It's good to move forward, but it's also rewarding to leave good things behind. I hope to see continued success in Alabama, as I worked with some very bright and talented web developers on the alabama.gov web portal during my four and a half years in Montgomery.
Alabama.gov Ranked Among the Nation's Top Five Web Sites
Friday September 26, 1:23 pm ET
Full article
MONTGOMERY, Ala.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--For the fifth consecutive year, Alabama’s official state Web site (http://www.alabama.gov) has been ranked among the top ten in the Center for Digital Government’s annual Best of Web competition for government portal excellence. This year, Alabama.gov was ranked fifth in the nation among Web sites.
“Best of the Web is certainly an honor we are pleased to receive,” said Alabama Chief Information Officer Jim Burns. “The state’s technology staff and partners have worked hard to ensure that Alabama citizens can be informed and do business conveniently and securely using Alabama.gov.”
The 2008 Best of the Web competition recognizes the most innovative and user-friendly state Web portals and was conducted by the Center for Digital Government, a national research and advisory institute on information technology policies and best practices in state and local government. Sites are judged on delivery of public services, efficiency, economy, and functionality for improved citizen access. Representatives from the Center for Digital Government and officials from the 2007 Best of the Web-winning state and local governments served as judges for this year’s competition.
“This year’s winners represent the very best in state Web sites and the Center applauds Alabama for its diligence and hard work,” said Cathilea Robinett, Executive Director of the Center for Digital Government. “Each year, state and local governments continue to make strides towards implementing better access and more efficient Web delivery of public services.”
Alabama.gov offers a variety of government-related services and information 24 hours a day and seven days a week. The site provides numerous online resources to Alabamians, including information on living and working in Alabama, professional license renewals, up-to-date state agency contacts, and a digital media gallery. The portal also provides more than 140 interactive services that allow users to complete entire personal and business transactions online. Thanks to the addition of these new services and information, Alabama.gov is on track to significantly increase its annual online visitor count from 3.3 million in 2007 to almost 4 million in 2008.
The Alabama.gov portal is developed and managed at no cost to the state and is the result of a unique public-private partnership between the Alabama Department of Finance and Alabama Interactive, the state of Alabama’s partner for online government services.
About Alabama.gov
Alabama.gov is the state of Alabama’s official Web portal (http://www.alabama.gov) and a collaborative effort between the state of Alabama and Alabama Interactive. It was built and is marketed, operated, and maintained by Alabama Interactive, a Montgomery-based wholly owned subsidiary of eGovernment firm NIC (Nasdaq: EGOV - News).
About NIC
NIC manages more eGovernment services than any provider in the world. The company helps government communicate more effectively with citizens and businesses by putting essential services online. NIC provides eGovernment solutions for 2,900 state and local agencies that serve more than 70 million people in the United States. Additional information is available at http://www.nicusa.com.
Contact:
Alabama Interactive
Sloane Wright, 866-353-EGOV
Source: Alabama.gov
Monday, September 29, 2008
Alabama.gov Ranked Among the Nation's Top Five Web Sites
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Education a Priority in West Virginia
West Virginia Education Portal Recognized Twice for Innovation in National Competitions
Monday September 22, 12:56 pm ET
Link to Article
CHARLESTON, W.Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The recently unveiled West Virginia Education portal (http://www.education.wv.gov) has been declared one of the best education Websites in the nation by the Centers for Digital Government and Education. The new portal was presented the 2008 Best of Web Special Award and the 2008 Digital Education Achievement Award based on its innovative approach to integrating more than 900 education resources into one centralized starting point located within the state’s official Website, http://www.wv.gov.
“We were very pleased to finally see a state develop a comprehensive education component into their overall state Website strategy,” said Cathilea Robinett, Executive Director of the Center for Digital Government. “The West Virginia Education Portal takes the right approach to providing diverse online education resources to West Virginia’s citizens.”
The Best of Web Awards and Digital Education Achievement Awards are national programs that recognize outstanding agency and department Websites and applications that enhance information interactions, transactions, and services. The awards were presented by the Centers for Digital Government and Education, which are national research and advisory institutes on information technology policies and best practices in government and education, during the 21st Century Jobs Cabinet meeting on September 19 in Charleston.
“West Virginia is the first state in the nation to develop a centralized online resource for families to seamlessly access the numerous educational offerings in the state,” said First Lady Gayle Manchin. “These awards highlight the commitment of the state of West Virginia to improving the educational opportunities for our citizens and educators.”
The education portal is the result of the work of the 21st Century Jobs Cabinet, which was formed in 2006 to promote a seamless education system that connects every level of education from early childhood to graduate study. It encompasses job training and lifelong learning to both support and enhance West Virginia's job creation and economic development efforts.
The West Virginia Education Portal was built without using taxpayer dollars by leveraging an innovative public-private partnership between the state and West Virginia Interactive, a Charleston-based subsidiary of eGovernment firm NIC (NASDAQ: EGOV - News). Additional services are slated to be released in the upcoming months that will further streamline citizen access to government services and save taxpayer dollars.
About WV.gov
WV.gov is the official Website of the state of West Virginia (http://www.wv.gov) and is the result of an innovative public-private partnership between the state and West Virginia Interactive. West Virginia Interactive works with government agencies to build and manage interactive online services and is a subsidiary of eGovernment firm NIC.
