Digital Government

Marrying Payment Systems to the Web

Electronic commerce has been hailed as a boon for the public sector in part because it enables state and local governments to replace traditional fee and fine collection systems with less costly collection systems using the Internet.

Digital Government

Driving to a National DMV

You might call Arizona the first R&D lab of the online department of motor vehicles movement. Since 1996, the state has been busy automatingnow 'Webifying'licensing services for which citizens used to spend hours waiting to access. Most experts agree that Arizona has gone further than any other

Digital Government

Hard Time Meets High Tech

To the inexperienced, prison operations may seem a lot like some grainy, gritty movie from the 1960s, with a fixed set of stock players. The warden is the guy with a belt loop full of jangling keys, the guards are the people silhouetted against a watchtower in profile with rifles, and the prisoners

Digital Government

Marketplace

Companies Combine to Offer Education 'Portal' Services Leading computer, Internet and education service companies have joined forces to take thinclient computing to the nation's schools, something they believe could bring schools within reach of the Holy Grail of technologyenabled education: a co

Digital Government

The Internet Tax Revolt

Residents of Hennepin County, Minn., can't help but feel a swell of pride whenever they pass the Mall of America, the world's largest indoor retail enterprise and a monument to the entrepreneurial imagination. With more than 500 stores and 2.5 million square feet of space, the mall draws consumers

Digital Government

Linking IT to the Business Plan

Why is it still disputed that information technology is an integral part of business?

Digital Government

500 MHz Pentium IIIs: Better than ever

Testing by Pat McClung and Andreas Uiterwijk The latest 500 MHz Pentium III PCs are fast, wellbuilt and easier to manage than ever. But the most intriguing new feature for government buyers is the unique serial number hardcoded into the processor. The serial number offers advantages to government

Digital Government

Market Trends -- ERP

Enterprise software vendor JD Edwards & Amp; Co. recently announced a strategic alliance with electronic commerce newcomer Ariba Inc. that is designed to stretch JD Edwards' strengths from backroom enterprise resource planning (ERP) to the enduser world of Internet ecommerce transactions. The marriag

Digital Government

Boston signs deal for cable, phone, Net service

Boston recently signed a 15year agreement with Residential Communications Networks Corp., a Princeton, N.J.based broadband network provider, that will give city residents another choice for cable TV, telephone and Internet services.

Digital Government

Online gamblers subject to gaming laws

The New York State Supreme Court has ruled that online gamblers in the state are subject to gaming laws regardless of where the gambling company is based.

Digital Government

Study Says 'Disconnected Dozen' States Lack Broadband Internet Access

Millions of Americans across the country, particularly those in rural and poor communities, do not have access to broadband Internet service, according to a study released earlier this week by the iAdvance Coalition.

Digital Government

Storage-Area Networks

As public information pours into state and local agency networks via the Internet, government data volumes are swelling beyond the capacity of existing networks and servers. To help solve the problem, state and local agencies are turning to storagearea networks to safeguard their missioncritical

Digital Government

Health Passport

When Bismarck, N.D., held focus groups earlier this year to gauge how disadvantaged mothers and pregnant women would react to using a smart card that gives them access to Medicaid, Head Start and food subsidy programs, their concerns about privacy and technology were almost nil. Instead, recipients

Digital Government

Live Video Is Coming to a Local Government Site Near You

When the CSPAN cable TV channel debuted in the 1980s, supporters declared there was nothing as politically intimate as bringing governmentinthemaking into your living room. In 1999, live, local government is getting intimate enough to fit comfortably in your lapor laptop, at least. Pluggedin

Digital Government

Selling Cities on the Web

In our cover story this month, we examine some of the problems civic Webmasters face as they lead their governments onto the World Wide Web. 'Selling Cities on the Web,' by freelance writer Heather Harreld, was inspired by a workshop for Webmasters hosted by Public Technology Inc. during PTI's ann

Digital Government

Growing Your Own Skilled IT Work Force

Tucson, Ariz., like many cities, is experiencing a surge in its hightechnology sector. Because Tucson is my home, I am happy to see the local economy thriving. On the other hand, prosperity has brought some problems.

Digital Government

Examining the Lessons of a Regional Partnership

It can be tough to get everyone in one organization on the same page, much less 20 organizations with competing agendas and priorities. But that's what a group of business and political leaders from California's Silicon Valley undertook in 1993 in an effort to reverse an economic downturn bedevilin

Digital Government

Open-Source Movement Hits GIS Market

Following the lead of the opensource stalwarts who made the Linux operating system and the Mozilla World Wide Web browser respected, realworld products, developers of geographic information system (GIS) software are providing opensource tools that could become a valuable resource for state and l

Digital Government

Washington clears state programs for Y2K

Washington agencies are all but finished clearing state programs for the Year 2000 date change, according to statewide riskassessment report released last week.

Digital Government

San Diego Claims First for Online Property Taxes

San Diego Co. has become the first county in California and one of a few counties nationwide to allow citizens to pay property taxes online, according to the county's chief deputy treasurer, Neil Rossi.