Delaware and Michigan Are Best States for American e-Government
PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Delaware and Michigan are the best states for e-government in the United States, according to the eighth annual e-government analysis conducted by researchers at Brown University. The federal portal USA.gov and the Department of Agriculture are the most highly rated federal sites.
Darrell M. West, director of the Taubman Center for Public Policy at Brown University, and a team of researchers examined 1,548 state and federal sites. The researchers analyzed 1,487 state Web sites (an average of 30 sites per state), plus 48 federal government legislative and executive sites and 13 federal court sites. Research was completed during June and July 2007. This series of e-government studies has been released annually since 2000.
Web sites are evaluated for the presence of various electronic features, such as online publications, databases, audio clips, video clips, foreign language content, translation services, advertisements, premium fees, user payments or fees, disability access, privacy policy, security policy, online services, digital signatures, credit card payments, e-mail addresses, comment forms, automatic e-mail updates, Web site personalization, PDA accessibility, and readability level.
Citizens are being asked to shoulder more of the cost of providing online services, the survey found. Seventeen percent of sites charge visitors a fee to use online services, up from 12 percent last year. In terms of online services, 86 percent of state and federal sites have services that are fully executable online, up from 77 percent last year. In addition, a growing number of sites offer privacy and security policy statements. This year, 73 percent have some form of privacy policy on their site, up from 71 percent in 2006. Fifty-two percent now have a visible security policy, down from 63 percent last year. Twenty-two percent of sites offer some type of foreign language translation.
In terms of disability access for the visually impaired, automated Bobby software, available from Watchfire, Inc., found that 54 percent of federal sites and 46 percent of state sites meet the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) disability guidelines. The federal numbers are the same as last year, while the state numbers are up from 43 percent.
The study also ranks the 50 states and various federal agencies on overall e-government performance. Using measures such as online services, attention to privacy and security, disability access, and foreign language translation, researchers rated the various state sites and compared their performance to last year.
The top ranking states include Delaware, Michigan, Maine, Kentucky, Tennessee, Massachusetts, Maryland, Texas, New Jersey, and Utah. The following table shows where each state ranked in 2006, with the previous year’s ranking and score in parentheses.
U.S. e-Government: The 50 States
RANK STATE RATING | RANK STATE RATING |
Top-rated federal Web sites include the national portal USA.gov, Department of Agriculture, Postal Service, Social Security Administration, Securities and Exchange Commission, Department of Commerce, Federal Communications Commission, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Department of Education, and the Internal Revenue Service. The following table lists the ranking of federal agencies, with last year’s rank and score in parentheses.
U.S. e-Government: Federal Agencies and Offices
RANK OFFICE RATING | RANK OFFICE RATING |
In the conclusion of their report, West and his research team suggest several means to improve e-government Web sites:
- have more foreign language translation options, especially in states with high numbers of foreign language speakers and on Web sites that warrant foreign language options;
- standardize privacy policies in order to create continuity throughout the sites;
- have more kids’ pages to get children interested in local and state government;
- use personalization and customization on Web sites with a lot of information. These features allow users to customize and tailor their account specifically for their needs and interests, allowing them to directly access needed resources.
For more information about the results of this study, contact Darrell West at (401) 863-1163 or see the full report at www.InsidePolitics.org. The appendix of that report provides e-government profiles for each of the 50 states and the federal agencies.