Arizona Touted as National Model for Open Government

Google Case Study Highlights Partnership to Enhance Citizen Access

The State of Arizona is featured in a new case study developed by Google Inc. and in testimony on Capitol Hill. In the case study and congressional testimony Google highlights the Arizona-Google Partnership to increase citizen access to government information.

"People are getting better and better at using the Internet, and it is propelling government to provide more timely information and better online services. Government websites used to be organized in terms of the functions of the bureaucracy. We're now looking to organize information in terms of how people use the Web to get services.” ~ Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano

Early in 2007, the State and Google began working together to make public databases searchable by commercial search engines, thereby making them more accessible to the public. By implementing the Sitemap Protocol, the State has increased citizen access to important information from the Arizona Department of Real Estate, the Registrar of Contractors and several other government agencies.

“The Arizona-Google Partnership was a very economical way to increase citizen access to government.” said Arizona CIO Chris Cummiskey. “I am pleased that Arizona was chosen as a ‘Google Success Story,’ and I look forward to expanding the partnership to other areas of State government.”

The release of the Arizona case study coincided with the testimony of JL Needham, Google’s Manager of Public Sector Content Partnerships, to the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee. At the hearing, Needham testified on Google’s efforts to utilize new and emerging technologies to improve citizen access to government information.

 

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