The NACo is teaming with IBM to offer counties a way to create a Web site from scratch using the company's Totally Web Government platform and Web-based templates. For those counties in rural areas without access to broadband Internet connectivity, IBM subcontracted with Hughes Network Systems to also make satellite broadband connectivity available.
Jan Porter, treasurer of Catron County, N.M., and chairperson of NACo's Rural Action Caucus, is the first NACo member to test the platform and is in the midst of creating a Web site for the county.
"It's good for rural counties," Porter said. "We don't have the benefits of having technology staff in house to develop Web sites or maintain systems, and we're not the only county with this problem."
The platform allows users to build a fully functioning Web site using a Web browser, she said. For one-time subscription fee of $295 and a monthly service charge of $50, county staff can use the Web-design tool to enter information, documents and photos from local events into the Web template.
Porter has been designated as the administrator for Catron County and no information entered by county staff into the template gets posted to the Web site without her approval.
When counties are ready to add transactional capabilities to their Web site, they can choose from nine software modules, including business licenses, cashiering, permit tracking, utility billing and requests for action -- a module that allows counties to track requests made by residents to repair pot holes or other similar requests.
Counties pay a one-time subscription fee for the modules and a monthly, per-seat service charge, said Bert Jarreau, NACo's chief technology officer.
Jarreau said the executive officers from the National League of Cities, the National Association of Counties and the International City/County Managers Association began working together to coordinate their various electronic government initiatives.
"The NLC led the way; set up a pilot; designed a bunch of Web sites for their cities, and we're now doing the same thing for our counties," he said. "We've added Internet connectivity for counties that don't have the option of DSL or cable-modem services."
Jarreau said NACo performed a survey last year and found that 40 percent of its members didn't have a Web site.
"The digital divide is a big deal for our rural members," he said. "This is a hosted application, and counties don't have to worry about getting the expertise to host this information on their own systems."
Shane Peterson, News Editor
