E-Gov: Progress and Performance November 10th, 2009
Portia Krebs

From the campaign trail to the White House, President Obama has made clear that broadband innovations are fundamental to enhancing America’s digital democracy and to providing greater government transparency.  With CTO Aneesh Chopra and CIO Vivek Kundra leading the charge toward technology innovation and integration, this year has seen a flurry of government initiatives to increase citizen access to information.

How do Americans feel about the changes?  According to a ‘new survey,’ customer satisfaction with government websites ranks its highest in six years, with 75.2 out of 100-points on the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI).  Based on the evaluation of 104 federal websites and a poll of nearly 300,000 citizens, the ACSI study noted that 86 percent of the citizens satisfied with a site also say the Internet is their go-to resource to find answers.  And online satisfaction not only means happy customers, it also yields time and cost efficiencies.

How has e-gov progressed since the President’s first days in office?  Chopra cites the WhiteHouse.gov website – which, since its overhaul, has seen Internet traffic skyrocket thousands of percent.  Driving this higher level of citizen engagement is the increased use of video which has helped ignite greater interest.  And this is only one of many websites across the government landscape that have been launched or revamped.

New media tools have also played a crucial role in connecting with citizens in a more dynamic and up-to-the-minute way.  From YouTube videos to blogs and Twitter feeds, this Administration has been ratcheting up its social media portfolio to keep its conversation with constituents going.

Chopra himself says the U.S. has barely scratched the surface of the digital era, and expects far more innovation and integration at the government level.  He is also focusing on using technology to deliver results that shape transformative U.S. policies.  With such ambitious goals and a team working actively to attain this vision, we will no doubt continue to see our digital democracy grow and thrive, thanks to broadband-powered innovations.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 10th, 2009 at 11:56 am and is filed under Industry News, Reports and Studies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.