Alabama’s Official Web Site Receives National Recognition for eGovernment Excellence

By: Computer Update

Alabama’s official Web site (www.alabama.gov) continues to be among the nation’s most honored portals for offering timesaving online government services to citizens and businesses. This year, alabama.gov has been ranked among the top eGovernment states in two national competitions.

This month, Alabama was ranked among the top 25 most digitally advanced state governments in the Digital States Survey, a comprehensive study that examines best practices, policies, and progress made by state governments in using digital technologies to better serve constituents and streamline operations.

In August, alabama.gov was ranked for the third year in a row as a top ten finalist from a field of more than 200 public sector Web sites in the 2006 Best of the Web competition for government Web site achievement. Now in its tenth year, Best of the Web evaluates government Web sites based on their innovation, Web-based delivery of public services, efficiency, economy, and functionality.

“Alabama has worked hard to establish itself as an eGovernment leader, and we are pleased to be recognized for a third year in a row for our efforts,” said Jim Burns, Alabama Chief Information Officer. “Each year, we rely on citizen and business feedback in an effort to further improve the service offering and organization of the information found throughout alabama.gov. We are proud to offer alabama.gov visitors access to many new and exciting features and technologies and look forward to offering even more in the coming years.”

Both competitions were conducted by the Center for Digital Government, an international research and advisory institute on the use of information technology in government.

Alabama.gov offers more than 95 interactive services, ranging from professional license renewals, license look-up services, tax related services, and recreational permitting services. Some of these conveniences include online hunting and fishing licensing, online tax estimations and extension filings, nursing and real estate license renewals, and even a personalized vehicle tag reservation system. Launched in 2002, Alabama.gov processed nearly 2.5 million eGovernment transactions electronically last year.

To maximize taxpayer return on investment, the alabama.gov Web site is developed, hosted, and maintained at no cost to the state or taxpayers and is the result of a unique public-private partnership between the Alabama Department of Finance and Alabama Interactive, a Montgomery-based subsidiary of eGovernment firm NIC (NASDAQ:EGOV).

This year, alabama.gov introduced an enhanced search feature powered by Google, interactive mapping features that include satellite and hybrid layouts with state and local information, a dedicated wireless site with live online customer service, and a new service titled “e-11” to provide streamlined access to frequently sought information. Some of the additional enhancements are designed to help citizens and businesses efficiently access information and also to introduce new and innovative tools and information.

About Alabama Interactive

Alabama Interactive is the official eGovernment solutions provider for the state of Alabama. The company builds and manages interactive government services on behalf of the state and is a wholly owned subsidiary of eGovernment firm NIC.

About NIC

NIC manages more eGovernment services than any provider in the world. The company helps government communicate more effectively with citizens and businesses by putting essential services online. NIC provides eGovernment solutions for 2,200 state and local agencies that serve more than 60 million people in the United States.