What's up with e-government? Digital government isn't a silver bullet, but as part of a long-term plan, it may provide a means to reduce state spending.

• Author: Bourquard, Jo Anne

An estimated 143 million Americans-more than half the nation-- are now online, and 2 million new users are logging on every month. Many of them use government Web sites, according to a recent Pew Internet and America Life study. In fact, 68 million Americans have logged on to a government agency Web site-up from 40 million two years ago.

With e-government, citizens can renew drivers' licenses, file income taxes, obtain hunting or fishing licenses or apply for benefits-all without stepping into a government office. And Web users can tap information about job openings, unclaimed property and consumer, health and safety tips, as well as track legislation. Making government services and information available on a 24/7 basis is a real boon to the public. Customers don't have to leave home or the office, fight traffic or stand in long lines. And they aren't limited to conducting business only during "normal" office hours.

"The most important benefit to electronic government is that is opens the doors of government to every citizen, making it easier for people to obtain information and receive services," says Wisconsin Senator Bob Jauch, co-chair of Wisconsin's Joint Information Policy and Technology Committee.

E-government is fast becoming an expectation, says Aldona Valicenti, Kentucky's chief information officer (CIO). She predicts that future government will need to provide many channels of service--via computers, phones, kiosks, wireless devices--to keep pace with citizen demand.

CAN IT SAVE MONEY?

Virginia, the first state to offer driver's license renewals online, is finding it's cheaper to provide on-line renewals than to require people to come into government offices. "E-government promises to be the most effective tool presently available for reducing government spending," says Delegate Joe T. May, chair of the House Committee on Science and Technology and the Joint Commission on Technology and Science.

"Properly done, e-government has the ability to cost less and provide more," he says. "In Virginia we are moving ahead at flank speed on implementing e-government and IT improvements."

Arkansas also has found cost efficiencies for on-line transactions, such as license renewals, which are basically self-service.

And the public prefers on-line renewal: The Arkansas Office of Motor Vehicles reports that about 75 percent of vehicle registration renewals now are performed online.

In Michigan, which centralized all information technology operations under a cabinet-level CIO and opened a state Web portal in 2001, officials are finding e-government a key to operating under tightened budgets.

State CIO Jacque Passino says delivering services electronically has become vital in today's economy. On-line transactions, which cost a few cents each, provide significant savings...