<p>Brown University&rsquo;s eighth annual analysis of U.S. e-government finds Delaware and Michigan leading all states in effective governmental use of Web-based technology. &lsquo;USA.gov&rsquo; and the Department of Agriculture lead federal offices.</p>

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Delaware and Michigan are the best states for e-government in the United States, according to the eighth annual e-government analysis conducted by researchers at Brown University. The federal portal USA.gov and the Department of Agriculture are the most highly rated federal sites.

Darrell M. West, director of the Taubman Center for Public Policy at Brown University, and a team of researchers examined 1,548 state and federal sites. The researchers analyzed 1,487 state Web sites (an average of 30 sites per state), plus 48 federal government legislative and executive sites and 13 federal court sites. Research was completed during June and July 2007. This series of e-government studies has been released annually since 2000.

Web sites are evaluated for the presence of various electronic features, such as online publications, databases, audio clips, video clips, foreign language content, translation services, advertisements, premium fees, user payments or fees, disability access, privacy policy, security policy, online services, digital signatures, credit card payments, e-mail addresses, comment forms, automatic e-mail updates, Web site personalization, PDA accessibility, and readability level.

Citizens are being asked to shoulder more of the cost of providing online services, the survey found. Seventeen percent of sites charge visitors a fee to use online services, up from 12 percent last year. In terms of online services, 86 percent of state and federal sites have services that are fully executable online, up from 77 percent last year. In addition, a growing number of sites offer privacy and security policy statements. This year, 73 percent have some form of privacy policy on their site, up from 71 percent in 2006. Fifty-two percent now have a visible security policy, down from 63 percent last year. Twenty-two percent of sites offer some type of foreign language translation.

In terms of disability access for the visually impaired, automated Bobby software, available from Watchfire, Inc., found that 54 percent of federal sites and 46 percent of state sites meet the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) disability guidelines. The federal numbers are the same as last year, while the state numbers are up from 43 percent.

The study also ranks the 50 states and various federal agencies on overall e-government performance. Using measures such as online services, attention to privacy and security, disability access, and foreign language translation, researchers rated the various state sites and compared their performance to last year.

The top ranking states include Delaware, Michigan, Maine, Kentucky, Tennessee, Massachusetts, Maryland, Texas, New Jersey, and Utah. The following table shows where each state ranked in 2006, with the previous year’s ranking and score in parentheses.


U.S. e-Government: The 50 States

    RANK    STATE               RATING
      
   1. (15)  Delaware         65.6 (44.8)
   2.  (4)  Michigan         64.0 (48.5)
   3. (18)  Maine            62.0 (43.8)
   4. (21)  Kentucky         56.2 (42.9)
   5. (11)  Tennessee        54.1 (45.7)
   6. (22)  Massachusetts    53.8 (42.5)
   7. (35)  Maryland         53.5 (39.5)
   8.  (1)  Texas            51.3 (51.7)
   9.  (2)  New Jersey       50.0 (51.5)
  10.  (5)  Utah             47.0 (48.1)
  11.  (6)  Montana          46.9 (47.8)
  12. (31)  California       46.0 (40.8)
  13. (38)  Georgia          45.6 (38.0)
  14. (40)  Oklahoma         44.9 (37.3)
  15. (9)   Indiana          44.4 (46.6)
  15. (14)  Minnesota        44.4 (44.9)
  17. (19)  Nebraska         44.3 (43.6)
  17.  (3)  Oregon           44.3 (49.1)
  19. (27)  Connecticut      44.2 (41.5)
  20. (10)  Pennsylvania     43.7 (46.4)
  21.  (7)  New York         43.5 (47.3)
  22. (20)  Missouri         42.9 (43.0)
  23. (13)  North Dakota     42.6 (44.9)
  23. (16)  Ohio             42.6 (44.1)
  25. (25)  North Carolina   42.5 (41.9)
            RANK    STATE               RATING

          25. (17)  South Carolina   42.5 (44.0)
          27. (12)  Washington       42.4 (45.4)
          28. (33)  Louisiana        41.9 (40.6)
          29.  (8)  Illinois         41.8 (46.9)
          30. (41)  Colorado         41.7 (36.8)
          30. (32)  Rhode Island     41.7 (40.6)
          32. (24)  Iowa             41.1 (42.0)
          33. (34)  New Hampshire    41.0 (40.1)
          34. (36)  Arizona          40.8  (39.5)
          34. (26)  Florida          40.8 (41.6)
          36. (23)  Kansas           40.4 (42.0)
          37. (50)  Alaska           40.1 (28.3)
          38. (43)  Hawaii           39.5 (35.3)
          39. (29)  Virginia         39.3 (40.8)
          40. (30)  Idaho            39.1 (40.8)
          41. (28)  South Dakota     39.0 (41.1)
          42. (42)  Wisconsin        38.4 (36.5)
          43. (37)  Vermont          38.2 (38.6)
          44. (39)  Nevada           38.1 (37.3)
          45. (49)  Alabama          37.2 (28.4)
          46. (45)  Arkansas         36.7 (33.8)
          47. (47)  Mississippi      33.1 (33.4)
          48. (44)  New Mexico       32.9 (34.3)
          49. (46)  West Virginia    31.4 (33.6)
          50. (48)  Wyoming          28.6 (29.0)


Top-rated federal Web sites include the national portal USA.gov, Department of Agriculture, Postal Service, Social Security Administration, Securities and Exchange Commission, Department of Commerce, Federal Communications Commission, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Department of Education, and the Internal Revenue Service. The following table lists the ranking of federal agencies, with last year’s rank and score in parentheses.

