INTRODUCTION
The Services and Transactions Committee (Committee) has three initial tasks:
In fulfillment of the first initial task, the Committee members researched what other states, cities and governmental instrumentalities are doing and planning in terms of using technology to deliver services to their citizens. In addition, the Committee was briefed by Nancy Dean, Director of Special Projects, as to what the city is currently offering through technology in the delivery of decentralized services and what is currently planned for the future. This report is a consolidation of the information received during this initial research phase.
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS
From the research, two general observations can be made regarding the use of technology to provide decentralized services to citizens:
STATUS OF THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO
Any research on the provision of decentralized services should begin with what is currently being provided by the City of San Antonio itself.
Via the kiosk system currently in place, the following services and transaction can be performed:
In the future, citizens will also be able to make and file city complaints. Via the city home page, citizens can initiate request for city services. The services include those for public works and code compliance. You can also print out an application to be mailed which would put you on the city bid list.
RESEARCH ON OTHER GOVERNMENTAL INSTRUMENTALITIES
This section will summarize the research found on other governmental instrumentalities. The next section lists all the web sites where the specific information can be found. All the specific projects will not be listed, as to do so would be too long. However, the information can all be found at the sites provided below.
Iowa Access is the intergovernmental effort that encompasses 14 technology projects, a Steering Committee and a Citizen Council. Some of the projects include obtaining, on-line, business licenses and environmental permits.
The state of Washington delivers information via kiosks and will be expanding the kiosks to allow for payment. They have also just developed a program over the Internet that automatically computes taxes and enables businesses to file their returns electronically.
Massachusettes provides a large number of application forms on-line which citizens can download and use. It also allows on-line transactions dealing with the renewal of drivers and automobile licenses.
The City of Santa Monica has an advanced Public Electronic Network. In addition to providing a large amount of information, it allows the following services to be done on-line:
The Minnesota Internet Center assists Minnesota communities in realizing the community development potential of information and telecommunications technologies. It provides links to other sites including Minnesota localities regarding their technology projects.
The Davis Community Network provides a list and description of technology project. Most the projects listed dealt more with information as opposed to the provision of services.
GovGuide is an online guide to government services for the San Francisco Bay Area currently being developed by Smart Valley, Inc. and the Association of Bay Area Governments. It provides a list and description of technology project in the Bay area for participating cities. There are several projects being developed which would allow for obtaining construction permits on-line.
There is a Permit Automation Conference which will take place this spring in Reno, Nevada which is hosted by one of the permit software companies.