IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

For the record, the top sites came from the state of Alabama; Orange County, Fla.; and the Louisville, Ky., Metro Government. But beyond the annual beauty contest, the survey offers a snapshot of the state of the art for public websites. So what can you learn from some of the best public-sector websites in the nation? Based on what’s offered by the winners and other highly ranked sites, here are some must-have features:

“We are grateful to receive this recognition again, and my administration will continue to make progress in our efforts to make state government accessible online to Arkansas citizens,” said Governor Mike Beebe.

The official Web site of the State of Arkansas (www.Arkansas.gov) has again been named one of the best state government sites in the nation. Arkansas.gov received third-place ranking by the Center for Digital Government in its annual national competition, Best of the Web. Government Web sites are evaluated based on their innovation, Web-based delivery of public services, efficiency, economy and functionality.

A featured service in the new portal is Arkansas Works, a one-stop workforce portal designed to help Arkansans find jobs or education and training opportunities in the State.

The ACSI report found a slight improvement in citizen satisfaction with federal Web sites, particularly when they allow for e-commerce. The greatest improvement was in the e-commerce and transactions category, which increased to 73.7 out of 100.

Alabama Chief Information Officer Jim Burns accepted the award on behalf of the state at a ceremony in Colorado Springs, Colorado on Tuesday.

The improvement was a pleasant surprise to Gov. Bob Riley's office.

"Gov. Riley has put a special emphasis on refining state government so that it operates more efficiently...," said Riley spokesman Jeff Emerson. "We're moving up steadily in the ranking."

“We’ve used the Internet to make government more transparent and accessible to the citizens it serves,” said Gov. Bob Riley. “Alabama continues to be a recognized leader in digital government.”

“As more state services become available through Arkansas.gov, it’s important for our State’s official Web site to adapt and remain easily accessible for Arkansans,” said Governor Mike Beebe. “We are grateful to receive this recognition again, and we will continue working to improve the information and services the State provides online.”

Aldridge became CIO in 2000. "We were RPG programmers, and we had about 150 users. I promised the staff that they would never get bored and that they would be using state-of-the-art technology," said Aldridge."

The Center for Digital Government this month named Aurora the most technology advanced city in the United States in 2007.

Aurora beat out cities with populations of 250,000 or more including Miami, Washington D.C., San Diego and Phoenix.

“We are very honored that our state government has received a top ranking in the 2008 Best of the Web competition,” said Governor Bill Ritter, Jr. “This recognition underscores the exceptional progress that our governmental entities are making in providing innovative, economical solutions to better serve Colorado businesses and citizens.”

The quarterly report measures government sites with the methodology of the University of Michigan’s American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). The ACSI has been used for more than 15 years to rate both online and offline federal government departments and agencies as well as private sector companies. Each is rated on a 100-point scale, allowing for comparisons among websites, departments, agencies, and industries.

A team of researchers from the Taubman Center for Public Policy at Brown University examined 1,548 state and federal sites. The researchers analyzed 1,487 state Web sites – an average of 30 per states – in addition to 48 federal legislative and executive sites and 13 federal court sites. The research team conducted its analysis during June and July.

Government websites are meeting the needs and expectations of their users, by and large, through improved navigation and the addition of more meaningful content, according to a recent report.

The statewide electronic bench warrants system (eBW) was named one of the best state government-to-government Web sites in the United States, and received a 2010 Digital Government Achievement Award from the Center for Digital Government. The site was developed by eHawaii.gov in partnership with the Hawaii State Judiciary, Department of Public Safety, Honolulu Police Department, Hawaii Police Department, Kauai Police Department and Maui Police Department.

The session, "Measuring Broadband: What Metrics Really Matter?" used the controversial broadband penetration statistics issued regularly by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) as a starting point.

The ASCI revealed citizen satisfaction with federal Web sites improved slightly this quarter, moving up 1.2 percent to an aggregate score of 73.5. This increase marks a 3.2 percent improvement from September 2004.