Office of Governor Gary Locke
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - June 5, 2001
Contact:  Governor's Communications Office, 360-902-4136
Alt Contact:  Ellen Langley, Department of Information Services, 360-902-3567

Washington's social services get perfect score in 2001 Digital State Survey

OLYMPIA - Washington is well on its way to proving once again that it leads the other 49 states in providing excellent Internet-based government services to its citizens, Gov. Gary Locke announced today.

Washington's social services scored a perfect 100 in first-round results of the 2001 Digital State Survey, which eventually leads to the prestigious Digital State Award.

That survey is conducted by the Center for Digital Government in conjunction with Government Technology magazine and the Progress & Freedom Foundation.

Washington shares the top position in the social services category with Kansas.

The nation's three-time and only Digital State award-winner, Washington is off to another strong start in the four-part survey in which national policy and technology experts evaluate how well state governments use technology to improve service delivery to citizens.

"Washington leads the nation in delivering state government services through the Internet," said Locke. "Our agencies work hard to bring citizens powerful digital tools to help them get off the road and out of line through easy desktop access to information and key services."

Multiple state agencies share credit for the top rating by building new online services that support the disadvantaged, the unemployed and the elderly. The Department of Social and Health Services, for example, contributed electronic benefit transfer (EBT) systems and smart cards for benefits delivery.

"Innovative use of technology is one of the very effective ways we are integrating services -- making it easy for our clients to get the right service on the first try," said DSHS Secretary Dennis Braddock. "We really care about the people we serve and are hard at work on our No Wrong Door initiative that will help transform our service delivery to the public."

Employment resources are another important element of Washington's online portfolio of social services, including the Employment Security Department's wide range of Web-enabled services to help citizens find jobs and claim unemployment insurance.

"The public expects more and more options, including convenient services on the Internet, and we've moved quickly over the past year to provide these services," said Employment Security Commissioner Sylvia Mundy. "We are now a national leader in taking unemployment insurance claims over the net and have built a WorkSource Web-based system with more than 18,000 in-state jobs to help those claimants get back to work. In just the past month, jobseekers used the WorkSource site nearly 100,000 times, double the number a year ago."

Round one in the Digital State Survey also includes the category of Law Enforcement and the Courts, in which Washington placed among the top 10 states. This category benchmarks use of digital technologies by the judicial system, including online access to court opinions, the use of digital communications by police agencies and the availability of digital signature capability for contracts and filings.

Paul Taylor, deputy director of the Department of Information Services, attributes Washington's success to determined collaboration. "We have learned that the power to transform counter-bound, stovepipe thinking into public service for the Internet Age is the outcome of dynamic partnerships among agencies, information technology professionals, private industry and constituents," Taylor said.

The survey concludes in December when an overall final score is tallied. The state achieving the top ranking in all four parts of the yearlong survey will receive the Digital State award, which has become a symbol of excellence and innovation in technology.

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