In Texas, those offerings include an array of online services targeted at residents, businesses and local governments. But, the portal was designed to be far more than a point of access to online conveniences. According to Purcell, it is a working model of how the public and private sectors can collaborate to create mutual benefit within the mandates and responsibilities of government.
Getting Started
TexasOnline is based on a self-funded model. Private-sector partner KPMG invested approximately $16 million to build the portal that should return revenue sharing dividends to both entities. In 2002, the state hopes to realize $556,000 from the partnership and by fiscal year 2006 revenues of $3.4 million are anticipated. Until KPMG's investment is recovered, the state will receive 10 percent of gross revenues. After the state pays back KPMG, Texas's share jumps to 50 percent. Gary Miglicco, managing director for KPMG, estimates the payback should occur in four years, depending upon adoption rates and new services.
Although the infrastructure was built by KPMG and its private-sector partners, including Cisco, Sun and Oracle, the state will own it and all the associated data.
To date, the portal project appears to be delivering on its promise and more. An online survey showed that 99.3 percent of visitors to the portal were satisfied or very satisfied with the new online license renewal program that logged 30,000 transactions per month in the early stages of launch. By the end of this year, Purcell projects there will be a million renewals per month. And, perhaps most outstanding, local governments are signing onto the system, building a model of inter-jurisdictional cooperation.
The road to this kind of collaboration was not always a smooth one, according to Purcell. After a detailed process that surveyed what the public wanted from online government, the effort to create an enabling infrastructure began. Legislation passed in 1999 created the TexasOnline Task Force, an oversight authority to oversee the development of IT in state government. The Department of Information Resources had been dealing with state agencies that were operating in silos, buying sometimes-incompatible technologies and creating Web sites with little thought to common features.
Subsequent legislation built a working environment to move the state forward with enterprise plans, according to Miglicco. "What was unique was that the Legislature provided for the development and support of services for both state agencies and local governments on the same infrastructure," he said. "This created a unique opportunity and challenge for the TexasOnline team."
It was Sen. Eliot Shapleigh's legislation, enacted Sept. 1, 2001, that created the infrastructure that today supports an aggressive e-government program. The bill established the TexasOnline Authority and directed enterprise-wide policies and the review of agency Web projects and technology purchases.
Shapleigh, a fifth-generation Texas native who represents the sprawling borderland around El Paso, believed that digital government could be a powerful tool for his constituents, most of whom have limited access to technology, speaking limited English and living near poverty level.
Enabling legislation passed in states that are IT leaders, such as Washington, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Texas, has been a tool to accomplish the formidable task of change in government. Shapleigh believes that more lawmakers need to understand how important technology is in 21st century governance. "Very few legislators know much about technology," he speculated. "Maybe one out of 10." He suggested the private sector could educate elected officials, perhaps by special invitation to small technology conferences. But Shapleigh believes in doing even more to educate people about the potential of the Internet.
"In my district, the chamber of commerce and I host an annual technology conference," he said. "We invite business, government, education and technology folks to share the future. We also set up a tech webcast on the local Time Warner station and talk tech every month."
A Vision Forms
Like many big campaigns, the senator's advocacy of IT began with a small query from a constituent. "A close friend here in El Paso came and asked me why he had to travel 580 miles to get a permit," Shapleigh recalled. "He wondered, 'Why not do it online?' From that simple request was born TexasOnline."
Shapleigh's vision goes well beyond simple electronic transactions. "Ultimately, TexasOnline should place a menu of services at Texans' fingertips," he suggested. "One day we hope to see wireless devices where a citizen might check the TxDOT [Department of Transportation] camcorder for a view of the route to work, apply for a new driver's license, access deed records, even interact online with a school teacher about grades. We hope to do online in minutes what it takes hours to do in line."
One of the senator's visions is in development. The online driver's license renewal program is a burgeoning success, according to Jim Templeton, e-commerce project manager for the TxDOT. "We started issuing driver's license renewals in May of last year," he said. "We've done in excess of 150,000 renewals and we are quite pleased."
There were some roadblocks to remove, including the need to change assumptions and some technology. "The first thing we had to overcome was the philosophy that there wouldn't be a way we could connect the Internet to the department's driver's license system," Templeton said. Some of the data, housed in the state's mainframe system, could not be transferred to an online environment. The idea of copying driver's records and moving the data to the Internet was discussed, briefly. "Twenty million records to copy everyday?" Templeton asked. "That's not going to happen. There are not enough hours in the day." Someone floated the idea of copying records only once a month. That idea was also dismissed. "We'd be making decisions based on information that's old, and spending more time fixing the problems," he said.
Gateway came to the rescue with software that bridged the PC and the mainframe world with a secure link. From there, the migration was a matter of establishing policies and procedures that allowed the TxDOT to take advantage of the state's infrastructure. One of those opportunities was a marketing program to engage state agencies and the public. "TexasOnline does cross-marketing," Templeton said. "What we try to do is make our marketing material generic so we can get the value of a dollar spent by another agency."
