Improving Citizen Services and Access to Government

E-government can be defined as the delivery of public information, goods and services through the use of technology. Because e-government is open 24 hours a day, services are convenient, cost-effective and available to a larger population. Further, as U.S. states and local governments develop organized e-government resources, the most successful projects have taken into consideration not only convenient, easy-to-use access, but also the objectives of trust and security, efficiency and accountability. A truly effective e-government resource allows citizens to connect with government in a manner that is customized to their needs and available at their convenience.

E-government has presented the opportunity to provide innovative measures. This is most clearly demonstrated in the trend toward state and local government web portals, which provide value-added information from various government sites under one standardized web interface. These sites can be accessed at any time.

In 84 percent of U.S. state web portals, citizen services are now being organized based on the needs Americans most often face in their day-to-day lives. For example, the Commonwealth of Virginia state portal provides a “Find it Fast” page that provides links to over 35 citizen services most often accessed by the public. From this page, anyone can link directly to services where they can obtain business licenses, search the State Code of Virginia, make reservations at state parks and campgrounds, and get a copy of a birth certificate, without the need to know which state agency handles these requests.

Electronic commerce sites are also a developing arena for e-government. The area of e-commerce, which involves monetary transactions for government services as well as government purchasing, has been slower to develop due in large part to security concerns. Most people recognize that in order to conduct e-commerce, they must provide personal and financial information on government sites. States are establishing privacy policies and procedures to protect citizens’ personal information, and most states post.

TEXT 5: Cluster analysis of municipalities

PART 1

There is a cluster analysis to sort municipalities into groups. The clusters were formed based on 13 data elements (variables), covering structural, demographic and financial attributes. These variables were chosen because they are typically understood to be characteristics of municipalities of differing types. From this analysis, five major clusters emerged.

Major Urban Centers

The first cluster—major urban centers—may be thought of as a “big city” grouping, although its 19 members include only six cities (Albany, Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Yonkers and White Plains), while 13 are towns. Note that New York City was not included in the analysis, as it is unique in size and many other ways, and really cannot be compared to other cities in the State. Although not in New York City’s league, the municipalities in this group are generally very large—both in terms of population and land area. The towns in this cluster include the largest in the State in terms of population. These towns are generally more urban in nature than other towns, and experience challenges similar to those faced by cities. The major urban centers average over 200,000 residents and nearly 70 square miles, and also contain a larger than average foreign-born population (13.5 percent) and a relatively high level of poverty (11 percent). Urban centers have large budgets (given the large populations they serve and their service mix) and have higher-than-average tax rates.