NASCIO Awards

AWARDS & RECOGNITION

2001 Awards: State Planning and Management Initiatives

WINNER Washington: Washington State Digital Government Plan
[Download Nomination - Word]
The promise of digital government is for the public sector to serve real people conducting real business in real time. In Washington, it also treats the building of digital government as a core competence of state government—not an endeavor to be packaged for total outsourcing. To deliver on this promise and to build digital government from within, Washington state needed a plan that would allow and encourage its agencies to work together, and to take advantage of technology elements that are easily shared and built upon.

As the only government technology plan of its kind in the nation, the Washington State Digital Government Plan outlines the specific steps that Washington's agencies must take to meet citizens' highest expectations for convenient access to services online, and greater efficiency in government's internal operations. The Plan treats the state, with all its various components, as a single enterprise, and follows a "build it once" strategy in which agencies avoid duplication of effort, adhere to common standards, and use a common infrastructure to serve citizens in a seamless way.

The Digital Government Plan is a specific roadmap for how to:

use the Internet to securely deliver government services and information to citizens in ways that are more accessible;
coordinate the development of infrastructure, policy and internet applications among governmental bodies that are accustomed to developing technology projects independently;
achieve a "one face" state government that delivers online information and services in a way that is easy and intuitive to use; and
maximize the use of technology within government to streamline state operations and use resources wisely.

Published in February 2000, Release 1.0 of the Digital Government Plan presents the coordinated steps necessary for Washington state to meet these expectations. At the core of Release 1.0 is a set of deliverable technology architecture pieces—the foundation on which agencies can easily offer more services online. Release 2.0 is largely focused on the enhancement and growth of the state's three portals: Access Washington, the state's Internet Web site; Inside Washington, the statewide intranet; and Transact Washington, a new business-to-government gateway.

The Digital Government Plan keeps the state on course to fulfill the cost-saving potential of doing more business using the power of automation and technology. We are producing real results now, as part of a long-term commitment to re-developing government business practices around the Internet. Washington is using technology tools to streamline state business and reduce the cost of many routine processes. Already, 24 government-to-government applications are in use on the statewide intranet, Inside Washington.

Contact Information: Paul Taylor, Deputy Director, Washington State Department of Information Services, 1110 Jefferson Street S.E., Olympia, WA 98504, (360) 902-3572, Fax: (360) 664-0733, PaulT@dis.wa.gov

Other Nominations:
Click on the link to download program submission.

California
eBusiness Center

Idaho
Idaho Purchasing Modernization Initiative

Iowa
State of Iowa Return on Investment Program

Kansas
State Planning and Management Initiatives

Kentucky
Strategic Alliance Services

Massachusetts
Information Technology Investment Planning

Minnesota
Enterprise Operations Center Study

Nevada
State of Nevada I/T Strategic Planning Legislative CD

New York
New York State Data Center Consolidation

North Carolina
NC Net

Pennsylvania
PA Data Powerhouse Project