<div dir="ltr">Surely of relevance.<br>-tj<br><br>Resource of the Week: State and Federal Electronic Government in the<br>
United States, 2008 By Shirl Kennedy, Senior Editor<br>
<br>
<a href="http://digbig.com/4xkgk" target="_blank">http://digbig.com/4xkgk</a><br>
<br>
We usually don't offer up a report as a Resource of the Week here on<br>
RS, since posting reports is what we do on DocuTicker, our sister<br>
site. But this report from The Brookings Institution came out just<br>
before Labor Day weekend, when posting on both sites is traditionally<br>
light, and we thought it was interesting enough to bring it to your<br>
attention.<br>
<br>
The social and political impact of new technology long has been<br>
debated among observers. Throughout American history,<br>
technological innovations - from the movable-type printing press<br>
in the 15th century, the telegraph in 1844, and the telephone in<br>
1876 to the rise of radio in the 1920s and coast-to-coast<br>
television broadcasting in 1946 - have sparked much speculation.<br>
Transformationalists often claim that new technology will produce<br>
widespread consequences. Incrementalists, on the other hand, point<br>
to the influence of institutional forces - such as structural<br>
fragmentation within government as well as issues related to the<br>
investment cost and organizational structures of state and federal<br>
government - in limiting the speed and breadth of technology's<br>
impact on the public sector.<br>
<br>
This report assesses the nature of American state and federal<br>
electronic government in 2008 by examining whether e-government<br>
effectively capitalizes on the interactive features available on<br>
the World Wide Web to improve service delivery and public<br>
outreach. Although considerable progress has been made over the<br>
past decade, e-government has fallen short of its potential to<br>
transform public-sector operations. This report closes by<br>
suggesting how public officials can take maximum advantage of<br>
technology to improve government performance.<br>
<br>
These key findings come from the full report:<br>
<br>
+ Eighty-nine percent of state and federal websites have services<br>
that are fully executable online, compared with 86 percent in<br>
2007.<br>
<br>
+ Three percent of government websites are accessible through<br>
personal digital assistants (PDAs), pagers or mobile phones, up<br>
from 1 percent last year.<br>
<br>
+ Seventy-three percent of government websites have some form of<br>
privacy policy available online (the same as last year), and 58<br>
percent have a visible security policy (up from 52 percent last<br>
year).<br>
<br>
+ Forty percent of government websites offer some type of foreign<br>
language translation, up from 22 percent last year.<br>
<br>
+ Sixty-four percent of government websites are written at the<br>
12th-grade reading level or higher, which is much higher than that<br>
of the average American.<br>
<br>
+ Seven percent of government websites have user fees.<br>
<br>
+ Twenty-five percent of federal websites and 19 percent of state<br>
websites are accessible to the disabled.<br>
<br>
+ The highest-ranking state websites belong to Delaware, Georgia,<br>
Florida, California, Massachusetts, Maine, Kentucky, Alabama,<br>
Indiana and Tennessee.<br>
<br>
+ The top-ranking federal websites are the national portal<br>
USA.gov, Department of Agriculture, General Services<br>
Administration, Postal Service, Internal Revenue Service,<br>
Department of Education, Small Business Administration, Library of<br>
Congress, Department of Treasury and the Federal Reserve Board.<br>
<br>
See also from Brookings:<br>
<br>
+ Improving Technology Utilization in Electronic Government<br>
around the World, 2008<br>
<<a href="http://www.brookings.edu/reports/2008/0817_egovernment_west.aspx" target="_blank">http://www.brookings.edu/reports/2008/0817_egovernment_west.aspx</a>><br>
<br>==========================================<br>J. T. Johnson<br>Institute for Analytic Journalism -- Santa Fe, NM USA<br><a href="http://www.analyticjournalism.com">www.analyticjournalism.com</a><br>505.577.6482(c) 505.473.9646(h)<br>
<a href="http://www.jtjohnson.com">http://www.jtjohnson.com</a> <a href="mailto:tom@jtjohnson.com">tom@jtjohnson.com</a><br><br>"You never change things by fighting the existing reality.<br>To change something, build a new model that makes the<br>
existing model obsolete."<br>-- Buckminster Fuller<br>==========================================<br>
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