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More States Put Services Online
by Liza Porteus
The number of states offering citizens more government services online is on the rise, according to a study released this week by the Progress and Freedom Foundation (PFF).
The survey, sponsored by Compaq, focused on services offered by law enforcement, the courts and social services, with information provided by each state's chief information officer. It looked at how much progress states have made toward giving citizens the ability to obtain and apply for social services online, and using digital technologies, video conference and databases for law enforcement and criminal justice. The survey also analyzes the states' use of e-signatures.
Results show that Colorado, Delaware, Illinois and New Jersey led in the digital provision of law enforcement services, each scoring 94.44. Georgia, Maryland, Ohio and Pennsylvania were close behind.
Washington and Kansas led in social services, with perfect scores of 100, followed by Maine and Minnesota. Arizona, Florida, Kansas, Washington, Michigan and Illinois also were in the top 10 for both categories.
Forty states have at least some benefits forms online, with eight of the top 12 states providing more than half of such forms on the Web. Only nine states do not have widespread access to caseworkers via e-mail. Forty-five states provide job-search information online, with 29 states able to accept online job applications, 43 able to use "smart cards" to disperse benefits. Forty-six states use or are planning to use an intranet system.
Nearly 80 percent of states have some patrol cars equipped with laptops, hand-held digital devices or voice-recognition tools connected to a digital communications network. Only six states have not taken at least preliminary steps toward using video-conferencing technology, while all 50 states are providing at least some online access for court decisions and opinions.
Thirty-nine states recognize e-signatures for at least some legal functions, with four more to implement the technology this year. Thirteen states are either piloting or have fully implemented systems that accept court motions and briefings online, and 44 states integrate at least some of their information systems for criminal justice and law enforcement.
University Of Hawaii Gets Supercomputing Contract
The Air Force Research Laboratory announced that the University of Hawaii won the contract to operate and manage the Maui Supercomputing Center, located at the Maui Research and Technology Park in Kihei. The contract, which will begin Oct. 1, may be extended for up to 10 years and has a potential value of $181 million.
The Maui Supercomputing Center is home to some of the country's major high-performance computing resources and ranks in the top 20 supercomputing sites in the world. It is the second most powerful supercomputer center in the Defense Department.
The project will allow the school to meet critical national defense requirements and advance the university's research enterprise in emerging technology areas. The college competed for the contract against the University of New Mexico, the incumbent facility operator.
The University of Hawaii expects to begin a phase-in process July 1 and plans to integrate the center even more closely into the Maui and statewide high-tech community. Plans include broadening the many educational outreach programs implemented by the University of New Mexico and placing a stronger emphasis on workforce development across a broad range of technologies and at all levels -- from high-school internships through graduate education and post-doctoral appointments. The university team also plans to leverage the center's resources to advance scientific research and development within the state.
City Officials Debate Tech Policies
Members of the Information Technology and Communications Steering Committee of the National League of Cities (NLC) used their spring meeting in Nashville this month to discuss an array of technology issues.
Privacy was a hot topic at the gathering, as the panelists debated potential conflicts between cities' e-business ventures and federal privacy laws. They also discussed privacy issues that arise when state open-records laws require the disclosure of e-mail sent by elected municipal officials. Committee members said the most potential privacy conflicts are related to licensing, taxation, permitting and other e-government applications that involve the collection of personally identifiable information.
The panel also pondered how to: advance universal access to new communications technologies, preserve a local role in telecom regulation as technologies change; and ensure that federal policies provide ways for public safety officers to communicate in emergencies. And the group voiced concern about investments in public safety technology and about the federal government's sale of spectrum licenses.
The committee is forming four working groups that will meet over the summer to develop recommendations for NLC policy. The committee will meet this fall to finalize recommendations for the Congress of Cities.
Qwest Takes Telecom Debate To Utah
The Deseret News reported on Qwest's role as the main backer of campaigns in Utah and several other states to increase competition in the telecom market. The company is the main money source for the Utah Coalition for Competitive Telecommunications (UCCT).
Rival firm AT&T, meanwhile, is a leading financial backer of the national organization Voice for Choices. That group, comprised of AT&T, Allegiance Telecom, WorldCom and XO Communications, opposes a bill, H.R. 1542, before Congress that would give regulatory relief to the regional Bell telephone companies to roll out broadband services.
The 700-member Utah coalition has been busy lobbying on the issue and ultimately is calling for consumer choice in long-distance, cable, wireless and Internet services. Members will be called upon to contact the FCC "to make sure they know that Utah supports opening up the telecom market and let state and local officials know they support telecommunications," said Carter Livingston, the coalition's executive director.
NGA Surveys E-Learning
The Center for Best Practices at the National Governors' Association's (NGA) recently released two reports on "e-learning," describing everything from distance learning and CD-ROMs to computerized diagnostic assessment and virtual education networks.
The first report, "A Vision of E-Learning for America's Workforce," is the final report of the Commission on Technology and Adult Learning. It recommends how the nation's governors and CEOs can encourage e-learning and maximize its benefits for workers and productivity.
The commission calls on public- and private-sector leaders to create the highest-quality e-learning experiences possible, to implement new methods for assessing what people know and can do, and to ensure broad and equitable access to e-learning opportunities.
The second report, "The State of E-Learning In The States," found that states vigorously are implementing a wide variety of strategies to expand post-secondary e-learning for adults. The survey highlights various challenges, such as reaching the digitally underserved more effectively; restructuring public colleges to eliminate duplication, and assuring consumer protection and quality of content in e-learning without stifling innovation.
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