Oregon state government, which has taken plenty of hits in recent years, won some praise Tuesday from researchers who said the state's online services are among the best in the country.
As the state spiraled into and out of recession in this decade, big battles over spending, taxation and the overall quality of services have dominated state government. But during that time, Oregon also has made better progress than most states in moving services onto the Internet, said Darrell West, a professor who headed the study.
West said it's important for states to improve their e-government offerings, both to gain efficiency and to better serve users who can tap into information and services from their home or business instead of having to visit government agencies.
West praised the state for adapting a consistent look and feel for most of its Web pages, something he said has been a problem in many states where individual agencies have difficulty working together.
In addition, he said that Oregon has also increased the number of permits and licenses that can be obtained online and has done a good job of making Internet services accessible to the disabled. The study does fault the state for having anemic audio and video services and for charging user fees in some cases. The study says the state could also do more to customize its information for certain categories of users, such as tourists or businesses.
Washington state ranked 12th, up from 25th last year. The full report is available at www.insidepolitics.org/egovt06us.pdf.
Scott Smith, Oregon's e-government manager, said he was pleased at the recognition, but said the state still has much more it can do to bring services online.
He estimated that the state has only achieved 10 percent to 15 percent of what it could be doing on the Internet. "There's a lot of pent-up demand within agencies and among constituent groups to move these services online."
Smith said progress is slowed by budget constraints and by concerns about such things as security. One example that he said he is in the process of fixing: The state offers surplus goods through eBay, but buyers can't pay by credit card.
Autor(en)/Author(s): Jeff Mapes
Quelle/Source: OregonLive, 01.08.2006
