US govt to create mega website

"When it’s complete, firstgov will serve as a single point of entry to one of the largest, perhaps the most useful, collection of web pages in the entire world," Clinton said in what was billed as his first Saturday Webcast to the nation.

"Increasingly, we’ll give our citizens not only the ability to send and receive information, but also to conduct sophisticated transactions online," Clinton said.

By using the site, Americans will be able to track their Social Security benefits, find a fuel-efficient car, buy a home, learn how to invest wisely, check for flight delays and learn food safety tips among other things.

It is all part of an effort to create a "high-speed, high-tech, user-friendly government," Clinton said.

The firstgov.gov website will be created by a team led by Internet entrepreneur Eric Brewer at no cost to taxpayers.

Clinton also offered a $50,000 reward to citizens, students, researchers and government employees who provide the most innovative idea for advancing e-government. Details are to be on excelgov.org.

In addition, he said that by the end of the year, the government will make it possible for people to go online to bid on, or apply for, some of the $300 billion in grants or $200 in government contracts for goods and services.

A free site, it will allow citizens to search all online government documents. Government information and services are currently spread over 20,000 different websites.

The site will be able to search half a billion documents in less than one-quarter of a second and will have the ability to handle at least 100 million searches a day, the White House said.

"It will uphold the highest standards of protecting the privacy of its users," Clinton promised.