IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

The bill, which was passed unanimously by both the Virginian House and Senate defines telemedicine as the “use of interactive audio, video or other electronic media for the purpose of diagnosis, consultation or treatment.”

“Across Virginia, we are using information technology to develop innovative and cost effective tools that improve customer service and support our management and business processes,” Governor Kaine said. “These awards demonstrate our commitment to improving citizen service and smarter management of state government.”

This could mean that many citizens are missing out on important information their state and local leaders want them to see online -- information that could impact their lives and relationship with the government.

The county offers many e-government services such as e-book access, public-access television programming and online tax collection. For the county’s younger residents, there’s Arlington Teen Portal, which provides social networking, news, employment and intern opportunities and career counseling.

While describing available technologies, George Condyles, president of Atlantic Technology Consultants, told the Board of Supervisors that high speed broadband wireless services will be the least expensive way to provide access in the future.

Jerry Rigney, the city’s inspections director, said anyone can create an account by logging on to www.danville-va.gov and clicking on e-services, then ePermits. Once that is set up, people can access information on permits and inspections, check the status of existing plans, check on code enforcement activities and other building issues.

“You can file for simple over-the-counter permits, like for installing a new water heater,” Rigney said. “Our intent is to provide more information to our customers.”

If you live in Roanoke County, you may take for granted that you can go online and pay taxes, apply for a burn permit, reserve a picnic shelter in a park, or read all the background information for the board of supervisors' agenda.

Those and myriad other Internet-based services are luxuries that residents of many other counties in Virginia and elsewhere don't have, although such services are slowly spreading even to more rural areas, according to Gage Harter, director of communications for the Virginia Association of Counties.

The region is the second of three potential VLER Health Communities, areas with a heavy mix of active duty military and veterans that will serve as test bed locales for the Virtual Lifetime Electronic Record project.

"We think it will make a big difference in access, especially in certain specialties that are in short supply, and really can't be supported in some of the smaller rural communities."

The new eGovernance initiative will replace the old and costly method of compiling, printing, binding and distributing paper agenda packets by hand. The remarkably powerful, easy-to-use solution will enable the district to maximize the effectiveness of their board meetings with increased transparency, providing a basis for better and more open communication with the public, while dramatically increasing productivity and saving thousands of dollars annually.

"It is with great pride that I commend and congratulate the Office of Information Technology Director Tanya Gott and her staff for their tireless efforts and the hard work everyone invested in implementing the County's I-Net," said Prince George's County Executive Jack Johnson. "We strive to be on the cutting edge of technology to better serve the residents and citizens of Prince George's County. This award certainly exemplifies that we are achieving high marks in this crucial area."

Virginia has provided a $35,000 grant to gather a list of towers, tall buildings, silos, smokestacks and steeples in Central Virginia. Many such structures already have communications antennas, or could become sites for equipment that relays computer signals through the air.

Many children in Virginia have been diagnosed with ADHD, depression, anxiety, and severe anger control; but almost 90 of the 135 localities in Virginia do not have a public child psychiatrist in their city, town or county.

Now the University of Virginia Health System is stepping in with the power of television.

The E-Government Trend Report ranked more than 11,000 official local and state government Web sites on effectiveness at providing Web site based public services.

York and Gloucester were among only 18 sites to receive an A+ on its report card and to be named the best Web sites in their population category. Gloucester was named best in the population category of 10,001 to 50,000. York County's Web site was named the best at serving a population of 50,001 to 250,000.

Virginia.gov announces the launch of its first mobile application with the release of “Pass the Past,” an educational game preparing Virginia students for the Standards of Learning standardized tests. The mobile application can be downloaded for free on iTunes for the iPhone, iPad and iPod.

“Today’s students have grown up with technology and handheld mobile devices,” said Patricia Wright, Superintendent of Public Instruction. “We’re pleased the first iPhone application on Virginia.gov is to help students learn.”

In April, the Virginia Information Technology Administration (VITA) conducted the first large-scale disaster recovery tests of the consolidated data centers that will house the state’s executive agencies’ IT infrastructure.

“That disaster recovery test proved to be much more successful than past tests,” said Fred Duball, director of VITA’s Service Management Organization. “We were able to do things quicker…and go further than we had in the past.”