The department found other efficiencies in tapping the state's investment in electronic payments, ACH transfers, credit card acceptance and statewide accounting. "It reduces the time involved to put services online," he said, adding that small transaction fees help fund the renewal program. "The Legislature did not appropriate funds to get rid of fees," Templeton said. "Some of the bigger applications can help take care of the smaller ones." Transaction fees for online business activities such as property-tax payments and sales-tax payments are higher.
Learning from Experience
Templeton, a 24-year veteran of the department, likes the way old and new technologies have been linked to build e-government. He is pleased that the days of IT quests that took five years to complete appear to be over. "There are hundreds of other services that will also be delivered through Web enabled applications and easy to deliver," he predicted, because the applications have been written to a standard. "It allows us to add new applications without writing from scratch."
Templeton also echoed the belief that executive sponsorship of IT in government is a fundamental requirement. "You have to have executives with a lot of foresight and we are blessed with that," he said. "And, you have to make sure all your areas are involved -- technical folks, users, even people without direct responsibility. Then they understand the entire process."
New services scheduled for release include online professional and occupational license renewals, and registration for events through the state's Natural Resources Conservation Commission. However, one of the most ambitious goals is recruiting cities to link up with the advantages of TexasOnline. Travis County and the cities of Mesquite, Houston and Dallas were early participants, using the state's resources for the payment of various taxes, utility bills, voter registration and other services.
Dallas, under the leadership of CIO Dan McFarland, was quick to see the possibilities to expand the city's already robust line of electronic services. "The number one advantage is that we get to leverage the synergies that KPMG has developed with the state," McFarland said. These benefits include using existing contractual agreements that the state has with entities, such as banks, for online payments. "We figured that would be a big advantage," McFarland said. "The risk for us has been minimized to the greatest degree possible."
In addition, equipment and development costs are minimized. According to a survey of Texas citizens, the main concerns for users -- privacy and security -- are also minimized. "We don't have to worry about security or putting firewalls in place," McFarland said. "Or the credits, debits and banking functions. It's a great deal." Security features of the state system include firewalls from multiple vendors, intrusion detection, business continuity plans, PKI, certification authority, security patches and other applications that local jurisdictions can leverage.
The city also gets to piggyback on the revenue sharing agreement with the company. "We want them to be successful," he stated. "The more successful they are, the more successful we are. We are taking a strictly business approach." KPMG is hosting the city's site and has developed applications specifically for the Dallas portal.
"A lot of people who have to do business with government find it is very inconvenient," he added. "Anything that we can put online is a win for the citizens." The Dallas portal, like TexasOnline, is Spanish/English bilingual.
Open Access
The rollout of the state's comprehensive e-government plan required cross-agency effort and buy-in. It also took keen attention to building a policy and technical infrastructure that would carry the vision from concept to reality. Part of that infrastructure was meeting accessibility standards in Web site development and design. In this arena, Texas is an acknowledged leader, according to Cynthia Waddell, principle consultant for CIBER's Accessibility Center for Excellence. Waddell has worked with several states on the creation of Web sites that meet W3C guidelines and address federal Section 508 standards. She said Texas was one of the early adopter of accessibility features in a Web portal. According to Waddell, accessibility designs also expand Web usability for mainstream populations. "Accessibility helps all users," she said. "It makes high technology available to people using low technology and has positive impacts beyond the community of persons with disabilities."
Even with its winning features, Purcell did not assume that just because it was there, people would begin using the portal. "Looking back, our biggest challenge was communicating with the public," she said, explaining that marketing of the portal was a key component in the project. "We had to get very creative and leverage our resources." One of the tactics was to get agencies to recognize the importance of marketing new electronic services to the public and internally. The Department of Information Resources and KPMG created a communication plan that outlines specific steps agencies can use to engage their customers. It includes internal and external strategies with packaged tools for print and electronic media.
"The Response has exceeded our expectations," Purcell said. "Not because we are great communicators, but because there has been a pent-up demand. The business community in Texas was really ready and we were able to get a quick win there." She said the state will continue to chip away at its economic and educational divide as the portal grows. Purcell is particularly excited about one program that works toward this goal. Access to America's Promise is available through TexasOnline and the state has officially adopted the program.
"This is the kind of thing we like to do," she said. "And we will give the code away to any other state that wants to do it also." Launched by Secretary of State Colin Powell, the program's stated purpose is to plant the "seeds of a national movement capable of advancing the health and well-being of the next generation."
Purcell outlined her recommendations for creating effective electronic government. "Identify the stakeholders; create a sense of urgency; look at governance issues in terms of sharing power and infrastructure; and communicate," she said. In addition, she pointed out the importance of investing in resources, defining the scope of projects and going for quick wins, setting standards and exploiting best practices.
"My vision for the future is that every Texan will have an account with state government that is accessible through a portal device customized for his or her use that transitions seamlessly to other jurisdictions," she said. "But e-government won't happen just because we want it to. It is important for us all to become good business managers to get there."
