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Five States Tie for First Place
WASHINGTON, D.C. - State governments are making significant progress using digital technologies to improve the delivery of services and information to their citizens, according to the first installment of the Digital State Survey for 2002 conducted by the Center for Digital Government and The Progress & Freedom Foundation.
Five states – Arizona, Kansas, Michigan, Virginia and Washington – tied for first place in the social services category, and three states – Colorado, Kansas and Wisconsin – tied for top honors in the area of law enforcement and the courts. One state – Kansas – tied for first place in both categories, and Arizona earned two top-five designations. Illinois and Utah earned a pair of top-ten rankings. The current snapshot, which will be followed by two more, will culminate in annual rankings and the presentation of the 2002 Digital State Award at year’s end. Results are based on a comprehensive survey of chief information officers in the 50 states.
The Social Services category measures the status and progress of states in providing citizens with social services such as electronic benefit transfers. For example, the survey asks whether citizens can reach caseworkers by e-mail and download forms and applications. It also monitors states’ abilities to manage technology with questions pertaining to the security of records and the status of inter- and intra-governmental initiatives. The Law Enforcement and the Courts category examines the deployment of digital services in the judiciary and law enforcement agencies.
Detailed rankings and other information are available in a report written by Kent Lassman, who is research fellow and director of the Digital Policy Network at The Progress and Freedom Foundation.
Illinois and Kansas tied for first place in the most recent annual Digital State Survey. The states rounding out the top 10 in 2001 were Washington, which ranked number one in three earlier annual surveys, Maryland, Arizona, Maine, New Jersey, Utah, Ohio and Michigan.
The Progress & Freedom Foundation is a market-oriented think tank that studies the digital revolution and its implications for public policy. It is a 501(c)(3) research & educational organization.
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