Six Washington area jurisdictions made it onto a list of "top digital" counties, according to a nationwide study.
Counties were credited for using technology in innovative ways to improve service to residents, according to the survey, conducted recently by the Center for Digital Government and the National Association of Counties. Among jurisdictions with populations of 500,000 or more, Fairfax County was ranked third; Montgomery County, eighth; and Prince George's County, ninth. Of those with populations of 250,000 to 499,999, Loudoun County was ranked first; Prince William County, sixth. Frederick County was ranked first in jurisdictions with populations of 150,000 to 249,999.
"Across a broad spectrum of service delivery needs and budgetary challenges, counties continue to develop improved service delivery options made possible by technology," said Larry E. Naake, executive director of the National Association of Counties, which is based in Washington.
In Fairfax, the e-government program offers 24-hour access. It delivers information through the Internet, kiosks in county buildings, voice-response systems on touch-tone phones and its cable TV channel.
Under the county's do-it-yourself model, residents can pay taxes, search for government facilities, access court information, and register for parks and recreation activities, all without talking to a human being or leaving home.
"If you want to do something routine, there are several options," said David J. Molchany, deputy county executive. "It also allows us to focus on people who have more complex questions, need more time and want to deal with someone face-to-face."
In the spring, Fairfax launched pages on MySpace, YouTube and Facebook. They display the county seal and direct people to the county's home page.
"It's a unique way of using it as a gateway back to us," Molchany said. "We are trying to capture people wherever they are."
Prince William has conducted a public communications overhaul in the past few months, starting with an upgrade and redesign of its Web site. It was last changed in late 2003.
Since June, Prince William residents have been able to watch meetings of the Board of County Supervisors live online through streaming video. Previously, only audio versions of the meetings had been available for anyone outside the reach of the government-access TV channel. The audio and video versions are archived online, and the archives are searchable by agenda item.
David Robertson, executive director of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, said the Washington area counties were recognized "for their aggressiveness in stretching the boundaries of the services they provide."
Although there are costs in going digital, he said, counties have found that over time, they lower their expenses.
"The less people have to go to the county administration building and city hall, the more time and resources they save by doing it from their home," Robertson said of performing basic tasks, such as paying taxes. "Government Web sites used to be a static information source. Now they are more dynamic. In the last few years, governments have been using their Web sites to rethink how they do business."
The Center for Digital Government, based in California, has been conducting the annual survey with the counties association since 2003. This year, it found that the most popular online service nationwide was filing taxes and related payments. Searching for property and tax assessments was the second-most popular online activity. Counties have also recently begun offering an online complaint tracking form, on which people can report issues such as missed trash pickups and track their status.
"It's a push and pull," said Cathilea Robinett, executive vice president of the center, of the online services. "We are becoming more of an online society, so people are demanding services on the Web. Counties have begun to embrace these areas."
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Kristen Mack
Quelle/Source: Washington Post, 14.08.2008
