Alabamas state portal, AlaWeb, received a facelift, including a new text-only version. The Internet Services Department completed the conversion in May.
Alaska
Juneaus Area Wide Transportation Plan is now online. Background documentation and recommendations are available to view.
Arizona
Richard Zelznak has taken over the position of CIO and acting director of the Government Information Technology Agency of Arizona. His priorities will be to build out broadband and wireless telecommunications and integrate disparate computer systems across several health and welfare service agencies.
Arkansas
The Department of Finance and Administration is using a new 12,000 square foot imaging and data conversion facility to provide state-of-the-art processing, file storage and retrieval for state tax returns. DFA personnel can update information in a taxpayers file by adding correspondence or amended returns.
California
The California Department of Educations Education Technology Office has a new online survey to analyze the status of technology used in the states schools. Results will be posted on the CDE Web site so visitors can access the data and compare school districts statewide. The results of this survey will also be used to determine future spending on educational technology.
Colorado
The Colorado Department of Agriculture has just launched a Web site for information relating to foot-and-mouth disease. The site lists information and prevention tips for consumers and photos to show how to identify the disease.
Connecticut
The Connecticut Digital Library, iCONN, went online in April to provide students, faculty and residents with online access to essential library and information resources, including a readers advisory, student research and homework help, business research, professional development for educators and consumer health research.
Delaware
Delaware has a new state Web site called First State Online. New features include the states Department of Motor Vehicles Cyberspace Service Center where citizens can obtain information on drivers licenses, vehicle registration, license suspensions and revocations and vehicle inspections. The site also provides up-to-date traffic reports and access to the statewide traffic camera network with live visuals of the states most frequently used intersections.
Florida
The city of Tampa launched a new Web site. Citizens now have access to several state and local services, including police reports, area maps, webcasts of local news stories and an online store from the Tampa Museum of Art.
Georgia
La Grange now has a virtual town-square broadcast on Internet TV. The new feature will announce civic events, support neighborhood organizations and ease communication between citizens with similar interests. The virtual town square can be accessed through the Community Links button online. -- La Grange Daily News
Hawaii
Gov. Ben Cayetano addressed the citizens of Hawaii in a live webcast last April regarding the recent teachers strike. More than 53,000 hits were reported.
Idaho
Gov. Dirk Kempthorne announced in April that rural communities in southern and eastern Idaho will have access to broadband technology by the end of 2002. A consortium of 12 local telecommunications companies will undertake the $40 million investment and complete half of the project by the end of this year.
Illinois
Jackie Garner, director of the Illinois Department of Public Aid (IDPA), announced in late April that the IDPA was recognized by Computerworld for developing the nations largest server-based Medicaid Data Warehouse. IDPAs data analysts have access to five years of claims data along with supporting reference information thats stored in the Data Warehouse, which currently houses more than 360 million service records and information about 45,000 providers and nearly one and one-half million recipients.
Indiana
Indianas Web Academy has added two new pages to its Web site to improve communication between parents, students and school officials. E-Locker is a storage and retrieval system for homework and projects. E-Parent tracks childrens grades, attendance and homework assignments.
Iowa
Iowa residents now have a say in how government delivers services online. An online survey for residents addresses budget challenges and deployment of digital government services.
Kansas
Witchita now offers interactive maps for River Festival events online. Visitors can select a public venue or type of event to produce a diagram of local festivities.
Kentucky
The Kentucky Geographic Information Advisory Council and the Governors Office for Technologys Office of Geographic Information hosted a weeklong event in May. Featured topics included a session on educating local and regional government officials on the critical steps and issues involved in forming and operating effective multi-agency or multi-participant GIS partnerships.
Louisiana
The Department of Labors Opelousas Job Center opened its doors in April to provide a centralized location that makes services more easily accessible. Computer training and Internet access will now be available to all job seekers in St. Landry and Evangeline parishes.
Maine
Gov. Angus King showed the potential of integrating technology and the Internet with a schools curriculum at Bath Middle School in May by leading a history lesson on the Battle of Gettysburg using a newly created Web site.
Maryland
Alisoun K. Moore was named CIO for Montgomery County (see CIO Profile on pg. 16). Her current projects include implementation of a new public radio system, the fibernet capital project and expansion of the countys electronic government services.
Massachusetts
The Massachusetts Judicial Branch added two new features to its Web site: Land-court forms for the voluntary withdrawal of land from the registration system, and domestic violence guidelines can now be found online.
Michigan
The state will launch its new Web site this month. Visitors will be able to verify professional licenses, receive payments from the state via electronic funds transfer and establish a personalized customer account on the secure site.
Minnesota
The CriMNet Web site went live in April. The site is a partnership of criminal justice organizations and integrates criminal and juvenile justice information throughout Minnesota and the United States.
Mississippi
The Circuit Court Clerk and Election Commission of DeSoto County recommended in April that the county switch to an optical-scanning voting method to replace the current punch-card system. The new system requires the voter to complete a paper ballot, marking his or her choice by filling in a circle with a ballpoint pen. If incorrectly marked, the new system will immediately reject the ballot. -- DeSoto Times Today
Missouri
Fifteen students from North Kansas City, Oak Park and Winnetonka high schools are enrolled in the Information Technology Academy, a two-year program designed to teach teens network administration and Web-page design. The district is coordinating internship opportunities with local companies to offer the teens real-world experience. -- Kansas City Star
Montana
Gov. Judy Martz signed the Montana Information Technology Act in April in order to more efficiently use information technology resources statewide. The act establishes a 19-member Information Technology Board comprised of members from all levels of government throughout the state.