About NIC
NIC manages more eGovernment services than any provider in the world. The company helps government communicate more effectively with citizens and businesses by putting essential services online. NIC provides eGovernment solutions for 2,900 state and local agencies that serve more than 70 million people in the United States. Additional information is available at http://www.nicusa.com.
Contact:
The Office of Governor Joe Manchin
Lara Ramsburg, 304-558-2000
Communications Director
or
WV.gov
Peter Fairhurst, 304-414-0265 ext. 103
General Manager
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Work-Related Newsiness
e.Republic's Center for Digital Government Names 2008 Top Web Portals and Applications
Government Technology | 08.19.08
URL: http://www.govtech.com/gt/articles/391147
News Report
Winners of the 2008 Best of the Web and Digital Government Achievement Awards have been announced by e.Republic's Center for Digital Government. The top state and local government Web portal and application awardees will be honored at the 12th annual Awards Gala on Sept.12 in Hollywood, Calif.
Judges from all over the nation determined the winners. Best of Web recognizes the most innovative, user-friendly state and local government portals while the Digital Government Achievement Award recognizes outstanding agency and department Web sites and applications.
Cathilea Robinett, executive vice president of the Center for Digital Government, said "Each year, state and local governments continue to make strides toward implementing better access and more efficient Web-delivery of public services. This year's winners represent the very best in each category. The Center applauds all the honorees for their diligence and hard work."
2008 Best Of the Web Awards
State Portal Category:
1st Place Virginia
2nd Place: Maine
3rd Place: California
4th Place: Texas
5th Place: Alabama and Rhode Island
Special Award: West Virginia Education Portal
This year's Awards Gala is sponsored by GovDelivery Inc. and Hyland Software Inc.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
New State Website User Friendly
From Metro News:
05/28/2008
The state of West Virginia has a new website with the goal of making it simpler to learn about state government.
Department of Administration spokeswoman Diane Holley says wv.gov will hopefully make it as simple as possible for the public to come to the site and find any information they want about state government.
Holley says the website is topic-driven rather than agency-driven. She says users don't have to know which state government provides which service. She says using an internal google search will look for the information by topic, directing the user to the correct agency.
The site also offers the opportunity to do business electronically with the state. Holley says those opportunities will continue to increase in the months to come. The site also includes an on-line help feature with live chats with a customer service representative from 8-5 weekdays.
"Our goal is to enhance technology with the state of West Virginia's government and this is just one step we are making towards that goal," Holley said.
The state has worked with nationally recognized eGovernment firm NIC to design the site. The new site was built without the use of taxpayer dollars; a public-private partnership was used instead.
The address of the official state website is www.wv.gov.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Don't Block Web 2.0 Access
This is cool.. After my last post about the wonderful world of "Web 2.0" (I am still having a hard time using that term; it seems so buzz jockey-esque), this article about Web 2.0's potential to boost creativity and productivity in the workplace crossed my desk. Timely!
From Government Technology:
Don't Block Web 2.0 Access, Says Gartner
Government Technology | 03.10.08
URL: http://www.govtech.com/gt/articles/271948
Businesses need to resist the temptation to exclude their employees' access to Web 2.0 technologies and services if they are to benefit from the considerable creativity that Web 2.0 can unleash, according to Gartner.
Business demands will increasingly require security organizations to secure, rather than block enterprise access to the Web 2.0 global ecosystem. Many IT organizations are responding to the demand for Web 2.0 technologies. According to a Gartner Executive Programs survey of 1,500 CIOs worldwide, half of the respondents said they plan to invest in Web 2.0 technologies for the first time in 2008.
"Rather than just stopping the use of Web 2.0 technologies, IT groups should be providing secure means of developing and deploying such applications," said Joseph Feiman, vice president and Gartner fellow. "The business application movement toward Web 2.0 and other related-trends, such as increased use of open-source software and wider deployment of service-oriented architectures, are combining to change how applications are developed with significant implications for security."
"Web 2.0 enables masses of individuals to become application and content developers and deploy Web 2.0 applications that implement their own versions of established business rules and practices. Although this entails risks, it can also unlock huge business value," Feiman said. "By mapping the business gain against the potential risk, organizations can determine the most effective constraints and controls for enterprise use of Web 2.0."
According to Gartner, with mashups, Ajax and other Web 2.0 technologies already in widespread use, saying "no" to the Web 2.0 ecosystem will generally not be an option. Instead, enterprises should take tactical and strategic steps to increase the odds that business use of Web 2.0 will increase the bottom line rather than have a negative business impact through security incidents.
"Organizations need to extend their security processes to enable safe use of Web 2.0 technologies" said John Pescatore, vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner. "Strategies to contain and protect the use of new technologies will always be more effective in the long run than security approaches that rely solely on blocking."
Pescatore advised organizations to expand their definition of vulnerability assessment to include the detection of external use of corporate content through mashups and internal exposure of sensitive data through Web 2.0 technologies. He also said that service-level agreements with content and service providers for mashups and other collaborative technologies would help to avoid or at least minimize discontinuities of the service. Organizations should not accept applications developed by external service providers, open-source-software communities or business partners unless they are tested for security vulnerabilities.
Image taken from Strange Maps, one of my favorite sites out there. Check out the Ludacris' Rap Map of US Area Codes. Brilliant.
