Which states are the most digital of all?

Every state has been pushing into the digital landscape, building online services and using IT to streamline its internal operations. But which states are doing it best?

The 2010 Digital States Survey, produced every two years by e.Republic’s Center for Digital Government, ranks Michigan and Utah at the top of the heap, each with a score of A+. Pennsylvania and Virginia followed with scores of A. Idaho, Indiana and South Carolina brought up the rear, with scores of C-, the lowest given by the survey. In the 2008 survey, Utah, Michigan and Virginia tools the top three spots, followed by Arizona. Pennsylvania, tied for 10th two years ago, made the biggest jump, moving into the top four this year.

The survey evaluated states in eight categories, including adaptive leadership and innovation; people's engagement and open government; and administration and human resource management. The highest-scoring states showed good results across all of those categories, according the announcement on the center’s website. The center also ranks the top five states in each of the eight categories.

The site includes an interactive map of the United States that displays each state’s score when a cursor hovers over it. Click on the map, and you get a list of each state, its score and examples of projects the center deems to be best practices.

For example, Michigan is credited with best practices in five areas, including enterprise IT, energy and transportation and health and human services. Utah also has five best practices, including public safety and finance and administration. Thirty-four states had no best practices listed.

The rankings by grade:

A — Michigan, Utah.

A- — Pennsylvania, Virginia.
 
B+ — California, Colorado, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, Oregon, South Dakota, Tennessee.
 
B — Arizona, Arkansas, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, North Dakota, Texas, West Virginia.

B- — Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Nebraska, New Mexico, Ohio, Washington.

C+ — Alaska, Iowa, Maine, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Vermont, Wisconsin.
 
C — Alabama, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Wyoming.
 
C- — Idaho, Indiana, South Carolina.