Government Technology - December 2008 - (Page DC38)

Viewpoint BY TODD SANDER | DIRECTOR, DIGITAL COMMUNITIES INITIATIVE DEPUTY DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR DIGITAL GOVERNMENT More Than Just a Pretty Face Great municipal Web sites offer more than just good looks. veryone likes to be No. 1 — numero uno, the best. Just look at sports fans and their chants, cheers and giant foam ﬁngers proudly pointing out their team’s superiority. Being the best has become not only an aspiration, but in the age of global competition, a ﬁxation. And if, heaven forbid, we aren’t the best, we certainly want to know who is. Twelve years ago, the Center for Digital Government started its Best of the Web contest to recognize and honor the top state and local government portals and Web sites based on their innovations, functionalities and efﬁciencies. The companion Digital Government Achievement Awards (DGAA) spotlight outstanding contributions at the application and infrastructure level. So what makes a great municipal Web navigation and features an “I Want To” site? It takes more than just a pretty elec- search engine. New services added this tronic “face.” It starts with functionality. year include many searchable databases, If the site doesn’t let people meaning- payment of fees, RSS feeds, city webinars fully interact and transact with govern- and trafﬁc camera feeds. ment, it’s little more than an electronic Oakland County, Mich., was the top bulletin board. Great Web sites provide county in the competition. The portal, functionality that supports easy-to-use, www.oakgov.com, features several new end-to-end transactions between citi- Web 2.0 capabilities. The county has zens, businesses and governments. conﬁgured its own social networking The best are always looking for ways community, http://egovsharing.blogspot to innovate, build upon and extend the .com, to integrate blogs and forums, and investment they have already made. To to establish an interactive communicabe the best, you have to be a leader and a tion channel. bit of a risk taker. King County, Wash., was recognized Las Vegas showed it was the best with a DGAA in the government-toamong cities in this year’s Web competi- government category for its creation of a tion. Lasvegasnevada.gov presents infor- regional Web-based security portal that mation from the public’s perspective with provides single sign-on access to mulplain language, uses graphics well to help tiple systems and applications for more than 4,000 police and criminal justice users at the local, state and federal level. Since there are several communities within every community, Web sites are being used to create efﬁcient and effective ways for government to interact — even those in special circumstances. For example, the Arapahoe County, Colo., Judicial Services Online Check-In gives those under court-ordered supervision a method to contact the judicial services ofﬁce for mandatory check-ins and update their assigned ofﬁcer, which is a part of the county’s program participation requirement. Web sites also have made it possible for communities to open government to their constituents, engage them in governance processes and provide a face that’s available 24/7. Communities across the country are learning ﬁrsthand that the modern tools and technologies of communication and community building can and do make a real difference in the quality of life that their residents enjoy. We know where the most successful communities are, who they are and how they are doing it, and we want to share that information. To learn more about how you can use the Internet to improve public service and become the best, visit the Digital Communities Web site, www.digital communities.com. E 38 DIGITAL COMMUNITIES DECEMBER 08 http://www.oakgov.com http://egovsharing.blogspot.com http://egovsharing.blogspot.com http://www.digitalcommunities.com http://www.digitalcommunities.com http://www.Lasvegasnevada.gov

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Government Technology - December 2008

Government Technology - December 2008 Contents Point of View Four Questions for... On the Scene Big Picture Year in Review Who Controls Your Network? Paper Makes a Comeback Halting Meth Abuse Spectrum Up Close signal:noise Digital Communities Contents Becoming a Digital Community Rethinking 700 MHz Smart Grids: Powering the Future Gearing Up for Crime 2.0 Software Predicts Crime Local Portals on the Red Carpet More Than Just a Pretty Face

Government Technology - December 2008

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