Utah goes Web 2.0

Utah's government launched a redesigned version of the state’s official Web site today that uses Web 2.0 tools that include the aggregation of 27 state blogs and more than 100 Twitter accounts, according to state officials.

The site also includes the Utah.gov Facebook page, a Utah.gov Flickr photo group where users can view and upload photos, and an updated multimedia portal that provides video and audio files sortable by topic or agency.

The new site has geographical detection technology that estimates the location of visitors and displays relevant location specific information, including local meetings, government Web sites, school and library information, park information, and available online services, Utah officials said.

A data portal provides access to public data sets from local, state and federal government sources.

Another portal on the site focuses on government transparency. It includes a source for accessing the Utah government’s financial records, according to state officials. The transparency portal also has tools to track tax dollars and more than 4.6 million records available for categorizing and searching, officials said.

“This site is ground-breaking in the effort to help citizens find information regardless of the level of government,” said Stephen Fletcher, Utah’s chief information officer.