environmental specialists). These desktops will provide a tailored view into a vast array of potentially valuable information, and will permit ready analysis, synthesis, presentation, and exchange of information through web-based technologies.

Responsible State Dept. Offices: IRM, All Bureaus, Overseas Missions.

• Develop a modern, integrated messaging approach and capability.

State must modernize the outmoded patchwork cable and electronic mail systems currently in place. The Department will build on recent initiatives, such as CableXpress (which delivers telegrams to the end-user's desktop) to provide a business-quality messaging approach that retains the required features of the Cable system (message authority, profiling, etc.) in a modern messaging environment that supports multiple message formats and media (e.g., video, audio, attachments of all types) and features such as reliability, security, authentication, and non-repudiation. The Department will undertake a comprehensive business process reengineering effort to address all current messaging uses and requirements.

Responsible State Dept. Offices: IRM, All Bureaus, Overseas Missions.

• Leverage IT to streamline administrative and IT operations and facilities.

The Department has made great strides in modernizing its operational support systems, such as personnel management and consular affairs. The Department will take these efforts to the next level, and use IT to streamline underlying business processes to achieve efficiencies and enhanced service levels. Key strategies will include self-service (user-empowered) systems, nearly total reliance on commercial rather than custom solutions, and consolidation and centralization of facilities and services to address the growing complexity and costs of supporting worldwide IT operations.

Responsible State Dept. Offices: IRM, All Bureaus, Overseas Missions.

• Sustain a trained, productive workforce.

This strategy has two components. The first focuses on ensuring a high caliber IT workforce and will focus on creating a highly attractive work environment so State can recruit and retain the best IT staff. This will entail exploring creative options in compensation, assignments, continuing education and training, and ability to do state-of-the-art IT work. The second component focuses on ensuring effective and timely training of all staff in the use of new IT solutions. This will entail continuing with existing training strategies while adding new approaches such as distance learning and enhanced computer-based training.

Responsible State Dept. Offices: IRM, FSI, All Bureaus, Overseas Missions.

ASSUMPTIONS:

• The Department will be able to make the necessary investments in, and address the significant challenges posed by, putting in place an IT infrastructure that truly supports the international affairs mission.
• There will be upper level management support for a common IT architecture, recognizing the need for decentralized applications and the desirability of innovation by operating units.
• Demand for IT support will increase over the next few years, both from within the Department and from all members of the international affairs community.
• Technology will continue to change rapidly, demanding that State keep current with new directions and evolving user expectations.
• IT will tend to become ever more technically complex and sophisticated, and this will continue to pose challenges for supporting a worldwide operation covering over 250 separate locations.
• Security technology will be able to continue to keep pace with cyber threats, thus requiring ongoing investments in the Department's security infrastructure and effective risk management.
• It will continue to be difficult to attract and retain a high-caliber IT workforce.

INDICATORS:

• Currency of IT assets: The percentage of classified and unclassified desktop computers more than 4 years old.
• Consolidation of servers: Reduction of overseas servers by 25% by the end of FY 2001; 50% by the end of FY 2003; and 75% by the end of FY 2005.
• Network quality: Department performance compare to industry-standard benchmarks for reliability, availability, security, throughput, and scalable capacity on demand.
• Elimination of the current cable systems and processes (e.g., use of ACP-127 and IRM Communication Centers).
• Workforce: The Department meets or exceeds government averages for recruitment and retention of IT professionals

STATE'S DIPLOMATIC READINESS PLATFORM:
INFRASTRUCTURE AND OPERATIONS

GOAL: Establish and maintain infrastructure and operating capacities that enable employees to pursue policy objectives and respond to crises.

Advancing the interests of the United States, protecting its citizens overseas, assisting foreign tourists and business representatives visiting the US requires a worldwide network of facilities for State Department employees and those of other US Government agencies. The Department of State operates and maintains 13,000 diplomatic, consular, housing, and support facilities in over 300 global locations. These locations range from highly developed countries with advanced infrastructure to underdeveloped or crisis-ridden nations without reliable public utilities, communications, transportation, and banking systems. The State Department, as the USG's single real property manager for non-DOD facilities overseas, must respond to an array of support needs at overseas posts -- ensuring that representatives from all USG agencies and their families can live and conduct business safely and efficiently with due regard for morale, even in unhealthy or dangerous locations. State also owns or operates facilities in metropolitan Washington, DC and other US locations, and provides a variety of administrative services for employees, bureaus, other USG agencies and the public. State manages programs to protect all USG employees abroad from terrorism and crime (except personnel under the command of a US area military commander), and to protect classified and sensitive information from being compromised. The Department has additional offices that advise State's constituent bureaus on legal matters, provide the American public and the Congress with information, and support State's employees with services normal to any workplace.

STRATEGIES:

• Property: The worldwide network of facilities is a major element of the Diplomatic Readiness Platform from which USG employees advance US interests and diplomacy. The importance of safe, secure facilities for our diplomats was clearly demonstrated in August 1998 when terrorists bombed the US embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, resulting in 220 fatalities including 12 Americans, 40 US embassy foreign national employees, and 168 civilians. In response to these incidents, Accountability Review Boards recommended the collocation of all USG agencies onto a mission compound. The Boards estimated a cost of $14 billion over a 10-year period to carry out this and other recommendations devoted to improving the security of employees abroad. To ensure diplomatic readiness in a more secure workplace, the Department will: 1) work aggressively to implement the Board's recommendations, 2) work hand-in-hand with other agencies in determining facility requirements at overseas posts, and 3) work with the Congress to obtain sustained resources for the construction of secure facilities, while improving security at existing posts to the extent possible.

