“USDA is committed to unleashing the fuller potential of information technology for our employees and customers,” Veneman said. “The launch of AgLearn is another important deliverable in President Bush’s initiative to expand electronic government to simplify and unify government-wide operations and leverage investments to eliminate unnecessary duplication.”

Electronic government or “e gov” is a major management initiative at USDA. In January, Veneman unveiled a new design of the USDA website, which is the first phase in efforts to make the website more powerful and accessible to USDA information and science. Features will continually be added throughout 2004, such as AgLearn announced today; the Customer Statement announced March 3; and culminating in August with the launch of “MyUSDA.gov” to provide a customized version of the USDA homepage for individual users based on their unique needs.

Veneman said the AgLearn services include the ability to search for and sign up for on-line and classroom training events and the maintenance of training records. Ultimately, AgLearn will provide automated employee request, approval, and payment for courses. Approximately 7,000 employees from 12 USDA agencies are included in the initial release and have been notified that the program is available. They will have access to the free online courses available on a government-wide basis through the President’s GoLearn Initiative as well as any of the extensive libraries of courseware available for purchase through GoLearn.

“AgLearn provides a common infrastructure for deploying and tracking USDA-specific courseware for use by employees, partners, and customers,” USDA Chief Information Officer Scott Charbo said. “USDA’s Office of Homeland Security has already made plans to deploy two courses on this common infrastructure and USDA’s annual civil rights training will be available on AgLearn.”

Additional employees and USDA partners will be added to AgLearn in increments through the Spring and Summer. Ag Learn will be fully implemented by Oct. 1. Additional functions will be incorporated into AgLearn during this period, including access to career planning tools such as the Information Technology Roadmap, a link to the USDA Graduate School catalogues and integration with USDA’s eAuthentication service. For additional information on AgLearn contact Cynthia Bezz, USDA eLearning Project Manager, (202) 694-0004, Cynthia.bezz@usda.gov . More information about Ag Learn can be found at http://aglearn.usda.gov/ (http://aglearn.usda.gov/)

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