Online, Michigan is #1

2004 Digital States Survey

Michigan claimed the top spot for its use of e-government in a new survey of states released by the Center for Digital Government.

The Digital States Survey identifies the top 25 states in terms of their best practices, policies and progress in using technology to better serve their citizens and streamline operations.

Following Michigan in the 2004 study are:

Washington.

Virginia.

Indiana.

Arizona.

South Dakota.

Tennessee.

Utah.

Arkansas.

Colorado.

North Carolina, which tied for 10th.

After taking off 2003 to revise the study and better focus on strategy, management and results, officials from the center used the study to examine each state's use of technology through more than 60 measurements.

The questions, which go out to the chief information officers in every state, look at service delivery, architecture and infrastructure, collaboration and leadership, with the intention of establishing benchmarks for future measurement of progress in:

Implementation and adoption — how well states do with offering a full suite of end-to-end online services.

Capacity and collaboration — use of enterprise architecture, and interagency services and information sharing.

Institutionalizing innovation — the shift from agency-by-agency investments to focusing on advancing an entire sector or function.

Many of the states in the top 10 improved over their placement in the 2002 study — including Michigan moving from second to first and Virginia from sixth to third — and the placements should continue to change as states implement new policies and practices.

"In the hands of some incredibly talented and knowledgeable leaders, states have advanced to an entirely new level of digital government," Cathilea Robinett, executive director of the center, said in a statement.

The center will continue to conduct the survey every other year in order to better assess state's progress, according to officials.