States Start Clicking
     The National Governors' Association published a study late last month analyzing states and their Internet presence. Tom Unruh, who wrote the issue brief, said that as he perused Web sites, he drew on his own experience as a citizen and a consumer to determine what type of information people seek online.
     "The kinds of things we picked up on are what areas most citizens are likely to be interested in: things having to do with their cars," Unruh said. Although he didn't evaluate each state's site, Unruh said that he looked for simple directions and the ability to pay for license renewals or registrations with credit cards and found that most states are moving in that direction.
     "That's not necessarily easy for a state to provide," he said. "You have to change the way you do your back-office work."
     Changing that structure is part of the reason Kentucky has taken small steps to fully integrate the Web into its government processes, said Randy Kitchen, the state's Web development group manager. Beginning with a pilot project with the Department of Fish and Wildlife, Kentucky has offered hunting and fishing licenses and gift shop items for purchase online. Currently, those buying the licenses receive them in the mail, but the department aims to offer further automation and eventually allow users to print out a confirmation number, completing the process entirely online. Because Kentucky issues over 1 million fishing and hunting licenses each year, the state is looking to save money on processing and mailing each item.
     The Web developers said they chose the fish and wildlife department for their first run because of the past easy working relationship the two agencies have had together, but in the future would like to provide every form needed from the state online. "You go through a lot of technical pieces, and it's a cultural change to get people to think differently," Kitchen said.

Leading By Example
     Kentucky's site is just one that's moving away from "brochureware," or essentially government information published in an online form, and more towards an e-commerce model. Dispite the initial learning curve, that, says NACo's webmaster Holly Moskerintz, can prove a benefit to government employees.
     "This could save them a lot of money," she said. "All the phone calls will stop. And they'll get to do less tedious tasks and more important tasks."
     While the government is streamlined, the citizens benefit. Unruh said that many governors have been receptive to this change in the traditional business of government.
     "Many of them came from the private sector, and they see their job as the job of a CEO running a business, whose main mission is to serve the citizens of the state," Unruh said. "They want to find ways to do that better, that are more cost effective, that ease the burden on the people they serve, while still carrying out their mission to serve the public interest. Information technology is giving them new ways to do that kind of thing."
     Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge, R, has integrated the upgrade of the state's Web site into his technology priorities. Under a new partnership with Microsoft, Pennsylvania is developing its own portal, or Internet gateway, that will provide easier access to government information. The move is part of a $20 million initiative Ridge has budgeted for developing "friction free" government, said spokesman Scott Elliott. The program will help agencies move their operations online, to streamline their work and get out of the way of companies looking to do business in Pennsylvania.
     "What we've done is say we want to do even more," Elliott said. "We want to aid local governments, assist schools and help businesses take that first step to get on the Internet" by offering them easy templates to develop their own Web pages. The portal will also include an online blue pages database of government resources, yellow pages for businesses, links to local governments, online bill paying, online trading courses for workforce development and free e-mail accounts for citizens. Another goal, Elliott added, is to get the 2,565 local governments in Pennsylvania online, as only around 150 have Web sites.

What The Public Wants
     That interest in developing comprehensive Web services doesn't come as a surprise to CivicZone.com's Hooper, whose company conducted surveys in September in four cities nationwide to determine citizens' interest in conducting business with the government online.
     "The overwhelming statement that came from the research is that there is certainly interest for information online," Hooper said. "They look online for what their recycling schedule might be, their community calendar might be…or public transportation information."
     And while many governments may be excited to move forward with their Web development, Hooper urged those at the NACo conference to create a systematic plan for implementing it. Creating policies on privacy, content upkeep and citizen interaction is important, she said.
     "You're seeing high interest and a first step in a transactional direction in having a place online where a citizen can send e-mail and request information," Hooper said. "That's the first step to get government thinking interactively. You'll see in our next fiscal year, once governments have been able to see success stories and ways in which e-commerce has been used successfully, an increase in that happening as well."
- by Stephanie Lash