The Department will continue the cost-effective operation and maintenance of USG-owned or leased real property at home and abroad. The Department will continue to work to provide safe, secure working conditions in functional facilities for all employees and safe, functional living quarters for overseas staff. The principles of sustainable building construction and energy efficiency will be applied wherever possible. The Department will dispose of unneeded overseas properties to generate funds for real property acquisition or rehabilitation, with a focus on addressing investment in areas with high or escalating leasehold markets. Domestically, State is in partnership with GSA to rehabilitate the Columbia Plaza and Main State buildings over a 10-year period, with State contributing 32% of the funding over the life of the project. GSA and State are also partners in planning for the construction of a new USUN mission building in United Nations Plaza, for occupancy by 2004 at a cost of $24 million to the Department. These combined projects will provide office space for 10,300 employees. A Capital Improvement Plan will protect US-based facilities owned or operated by the Department of State, and efforts continue to effect a complete physical merger of USIA with State over the coming years.

Responsible State Dept. Offices: A, DS, All Bureaus, Overseas Missions

• Security: Through security professionals at posts worldwide, State will ensure that existing security standards and programs put in place by the FY 1999 Emergency Security Appropriation continue to protect all USG employees assigned abroad and their families from physical threats. State supports traditional information security programs for classified and sensitive information at domestic facilities and posts abroad, as well as new information security policies and programs to counter emerging security threats from rapidly evolving technology.

Responsible State Dept. Offices: DS, A.

• Logistics: State organizations and employees worldwide require a full spectrum of logistics support. Demands on acquisition, material management, warehousing, transportation, freight forwarding and other functions are on the rise as additional resources are devoted to improving security for all personnel. State will ensure the timely delivery of goods and services as well as improved customer service through full staffing, improved transaction monitoring, customer service teams to better integrate end-to-end logistics support; and reduced operating and customer costs. These reductions will be achieved through implementation of cycle time efficiencies and an integrated logistics management system.

Responsible State Dept. Offices: A.

• Management Systems: State is continuing to improve core management systems to ensure the allocation of resources according to policy priorities, while meeting the diverse needs of the organization. Key systems support agency cost-sharing, budget and accounting, overseas staffing, logistics, procurement, real estate management, strategic planning in compliance with GPRA, and other programs.

Responsible State Dept. Offices: FMP, A, M/P, S/RPP.

• Specialized Administrative Services: State will improve the efficiency of administrative services and systems in order to facilitate the conduct of foreign affairs, ensure acceptable working conditions worldwide, and sustain an adequate quality of life for overseas staff. Among these programs are medical services, interpretation and translation services, employee and family services, allowance rate-setting for civilian USG employees abroad, support for overseas schools educating USG dependents, oversight of the worldwide procurement program, and other specialized services.

Responsible State Dept. Offices: A, M/DGHR/MED, M/DGHR/FLO.

• Other Services: State provides a number of services to the public, the Congress, and its own employees. The Office of the Legal Advisor provides the entire Department with advice on international law, America's bilateral and multilateral treaty obligations, relevant aspects of US domestic law, and situations where these legal areas intersect. State has a public affairs office that provides information to the public and the media about US foreign policy. Another office performs the Congressional relations function, keeping Members and staff well informed and answering their questions. The Department also has an office devoted to public inquiries made under the Freedom of Information Act. Lastly, State provides the normal array of employee services required by any modern organization that values its workforce.

Responsible State Dept. Offices: L, PA, H, A, M/DGHR

ASSUMPTIONS:

• Overseas operating costs will continue to rise faster than comparable US costs (e.g., rents, utilities, maintenance costs).
• Overall representation of other USG agencies abroad will continue to expand, increasing demands upon State-provided security and other support services.
• Facilities abroad will remain highly visible targets for terrorist and espionage threats, thus requiring continued focus upon security needs.
• Major rehabilitation and new construction are the only reasonable, cost-effective ways to overcome high maintenance and energy costs at aging or obsolete State-owned or operated facilities.
• The Master Real Estate Plan will continue to be implemented over a period of several years to consolidate Department of State office space by including staff from the former ACDA and USIA in Foggy Bottom.
• The International Cooperative Administrative Services Support (ICASS) principles of shared services and full cost recovery will continue to drive the delivery of services to all agencies at overseas posts.
• Internet-based communications with the public and external groups, and the Department of State's internal network (IntraNet), will be fully utilized in the coming years to enhance both customer service and administrative program delivery (e.g., procurement via electronic commerce).
• Public requests under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) for access to central foreign policy archives will continue to increase.

INDICATORS:

• The degree to which State's real property acquisitions meet security standards and represent the most favorable financial alternative, given market conditions and operational demands and limitations.
• The percentage of posts that undergo a thorough facility condition assessment and a fire life safety inspection in accordance with their scheduled review cycles.
• The percentage of posts receiving enhanced security support from the Emergency Security Appropriation (1999) and successive appropriations, and the percentage of posts in full compliance with local guard and residential security standards.
• Meeting documented timelines for domestic facility rehabilitation, construction and reorganization efforts within available funding.
• Amount of reduction of MegaBTU use reported annually in compliance with energy efficiency mandates for facilities in the United States.
• Percentage reduction in logistics supply chain cycle time and costs.
• Effectiveness of specialized services as measured by internal and public access response times, customer satisfaction and management reporting.
• Percentage increase of Internet and IntraNet website use for electronic commerce, allowance and differential rates, and other administrative programs.

[end document]

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