MonticelloLive

With the growth of the Internet and online communication in our State and around the world, I am working to connect the people of Arkansas with the latest technology. To that end, I have stepped up our efforts online to offer a new type of electronic access to all Arkansans by overhauling our State’s Web presence.

It is my pleasure to announce that my official Web site has undergone a comprehensive overhaul. The Web site is now more interactive and will allow my administration to deliver more information to Arkansans. This is a first step in a long-term effort to better unify Arkansas’s online presence and make it more accessible and responsive to our citizens. A more interactive state government is a more responsive state government.

Working with several state agencies, like the tremendous staff of the Department of Information Services and the Information Network of Arkansas, my administration is committed to providing our citizens with fast, convenient ways to interact with their government. Earlier this month, the Department of Finance and Administration launched an online tax-filing tool, giving Arkansas business taxpayers a faster way to register as new businesses and pay their state income-tax withholding payments. But, building a better online government does not simply mean putting scores of government forms on the Internet. It means using technology to its fullest to provide services and information centered on citizens. That is why my Web site will continue to offer an e-mail function for the citizens of our state to contact me and my office staff directly.

In conjunction with my new Web site, we have launched a “YouTube” channel on the popular online video-sharing site that allows people to watch and share originally created videos. The channel, www.youtube.com/GovernorMikeBeebe, features video clips of public-service announcements, speeches, and public forums. In the future, we plan to continue to expand video coverage of press conferences and other events. Our goal is to provide full citizen access to Arkansas government through every possible means. Easy access to government videos online improves our ability to meet this goal.

We will continue to work to provide the most up-to-date technological advances to create greater availability of public information. As Thomas Jefferson famously said, “Information is the currency of democracy.”

I believe that the public expects and deserves this kind of service from the government, as people use the Internet now more than ever before. Polling data from the Pew Foundation, for example, shows that more than 40-million Americans went online in 2004 to review Federal, State, and local government policies, and 20-million used the Internet to send their views to government entities about those policies. It’s clear that if State government can harness the power of technology, it will better meet the expectations of an increasingly wired citizenry.

Not only will new technologies help more people access public information, they will also encourage people to stay current with the latest technological changes. In today’s world, just learning to type on the keyboard won’t suffice. Arkansans depend on knowledge found on the information superhighway, and we want our children to be afforded the best and newest learning tools that can be provided.

We will lead by example. Maintaining cutting-edge technology for public information provides new and better ways to gain that information. Given today’s Internet-savvy workforce, it’s essential that we take every opportunity to expose Arkansans to new technologies. Check out the changes on my Web site at governor.arkansas.gov or go to www.arkansas.gov and click on the link. I think you’ll like what you find.