Date:

October 19, 2000

For More Information Contact:

Diane Gonzolas, Citizen Information Center, 441-7831
Terry Lowe, Information Services, 441-7113

Mayor Don Wesely today announced his vision for the expanded delivery of government services through InterLinc, the official web site of the City of Lincoln and Lancaster County. All services are accessed through www.lincoln.ne.gov.

"Citizens already have many ways of doing business with the city and getting information through our web site," Wesely said. "The goal of our E-Government Initiative is to use this technology to its fullest in serving the public." (A list of E-Government opportunities now offered follows this release.)

Wesley said the initiative will address areas such as economic development; the removal of legal barriers to enable digital documents and signatures; the planning of hardware and software migration; employee training; and the coordination of grants and requests-for- proposals.

"The city needs to use technology to its fullest to improve efficiency of government as well as to make city government as citizen-friendly and business-friendly as possible," Wesely said. "Efforts to utilize more technology will also help better position the community in efforts with the Lincoln Partnership for Economic Development (LPED) to make Lincoln a wired high tech city to locate a business. Part of making the city attractive to business is to make sure the city government utilizes technology in a unified manner to the greatest extent possible."

The following are major points of the Mayor's E-Government Initiative:

• An upcoming Executive Order will soon be issued announcing the InterLinc Project Partners, who will help promote InterLinc to citizens.

• A Mayoral Directive will be issued to all city departments heads to file a technology plan stating how each department will use the Internet to deliver on-line government services. The Mayor will require each city department to prepare a technology plan identifying services and methods to improve the delivery of services using technology and the Internet.

• An Internet Services Fund will be established for infrastructure items, hardware, software and support costs. A variety of options are being considered including a competitive departmental grant program.

• The Information Services Division will be the coordinator of all Internet related projects and programs. The Mayor is forming a "Departments Technology Committee" comprised of representatives from each city department who will help ensure technology is coordinated, complementary and compatible between departments.

"Technological innovations are occurring every day, and that means many new opportunities for providing services," Wesely said. "With a comprehensive and coordinated strategy, we can continue to be a leader in this area. We need to remove the legal and physical barriers that exist to enhance the government, citizen and business use of technology. As we begin work on the new comprehensive plan for the city, technology is a component that must be included in the discussion."

Examples of current City of Lincoln E-Government opportunities now available to citizens that will be promoted and expanded:

• The property database includes maps and 70,000 photos.

• The deeds database includes images of documents (840,000 pages) and images of old land index books (32,000 pages).

• Citizens and businesses can access building permits on-line. Currently being developed is a system to allow businesses and citizens to be able to apply for permits online.

• The Building and Safety Inspectors have been issued laptops to increase their efficiency by having them enter reports on the laptop during the site inspection. The data is then directly downloaded into the Building and Safety computer system and is available to the public much quicker so they can obtain the inspection reports, check plan review status or schedule inspections

• Wireless Palm 7 users have access to property information, animal control, fire runs, polling places and the City-County telephone directory.

• Live and on-demand video streaming is available for public service announcements, the sex offenders list, City/County projects and educational videos. City Council meetings will soon be available for on-demand access by the public.

• In 1998, the Lincoln Police Department began making available a current listing of active arrest warrants automatically updated every day as well as daily listings of police dispatches and summaries of activities of the past seven days. Stolen property listings are also available and up to date. Since April 1999, two interactive map applications allow citizens to examine crime trends in their own neighborhoods. In July 1999, LPD became the first law enforcement agency in the country to make accident reports available to the public free of charge via the Internet. Also available on-line are LPD statistics, publications, crime prevention information and the annual report.

• Library patrons can review their records, renew checked-out items, place materials on reserve, ask reference questions and access electronic books. Full text copies of magazine articles are available through subscription data bases.

• The City-County Personnel Department posts job openings, application forms, supplemental questionnaires, job classes, pay plans and union contracts on the Internet.

• The City Attorney provides all municipal codes on-line and an electronic form for making inquiries.

• Information available from the Lincoln-Lancaster County Women's Commission includes a current list of Commissioners; nomination forms for awards; annual programs; brochures; and information on the Lincoln-Lancaster Women's Alliance.

• Information on the Public Works and Utilities web site includes street closings; traffic volumes; school safety zones; parking information; petitions and permits; bus schedules, routes and maps; snow and ice removal maps; water rates and billing; utility locations; and standard specifications for construction.

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