Businesses have been using the power of the Internet to reach their customers effectively; now local governments are exploring the same opportunities to communicate with their publics. Most of the 90,000 local governments in the U.S, however, are small, and many lack local resources to design and maintain a website. Access eGovernment shows local governments how to find those resources, and how to plan information-rich websites to transact business and communicate with their citizens.

Access eGovernment builds on the successful e-commerce program, Access Minnesota Main Street, which shows rural and small businesses how to become players in the world of e-commerce. Through an on-line tutorial, Access eGovernment explains the content, services, technology, politics and issues specific to e-government. It provides examples of government websites nationwide, criteria for evaluating websites, suggestions for website content, links to services that support disseminating public information, suggestions for website design, and discussions of privacy and disability issues. In addition to the online tutorial, Access eGovernment offers presentation materials to help introduce the program to local groups.

Access eGovernment Design Team

Contact the design team at info@accessE.info if you are interested in tailoring the Access eGovernment program for your organization.

• Rae Montgomery, Project Leader, University of Minnesota Extension
• Marian Anderson, Project Leader,University of Minnesota Extension
• Toni Smith, University of Minnesota Extension
• Suzanne Driessen, University of Minnesota Extension
• Peg Braaten, University of Minnesota Extension
• Tom Klein, University of Minnesota Extension 
• Karen Matthes, University of Minnesota Extension
• John Bryson, University of Minnesota HHH Institute of Public Affairs
• Mike Disher, Morrison County Government, Minnesota
• Bill Shuffstall, Penn State Cooperative Extension

The Access eGovernment tutorial is authored and updated by Dana Noonan, Internet Consultant (www.infomaven.com) under contract with University of Minnesota Extension. Dana is also the author of the Access Minnesota Main Street electronic commerce curriculum and the State and Local Government on the Net index.

Project Partners

Access eGovernment was created by University of Minnesota Extension in partnership with the Association of Minnesota Counties and Penn State Cooperative Extension.

Use of these materials:

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