ANN ARBOR A new study just released from Cyber-state.Org shows that 29 percent of the states nearly 1,900 counties, townships, cities and villages have an official government web site, up 9 percent from the previous survey.
The majority of Michigan local governments with a web site are located on the West and Southeast sides of the state. Of notable exception, projects that are helping to foster intergovernmental cooperation and information sharing are making major strides in increasing the number of local government websites by helping communities that might not otherwise have a web presence get online.
We are pleased to see more local communities get online, and we hope to see continued improvement in their efforts to help citizens find information and communicate with public officials, said Jeff Taylor, Ph.D., Chairman of cyber-states Board of Advisors and President of Michigan Public Health Institute.
Between 89- and 100-percent of all the local governments in Leelanau, Van Buren, Hillsdale, and Charlevoix Counties have an official web presence. As local governments become more savvy with eGovernment solutions that are citizen centered.
Different popular online features continue to
emerge. These include: tax look-up/tax bill codes, job postings, road construction updates, email newsletters, distribution lists and community events. As an area for improvement, cyberstate noted that a majority of Michigans local government web sites lack specific intuitive navigation tools for the information listed on their website. Only 15 percent contain a site index and 30 percent provide a search engine.
Another 76 percent of the web site provide some sort of contact information for the webmaster or the person responsible for the site; while 58 percent provide an email link to a senior government official at the agency.
To view the full report and learn more about this ongoing project, visit cyber-states website at Cyber-state.Org
