South Carolina signed a one-year agreement for eGovernment services that has renewal options through 2010. NIC's South Carolina Interactive subsidiary will deploy the self-funded model to provide the infrastructure and staff expertise required to develop, maintain and host the eGovernment portal. South Carolina will retain ownership of the content, data and statutory fees.

The state issued its bid for eGovernment services in November 2003 and awarded the contract to NIC from a field of 11 competitors. The master contract and agreement that secured the initial funding source were approved by South Carolina's E-Government Oversight Committee and finalized on March 30, 2005.

The first new service is expected to launch this summer, and South Carolina Interactive is currently working with state agencies and the E-Government Oversight Committee to identify and prioritize new applications to be introduced during the first year of the contract.

As part of the contract, South Carolina Interactive will also redesign the state's official Web portal with customization and personalization features to make it easier to find state information and services online. In addition, more than 30 existing services with online payment functionality will be transitioned to NIC's payment engine.

Through its subsidiaries, NIC manages official state portals and outsourced eGovernment services for 16 other states, including Virginia, Indiana, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Oklahoma, and Kansas. KW