Maine's State Web Portal Ranked First in the Nation in E-Governance.

The state of Maine ranked first of all 50 states regarding the electronic delivery of public service and citizen participation in governance, according to a recent survey conducted jointly by Rutgers University and San Francisco State University.

The survey praised Maine's state Web site, www.Maine.gov, for its overall score and gave exceptionally high marks to Maine for service delivery, citizen participation, security, and usability.

"We are extremely pleased at the recognition in this survey," said Richard Thompson, Maine's Chief Information Officer. "We place a priority on creating innovative, secure, and useful online services that make a difference to citizens and businesses. The Internet provides opportunity for new ways for citizens to engage and interact with government as well as an efficient way to conduct business." Maine.gov received the highest ranking, with Oregon, Utah, South Carolina, and Indiana rounding out the top five ranked state Web sites.

According to the E-Governance survey report, "States across the United States are increasingly developing Web sites to provide their services online; however, e-government is more than simply constructing a Web site. The emphasis should be more focused on using such technologies to effectively provide government services."

Maine ranked first among all states in the survey categories of service delivery and citizen participation, and fourth in security. These rankings reflect the number of interactive government services that can be completed online through Maine.gov, and the numerous opportunities for public comment and involvement. About Maine.gov Maine.gov (http://www.Maine.gov) is the official Web portal of the state of Maine and a repeat winner in the Center for Digital Government's "Best of the Web" competition. Maine.gov is a service of the Information Resource of Maine, a collaborative effort between the state of Maine and Maine Information Network, LLC., part of the NIC (NASADQ: EGOV) family of companies. About NIC NIC is the nation's leading provider of official government portals, online services, and secure payment processing solutions. The company's innovative eGovernment services help reduce costs and increase efficiencies for government agencies, citizens, and businesses across the country. NIC provides eGovernment solutions for more than 3000 federal, state, and local agencies that serve 97 million people in the United States. Additional information is available at http://www.nicusa.com.

Keywords: Technology, Internet, Internet, Web Portals, World Wide Web, Maine.gov.

This article was prepared by Internet Business Newsweekly editors from staff and other reports. Copyright 2009, Internet Business Newsweekly via VerticalNews.com.