Washington, D.C.'s municipal e-government site is number one in the nation according to a Rutgers University study. The study was carried out by a partnership of E-Governance Institute, School of Public Affairs and Administration at Rutgers University-Newark, and the Department of Public Administration at San Francisco State University. A very academic and nonpartisan judgment was made using the
comprehensive Rutgers E-Governance Performance Index that measures 98 characteristics and classifies them into five categories: privacy, usability, service, content, and citizen participation.
Cities in the Midwest received the highest spots in the study with an average score of 45.84. Those in the West managed a 41.41 score, right behind was the South and Northeast with scores of 41.40 and 39.03 respectively. The Midwestern cities also were the top of each of the categories.
The E-governance study looks most closely at the municipalities' focus on usability and content. The researchers place a high premium on privacy, services and citizen participation. One of the most common features on the cities' websites emergency management features concerning
weather, epidemics, or treats, with more than half exhibiting such features. Yet, only about 13% of the sites are accessible to the blind in their communities. Here are some the features of Washington, DC's website:
- View and pay utility bills,
- Renew driver's licenses
- View public records
- Access to Geospatial Information System (GIS) for city communities, museums, national buildings, rail and bus lines.
- CapStat, is a state of the art performance measurement system that lets citizens track the how well individual agencies perform their services, or analyze statistics of selected neighborhoods.
Below is the rating that each city received:
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