Nebraska
In May, the Redistricting Committee of the Nebraska Legislature held a public hearing on redistricting proposals. The hearing was held at the State Capitol but two remote sites in the state allowed for two-way communication with those in attendance.
Nevada
The states Energy Conservation Plan for State Government, part of Gov. Kenny Guinns Nevada Energy Protection Plan, can now be accessed through the Nevada Division of Emergency Managements Web site. The plan consists of immediate, short-term and long-term conservation measures, ranging from an increased effort to turn off lights when not in use to the possible upgrading of computers to models that consume less energy.
New Hampshire
Gov. Jeanne Shaheen announced in April her development plan for the state, "New Hampshire in the New Economy." Part of the plan calls for more investment in research and development, technology transfer and support for the New Hampshire Manufacturing Extension Partnership and New Hampshire Industrial Research Center. The report is available online.
New Jersey
A new high-tech center opened its doors in April. The Commercialization Center for Innovative Technologies, developed by the Economic Development Administration, will provide space for companies that need research and development facilities.
New Mexico
East Mountain High School students will not be getting portable computers this year, unlike last year when each student was issued a laptop and allowed to take the mobile units home. The funds will instead be used to construct a second building and wire all the rooms for network access.
New York
Immigration lists from Ellis Island are now available online. The database lists nearly 17 million arrivals who tackled the inspection process between 1892 and 1924. The records can be found online.
North Carolina
A new program called NC Classes Online was launched in April to allow students access to homework assignments, schedules, lunch menus and information on school events via their own school Web sites. The teachers from the various schools use a standard template to create the sites. Martin Middle School was the first to deploy a portal.
North Dakota
The states Supreme Court now lists the past 20 years of Joint Procedure Committee minutes online. In addition, the minutes are linked to the source notes. The notes may be found online.
Ohio
Hamilton High School is building a new media center and posting photos online to track the construction. The site was designed by the schools Web site design class.
Oklahoma
Tulsa was one of 10 cities named by Newsweek magazine as "high-tech havens" in late April. The city was feted because it is home to 380 IT firms and 54,000 IT jobs; 48 percent of its population is online; and the IT companies in the city attracted $6 million in venture-capital funds. -- Newsweek
Oregon
The Automobile Liability Insurance Reporting System is a new tool designed to help DMV and law enforcement officials identify uninsured motorists. Insurance companies transmit vehicle policy information electronically to the DMV. The information is used to update the DMV database and can be accessed by law enforcement when the vehicle is accessed for other reasons.
Pennsylvania
Accessible PA is a new Web site that provides information about Pennsylvanias services and programs for people with disabilities, their families and support providers. Visitors can log on for information about education, housing, transportation, vocational rehabilitation, employment, health care, home- and community-based services and childrens services.
Rhode Island
Rhode Island State Police implemented a new fingerprint-scanning system in April. The live scan equipment allows officers to automatically scan fingerprints and search criminal-history records. The new system also permits Rhode Island officers to transmit findings directly to the FBI.
South Carolina
York plans to go live this month with its new Web site. All city departments will be able to submit agendas and minutes, maps, projects and other information. Citizens can have requests electronically routed to the appropriate department and have their queries confirmed via e-mail.
South Dakota
The Legislative Research Council has updated its My Legislative Research site. Citizens can now sign up for e-mail notification when updated minutes, agendas and meeting schedules are posted on the site.
Tennessee
The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) Commissioner Milton Hamilton Jr. announced in May that ozone forecasting is available for the first time. Ground-level ozone is an air pollutant that often forms in unhealthy levels during the hot summer months, posing a significant threat to those suffering from respiratory diseases. On May 1, TDEC was to begin providing predicted rankings on ozone levels for Rutherford, Williamson, Wilson, Sumner and Davidson counties online.
Texas
Forty-five police cars in Grand Prairie are now equipped with traffic devices to turn red lights green to clear passages through the intersections during emergency responses. Complementary devices were installed in 25 of the citys busiest intersections. -- Arlington Morning News
Utah
Gov. Mike Leavitt announced in late April that Novell agreed to outsource technical support jobs to the Cedar City "Smart Site" at Southern Utah University. This is the states first agreement with a major IT company for outsourcing jobs at a Smart Site. Smart Sites are rural Utahs connection to the governors Silicon Valley Alliance. Companies use Smart Sites to electronically outsource services, such as software testing, technical call centers, database management, data entry and Web site development.
Vermont
The University of Vermont released its annual report of the Information Technology Standards Workgroup. The report can be found online.
Virginia
The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Virginia Market News Service has made all its information available via fax or e-mail. This includes information covering livestock, grain, hay and feed, fruits and vegetables, poultry, cotton, tobacco, peanuts and more.
Washington
Washingtons Applications Template and Outfitting Model (ATOM) received the Governors Award for Quality and Service Improvement in April. ATOM provides a digital model to organize policy, infrastructure and technology requirements.
West Virginia
The governors Office of Technology unveiled the states e-portal strategy in April. The plan defines the goals, challenges and benefits of moving government services online.
Wisconsin
The Department of Administration is testing a reverse auction system over the Internet, and has conducted six reverse auctions since January. Officials of the department said that the state is saving 5 percent or more on many of its purchases through the reverse auction model, in which sellers bid against one another through the Internet to sell their goods and services to the state.
Wyoming
Five to seven Wyoming counties are banding together to form a coalition to speed up the permitting process for building transmission lines to carry power from Wheatland, Wyo., to Ault, Colo. The goal is to clear the bottlenecks while preserving environmental interests.
