Essentials of E-Government Presented by: Richard H. Carson, director Clark County Department of Community Development Vancouver, Washington

The basic premise The slogan for E-Government today is: “Don’t stand in line, go online!” This means that government is using today’s technology to become more cost-efficient and to provide better customer service. We do this by empowering the customer and shifting much of the responsibility back to them.

Customer Service It is a convenience to the customer when they don’t have to drive to a government office and wait in line. Virtual government is open and accessible via the Internet and telephone 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It is essential that E-government provide com- prehensive information, ease of navigation and be able to handle both financial (i.e., pay taxes, get a permit, pay a fine) and non-financial transactions.

More customer service... Different customers search the Internet in different ways. Some people are very alpha-numeric and will search for key words. However, some people are more visually oriented. So you need to allow them to also use your geographic information system (GIS) -- which is computerized mapping -- to identify a property that can lead them to information related to such things as taxes, permits and zoning.

More customer service... There are more technologies you can use. Interactive Voice Recognition (IVR) technology allow customers to access information 24-7 by telephone. This two-way system also lets applicants know the status of their permits and the inspectors schedule the inspection. One of the greatest tools available today are computerized permitting systems. These system track the permit through the process for both the staff and for the applicant.

More customer service... The permitting system also allows the users to append lots of other information. It can be linked to digital images and electronic records. The latter saves space (no paper records) and provides immediate access to documents via the computer and reduces the cost of staff handling. The use of fax on demand can reduce costs. The newest technology converts the incoming image to a “pdf” and also delivers it straight to your PC.

Cost-efficiencies Intel recently referred to the Portland-Vancouver area as the “most unwired city” in America. By that they meant we have the highest WiFi (or wireless fidelity) access. WiFi is the use of a cell phone and a laptop or PDA to achieve wireless access. Government needs to promote local WiFi. The use of WiFi linked directly to the E-government mainframe will reduce the cost of double entering information collected in the field and reentered in the office for building, fire and restaurant inspectors.

More efficiencies... There are also alternative technologies to WiFi. For example, Clark County uses a type of voice recognition software that allows the fire marshal inspectors to verbally dictate their building inspection reports by phone. Once you verbally work with the software, it is about 95% effective in producing an accurate transcription. Again this save the need to enter the information a second time.

More efficiencies... Having a virtual government actually reduces the number of employees needed, or conversely, increase your level-of-service without increasing your budget. You will need less cashiers, permit specialists and telephone receptionists. You will need less administrative staff because they are no longer re-entering field notes.

More efficiencies... The virtual conference/meeting saves the government and the customer money because neither need to travel, and need food and lodging. The use of the new “smart board” or “electronic white board” technology also saves time and money because engineers and building reviewers can discuss changes to building plans in real time and without the travel. Many conference takes as much time to get as is spent in the actual meeting.

More efficiencies... Providing public information is part of what government does. However, the use of e- newsletters saves money because you don’t need as much printing, postage and staff handling. It is estimated that the cost of handling a sheet of paper is $5.00, but the cost of a page of e-news is $1.65. That is only 1/3 of the cost.

More efficiencies... Government has needs to train and test staff on such important issues as safety, work place violence, sexual harassment, cultural diversity, ethics and conflicts of interest. The ability to test and train employees at their individual personal computer is a major cost savings. You don’t have to pay for the trainer or for the training facility.

Public service You can also set up bulletin boards, chat rooms, listservs and e-groups to provide a more interactive public discussion. However, there are some concerns about allowing too much public discussion. If such systems are open to the public, then the opportunity for people to use profanity or to libel someone else is very real.

Other benefits E-government does more than just improve customer service and save the taxpayers money. Using this technology means that E-government is actually helping to achieve significant commute trip reductions and is actually more environmentally friendly.

Summary The term e-government used to refer to an array of electronic technologies that were operated completely independent from each other, and were supported by different vendors. E-government today -- because of project’s like “CoolTown” -- is about the complete integration of these technologies into a seamless and comprehensive information system.