 

 


 

 

U.S. e-Government: Federal Agencies and Offices

    RANK  OFFICE                    RATING

  1.  (1) USA.Gov Portal         92.0 (84.0)
  2.  (2) Dept. of Agriculture   84.0 (80.0)
  3.  (7) Postal Service         84.0 (64.0)
  4.  (9) Social Secur. Admin.   79.0 (63.0)
  5. (12) Securities Exch. Comm. 76.0 (60.0)
  6.  (4) Dept. of Commerce      72.0 (73.0)
  7. (11) FCC                    70.0 (61.0)
  8. (27) FDIC                   67.0 (48.0)
  9.  (8) Dept. of Education     65.0 (63.0)
 10.  (6) IRS                    64.0 (71.0)
 11. (17) NASA                   61.0 (57.0)
 12. (40) FDA                    60.0 (42.0)
 13. (16) Small Business Admin.  60.0 (48.0)
 14.  (3) Housing/Urban Devel.   59.0 (80.0)
 15. (19) Con. Prod. Sfty. Comm  58.0 (54.0)
 16. (38) Health Human Services  58.0 (44.0)
 17. (15) Library of Congress    57.0 (58.0)
 18. (30) Nat'l. Parks           57.0 (47.0)
 19.  (5) Dept. of Treasury      56.0 (72.0)
 20. (20) Gen. Services Admin.   56.0 (54.0)
 21. (36) Veterans Affairs       56.0 (46.0)
 22. (10) Dept. of State         55.0 (62.0)
 23. (23) U.S. House of Rep.     55.0 (53.0)
 24. (13) Dept. of Interior      53.0 (58.0)
 25. (31) EPA                    52.0 (46.0)
 26. (43) Homeland Security      52.0 (41.0)
 27. (49) Nat'l. Labor Rel.      52.0 (32.0)
 28. (18) White House            52.0 (57.0)
 29. (31) Dept. of Energy        51.0 (46.0)
 30. (50) Nat'l. Endow. Human.   51.0 (31.0)
 31. (26) Dept. of Labor         50.0 (49.0)
        RANK  OFFICE                    RATING

     32. (37) CIA                    49.0 (41.0)
     33. (34) Gov't Printing Office  49.0 (46.0)
     34. (42) Dept. of Justice       48.0 (41.0)
     35. (22) Dept. of Defense       48.0 (53.0)
     36. (14) Dept. of Transport.    48.0 (58.0)
     37. (35) Nat'l. Science Fdn.    48.0 (46.0)
     38. (24) Trans. Safety Board    48.0 (53.0)
     39. (54) Ofc. Mgmt. and Budget  48.0 (28.0)
     40. (28) Senate                 48.0 (48.0)
     41. (29) Federal Election Comm. 44.0 (47.0)
     42. (44) Nat'l. Endow. Arts     44.0 (41.0)
     43. (39) Equal Employ. Oppty.   40.0 (43.0)
     44. (41) Federal Trade Comm.    40.0 (42.0)
     45. (46) GAO                    40.0 (38.0)
     46. (33) Federal Reserve        38.0 (46.0)
     47. (21) Cong.l Budget Office   37.0 (53.0)
     48. (25) U.S. Trade Rep         37.0 (50.0)
     49. (47) Federal Ct of Appeals  36.0 (37.0)
     50. (45) Supreme Court          36.0 (41.0)
     51. (51) 1st Cir. Ct. Appeals   32.0 (29.0)
     52. (53) 8th Cir. Ct. Appeals   32.0 (28.0)
     53. (56) 6th Cir. Ct. Appeals   28.0 (25.0)
     54. (55) 11th Cir. Ct. Appeals  26.0 (26.0)
     55. (48) 4th Cir. Ct. Appeals   25.0 (33.0)
     56. (52) 9th Cir. Ct. Appeals   25.0 (29.0)
     57. (57) 2nd Cir. Ct. Appeals   24.0 (24.0)
     58. (59) 10th Cir. Ct. Appeals  22.2 (22.0)
     59. (60) 3rd Cir. Ct. Appeals   20.0 (21.0)
     60. (58) 5th Cir. Ct. Appeals   20.0 (24.0)
     61. (61) 7th Cir. Ct. Appeals   20.0 (20.0)

 

In the conclusion of their report, West and his research team suggest several means to improve e-government Web sites:

 

  • have more foreign language translation options, especially in states with high numbers of foreign language speakers and on Web sites that warrant foreign language options;
  • standardize privacy policies in order to create continuity throughout the sites;
  • have more kids’ pages to get children interested in local and state government;
  • use personalization and customization on Web sites with a lot of information. These features allow users to customize and tailor their account specifically for their needs and interests, allowing them to directly access needed resources.

For more information about the results of this study, contact Darrell West at (401) 863-1163 or see the full report at www.InsidePolitics.org. The appendix of that report provides e-government profiles for each of the 50 states and the federal agencies.