Governors Get E-Government Tools

The National Governors Association unveiled its new tool kit for helping governors develop electronic government today at its annual meeting in Providence, R.I.

The tool kit contains implementation strategies, examples of successful electronic programs and additional resources to help governors and state technology officials streamline state operations and improve customer service. The tool kit is available on the NGA Web site, www.nga.org/center/egovernment.

"Taken together, these tools will assist governors in building state e-government for the future," said Erin Lee, NGA's Center for Best Practices, which designed the tool kit.

The tool kit was unveiled Aug. 6 during a meeting of NGA's e-Governance Task Force, a group formed to help governors realize the full potential of e-government and its implications for transforming state government.

The meeting included a presentation by Michael Hammer, a recognized expert on business process re-engineering, who spoke to the governors about how e-government can make state government more effective and more economically competitive.

The meeting also included a demonstration of an economic development Web portal prototype designed to show governors the potential for electronic government when a state shares information effectively across all agencies.

The nine-member task force is led by Kentucky Gov. Paul Patton and Wyoming Gov. Jim Geringer. Other governors serving on the task force are Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman, Connecticut Gov. John Rowland, Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes, Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne, Iowa Gov. Paul Vilsack, Maine Gov. Angus King Jr. and Nevada Gov. Kenny Guin.