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TechnologyDaily Mobile
States, Cities Turn To Web After Attacks
by Liza Porteus
State and city Web sites are proving to be an effective way for government officials to convey their messages about Tuesday's terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington.
New York City's government Web site was difficult to access, but with many phone networks damaged during the attacks or busy with increased traffic, the city still posted travel information online, including information about bridges, tunnels, subway and bus service, train stations and airports. New York state's main page, meanwhile, included links to emergency information, photos and statements from Gov. George Pataki.
The tech industry in New York also responded online to the tragedies. In their e-mail newsletter, the New York Software Industry Association (NYSIA) wrote, "NYSIA will be mobilizing whatever resources we can, including the resources of our member companies, in order to assist companies and individuals that were injured by the terrorists." Its Web site lists donations of office space to temporarily house displaced companies.
In Pennsylvania, where a fourth plane went down, Gov. Tom Ridge has posted on his site calls for emergency rescue workers to the areas that were attacked and other executive orders.
On the Washington section of America Online's digitalcity.com, AOL members can discuss the events. The site also posts the latest CNN headlines, help-center locations and phone numbers, and links to local resources like the District of Columbia's mayoral office, Amtrak and Greyhound services.
The official Washington tourism site has posted a message from groups like the Washington Convention Center Authority and the Hotel Association of Washington about their efforts "to assist stranded travelers and to provide updated and accurate information."
On Seattle's Web page, the "city highlights" contain press conference schedules and information on Seattle's response to terrorism. Web surfers can choose specific departments and public information officers they wish to contact. Updated statements on city activities by Mayor Paul Schell also have been posted. Chicago, Austin and San Francisco also have posted information about city activities in the wake of the attacks.
The U.S. Conference of Mayors posted comments from its president, New Orleans Mayor Marc Morial. "Mayors across the country have moved quickly to increase security and ensure the safety of people in our cities. ...We will punish those responsible for today's terrorism," he wrote.
The National Governors' Association also posted a message from Chairman John Engler, the governor of Michigan. "The governors would especially like to offer their support and assistance to their colleagues whose states bore the brunt [of the attacks]. ... We stand willing to help in whatever way possible."
In his weekly e-mail newsletter, Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee added, "We must make sure those responsible for this attack are punished. ... At the same time, though, it's important [that] we not turn our country into an armed camp."
In other news, the National Association of State Chief Information Officers will decide by 5 p.m. Thursday whether to cancel its annual meeting in New Orleans, which begins Sunday.
Education Department Awards Teaching Grants
U.S. Deputy Education Secretary William Hansen and Utah Gov. Michael Leavitt on Monday announced the award of a $10 million Star Schools grant to help Western Governors University to launch its Teachers College, a national telecommunications network that will provide accredited, online degrees and certificates to teachers and prospective teachers.
The Star Schools program supports the use of technology to improve the teaching of literacy and job skills, as well as subjects such as math and science. The grants also help produce educational projects that transmit coursework and curriculum modules via satellite and other telecom systems.
Democratic Governors Talk Education
The Democratic Governors' Association (DGA) last week met in New Jersey to discuss education in the new economy during the DGA's fall policy conference. "As we enter the new economy, there is no bigger issue facing governors than innovation in education," said Washington Gov. Gary Locke, DGA's vice chairman.
The DGA also will host a conference on elementary and secondary education with mayors from around the country Oct. 1 and 2 in Chicago.
Study Ranks State Sites
Indiana, Michigan and Texas were ranked as the top three states for dramatically improving their states' Web sites and Internet services, according to a study released this week by the Taubman Center for Public Policy at Brown University.
The study examined 1,680 sites and evaluated an array of electronic services offered. It ranked sites on information and service availability, the quality of citizen access and the amount of useful material. Tennessee, Washington, California, New York, Pennsylvania, Florida and Ohio rounded out the top 10 finishers. Virginia ranked 13th, and Maryland ranked 28th.
The study also found that more sites now offer privacy and security statements, with 28 percent including some form of privacy policy.
Indiana's Governor Signs Tech Laws
In Indiana, the most-improved state in the Brown study, Gov. Frank O'Bannon this year signed several tech-related measures. They included:
- S.B. 0269, which calls for the appointment of four state delegates to enter multi-state discussions on simplifying state sales-taxes systems and potentially allowing taxation of online sales.
- S.B. 0046, which applies the Uniform Electronic Transaction Act to sales and leases within the state. The act authorizes the use of e-signatures.
- S.B. 0268, which establishes a fund to reimburse counties up to 50 percent for the purchase of new or upgraded voting equipment.
- H.B. 1510, which calls for the creation of an Internet-based voter-registration system in Indiana by July 1, 2004. It also removes certain legal barriers so the secretary of State's Elections Division can make voter registration forms available on its Web site.
- H.B. 1926, which requires the state's Information Technology Oversight Commission to adopt new federal standards requiring computers and other technology equipment to be accessible to people with disabilities.
- H.B. 2014, which classifies the Indiana School for the Deaf and the Indiana School for the Blind as "school corporations," making them eligible for technology-related grants.
- H.B. 1100, which allows Internet coverage of the state Assembly.
- H.B. 1001, a state budget measure that calls on the state Assembly speaker and state Senate president pro each to appoint a representative from a high-tech business to the board of the Indiana 21st Century Research and Technology Fund. The fund, created in 1999, seeks to aid the development of advanced technologies in the Hoosier State.
- H.B. 1424, which establishes the Indiana Economic Development Partnership Fund. Money in the fund could be used to create and support regional technology centers, among other things.
- H.B. 1644, which expands the definition of a "computer network" to include the transmission of information via wireless telecommunication devices and the Internet.
- H.B. 1962, which dedicates part of the money in a worker-training fund to Ivy Tech State College, Indiana's third-largest college.
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