Keeping Pace in the Digital Age.

• Position: Technology Resource Group online services, survey - Brief Article

Jeffrey L. Esser

This year's biggest news story in state and local government is the same as last year's or the year before--public managers are persistent in their use of technology to increase government efficiency. Governments have long been characterized as organizations that have difficulty keeping up with the private sector. But if the findings from a recent GFOA survey are representative of state and local governments as a whole, governments seem to have done quite well in keeping pace in the digital age.

In 1998, the GFOA established the Technology Resource Group (TRG) to advise the GFOA and its standing committees on technology issues facing the profession. The TRG sought to establish a baseline for how technology is being used in government. In Fall 2000, state and local governments were surveyed and more than 750 governments from the United States and Canada replied. Some of the findings from the survey are outlined below.

Access to the Internet. Almost all (99 percent) of the respondents indicate they have access to the Internet and/or e-mail while at work.

Internet Use Policy. More than two-thirds of the respondents (72 percent) have established an Internet use policy to encourage proper use of this tool in the government workplace.

Technology Outsourcing and ASPs. The term ASP refers to vendors who manage a technology related service on behalf of an organization. These arrangements include the contracting of specific services such as network support from the private sector as well as application hosting (e.g., renting/leasing software, hardware, and support functions). Some 42 percent of the respondents reported that they use outsourcing mechanisms for IT related functions. While few jurisdictions still outsource financial systems, such arrangements are being used for simpler services such as email and help-desk support.

Government Forms On-line. Almost half (45 percent) of the respondents reported that their governments provide forms on-line for their citizens. This step-- distribution of information via the Internet--is the first step and foundation for advanced uses of the government's Web page to reduce the transactions costs citizens face in dealing...