Netgov.com Acquires Gov24.com

By Patience Wait, Staff Writer


NOV. 21 ? Netgov.com, a Chicago-based electronic government company, is purchasing Gov24.com of Cleveland, an Internet business specializing in electronic court transactions and administration.


Netgov, which launched in June, provides online services such as information for citizens, transactions and payments, procurement, courts and Web hosting and content management.


Gov24 develops systems for managing courts and cases online, including filing pleadings, paying fees and viewing case-related documents. Terms of the deal between the two private companies were not disclosed.


"Gov24.com is a perfect addition to Netgov's ASP-based product offering," said John Doherty, president and chief executive officer of Netgov. "Gov24.com gives us an established player in [the court market] segment and allows us to extend our reach into other government vertical markets."


The market for e-government services is growing rapidly. Some 60 percent of the country's local, state and federal agencies could be permitting Internet transactions, according to the GartnerGroup Inc., a technology consulting firm.


Gartner also projects that spending on information technology related to e-government by all levels of government will climb to more than $6.2 billion annually by 2005.