Action: The federal government will upgrade information technology training for all employees.33 Every year, more and more federal workers must use computer-based information technology in their jobs. If business is any guide, our government reinvention efforts will only quicken the trend. Pen and paper exercises keep moving to the screen. Lateral files now form database records. Video- and computer-based courses make learning possible anytime, anywhere. Money no longer changes hands; it's transmitted digitally. People not only talk, they "message." A meeting of the minds can take place without the bodies present. Other chapters discuss how we will speed the procurement process for technology and how we will deploy technology to alter what we do and how well we do it. Here, we want to stress that much of the federal workforce lacks the training and background to use advanced information technologies. Compared to the private sector, the federal government invests few dollars and scant time in technology training.34 Federal agencies provide insufficient incentives to motivate their workforce to seek technology training, scarce opportunities to obtain training--even when it's desired and necessary--and rarely incorporate technology training in the strategic planning process. The longer we wait, the farther behind we fall. This foot-dragging costs the taxpayer dearly. We do things the old way, not the cheaper, more efficient way. Or we start doing things the new way, but we don't go far enough: We buy computers for our workers, but not the training to use them properly, so the software and hardware investments are wasted. We invest in new systems, and our people can't make them work. Training should begin with top nontechnical managers, to help them focus on uses, management, planning, and acquisition of state-of-the-art information technology. By May 1994, OPM and GSA will jointly develop and administer information technology training for non-technical managers and presidential appointees. The New York City Department of Personnel, already in the technology training business, offers a useful model of monthly half-day sessions for executives covering ten topics: strategic planning, reengineering, implementing systems, electronic mail, video conferencing, voice-enhanced technologies, geographic information systems, database management, imaging, and multi-agency complaints and inspection systems. Our effort will help every senior manager earn a certificate that signifies his or her level of technology competency. Parallel training and certification efforts will target Senior Executive Service members and information resource managers. Anyone who has grappled with computers--from the basics of word processing to the complexity of expert systems--knows that we often learn best how to use software by finding a technology "pal": someone who knows the ins and outs of a particular software application and is willing to share that knowledge. To spread information technology training and use in the entire federal workforce, the existing Federal Information Resources Management Policy Council will help motivated agencies set up a program of collegial assistance for a wide range of technology applications. We will tap the cadre of techno-proficient individuals spread across the federal government to provide occasional on-line help or personal assistance on demand to their struggling colleagues. Finally, starting late in 1993, new contracts for technology acquisition--or those in early stages--must include a provision for training. If agencies work together, they can cut such training costs dramatically. When Texas contracted with four statewide technology training firms to train state employees, it cut the price to $60 to $110 a day per worker for a wide range of skills. An even larger customer, the federal government should be able to land an even better bargain.