United Press International - Friday, 15 September 2000

In what was described as the first nationwide content analysis of state and federal government Web sites, Brown researchers studied more than 1,800 sites and concluded they are falling far short of potential.

"Well-run, efficiently organized Web sites that offer useful services to citizens may have a significant positive effect on public spirit and the attitude of citizens toward government," said Professor Darrell M. West, who led the research team. "That potential certainly exists. We found, however, that e-government is still in its early stages."

On the federal level, the Web sites receiving the lowest ranking in the survey were the National Security Council, the U.S. Trade Representative and the White House. The highest-ranking federal sites were the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department.

The highest-ranked state sites were Texas, Minnesota, New York and Pennsylvania. The lowest-rated sites were Rhode Island, Delaware and New Hampshire.

West said the best predictor of high rankings for state government sites was population size, while those federal agencies with clearly defined constituencies tended to have the highest-ranked Web sites.

West said each site was searched for 27 different features, including whether they gave citizens clear information about contacting government offices, offered online services such as vehicle registration or searchable records, provided high-quality access for people with disabilities or limited English and had policies to protect security and privacy.

West said the majority of sites contained basic phone and address information, e-mail, external links and publications, while fewer than half offered important features such as citizen services, disability access, foreign language translation or search capabilities.

The poor ranking of some sites reflected a lack of information and services and the failure of some to provide meaningful assistance to citizens.

The study of 1,716 state government sites, 36 federal legislative or executive sites, and 61 federal court sites found that 78 percent delivered no online services, only 5 percent showed some form of security policy, 4 percent offered language translation features, 7 percent had a privacy policy, and 15 percent offered some form of disability access.

The chief information officers in each state and at 38 federal agencies were surveyed by e-mail for part of the Brown study. West said they were "enthusiastic in their support of e-government initiatives" and "are convinced that information technology can improve the delivery of services to citizens, make government more efficient and reduce operating costs."

(More information on the study is available at www.InsidePolitics.org).
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