Committee calls Web shots in Hawaii

Hawaii Gov. Benjamin Cayetano approved a bill on June 29 that creates an oversight committee to manage the state's World Wide Web portal (www.ehawaiigov.org).

"This is the perfect example of a public/private partnership, and it would be unfair for us to say this is how it has to be done," said Aka DeMasa, general manager of the portal. Instead, because the portal brings together all state agencies, everyone's opinions must be considered, DeMasa said.

The bill also appropriates $250,000 to the state's public library system in order to buy computers, Internet connections and Internet kiosks.

The eHawaiiGov Committee, which will be comprised of about 12 people from all government levels, will review potential new electronic government applications; charges to portal users; service agreements between the manager and government agencies; annual financial reports and manager audits; customer satisfaction surveys; and privacy and portal standards.

The committee will also help the state library system provide access to the Internet by installing computer hardware and providing Internet training in at least half of the state's public libraries.

The state's portal, hosted by National Information Consortium, was launched in February. It offers various commerce functions including business name searches, company performance records and insurance company information. It also offers fresh-water fishing license registration.