New Hanover County Information Technology Department	Issued:  05/11/01
	Policy Number:  4-00
Subject:  E-Government Initiative in New Hanover County

PURPOSE AND SCOPE:

The purpose of this policy is to define the manner in which the county will use emerging web technology to expand its service offerings to the departments and to the public.  This policy will outline a series of steps the Information Technology Department will follow as it re-engineers its current web site and expands its use as a core component of the way the county conducts business. 

The scope of this policy applies to all areas where the web is used to enhance county business.  The management of the Information Technology Department is responsible for insuring that appropriate plans are developed to implement the objectives listed in this policy.  The staff of the Information Technology Department is responsible for implementing those plans in the manner prescribed by the plan.  The county management is responsible for funding the implementation of this plan.

CHANGE SUMMARY:

None.  This is the Original Document

POLICY:

It is the policy of the county to expand the scope of its operations to include the full implementation of web technology to its business processes.  The guidelines outlined in this policy are to be followed as this technology is applied in the county. 

PROCEDURE:

The process New Hanover County will follow as is seeks to expand the usefulness of the Internet in the operation of county government will contain several distinct steps.  Each step must be completed in sequence since there are dependent relationships between the steps.  A listing of the currently perceived steps follows:

Step 1: Separate the current county web site into an Internet site and an Intranet site. 

The current county web site has been very successful and many users have complemented the county on its usefulness.  However, this site came into being by a gradual and evolutionary process.  This means that the county added new functions and more information as time passed.

We have now reached the point where we publish information on the web site that is intended both for external and internal use.  This is a confusing situation and it unduly complicates the site.  The result is that page navigation is made more difficult for unfamiliar users.  Further, some desirable information that would be useful to staff is not published on the site because that particular information must remain inside the county administration.

It is now time to physically divide the web site into 2 sites.  One site (the internet) will publish information designed for use by the outside world.  The other site (the intranet) will publish information designed for county staff.  This effort will simplify the current site structure so the public will be better able to find the information they seek.  And, it will provide a secure site that staff can use to transact confidential county business.

Step 2:  Learn how to transmit business information over the web in a secure manner. 

Once the first step is completed, we can move on to designing business transactions that can be completed over the Internet.  This capability is usually referred to as e-business and is desirable to county management because that capability aligns well with our stated management objectives. 

The county management wishes to make doing business with the county as easy as possible from anywhere in the world.

The county management wishes to keep its electronic office open 24x7x365 so that a citizen can visit those offices at a time convenient to the citizen.

The county management wishes to lower the cost of business transactions and thereby limit the growth of county budget.

The county management wishes to offer its citizens an opportunity to do business with their government in the same electronic manner as they conduct business with their bank and their retail merchants.

In order to meet these stated objectives, the county must be able to assure its citizens that it is safe to submit credit card payments over the Internet.  The county must develop the capability to secure and encrypt transactions so that no unwanted use of county or citizen information can occur.

Step 3:  Develop the “portal” concept for our web site.     

The uses the public have come to expect from web sites have expanded well beyond those envisioned by early web designers.  Initial web sites were usually constructed in a hierarchal manner that tended to reflect the organizational structure of the enterprise.  To make full use of such a site, the user had to have some familiarity with that organization.  This is the process that the county followed when our site was constructed.

The current trend is to move from that concept to one known as a “portal” construct.  This name is intended to suggest that the design of the site is flat rather than hierarchal and that the site contains information (or links to information) that go well beyond the hosting organization.  So, a redesigned county Internet site would contain the normal county information but it would also include access to regional, national and worldwide information as well.

The advantage of this approach is that a user could come to our site and find all the information they desire about our region without having to know our organizational structure.  Information concerning county, state or federal governments, area vacations, public and private schools of all levels, business, civic and the medical community could all be located without leaving the original site.  This design concept replaces the current requirement that a user must visit 5 or 6 different sites to collect that same information.

Step 4:  Define the specifics of a “Community Network”.

In order to advance the use of the web to a higher level of usefulness, we should focus our attention on economic development in the region.  In order to use the web in this manner, it is imperative that we become a “connected community”.  This means that all enterprises in the region would have access to a network over which they could transact e-business.  The idea is that by providing this connectivity, the already existing businesses in the region could grow their enterprise by expanding their marketing effort to the entire world.  If this marketing proves successful, that business will grow.  And, if that business grows, it will create new jobs and new wealth for the region.  If that outcome is enjoyed by many of the existing enterprises in the region, then the entire region will experience the growth it desires without having to recruit new businesses to the region.  Any growth resulting from traditional business recruitment would be added to the growth experienced by already existing businesses.  The combination of these two approaches would give us a “click and brick” strategy for Economic Development.

Step 5: Create a Governing Board for the Community Network. 

It is not anticipated that the county would actually build the community network discussed above.  Rather, that function would most likely be outsourced to an enterprise that would undertake that venture in the hope of making a profit from it.  The role the county would play in this effort would be to encourage/guide the formation of a Governing Board that would oversee the policy decisions associated with the venture. 

Establishing the rules that would govern the operation of the Community Network would insure that the stated interests of the venture would be met. 

Step 6:  Energize the Economic Development Effort. 

Once the guidelines of the network are established, a business partner must be located that will construct the network.  Once constructed, it would be opened to the region’s enterprises.  A concerted effort must then be defined and initiated that would encourage and assist the businesses in the region that wish to engage in e-business over that network.  A program designed to assist each new enterprise that joins the network must be created.  Most likely, the best way to achieve this objective would be to work through the existing Economic Development organizations in the region.  With this new tool, these organizations will be better equipped to meet their growth objectives.  If those objectives are met, the region will be the beneficiary of this effort.

CHANGE HISTORY:

Version	Date	Author	Comments
A	05/11/01	BC	Original Document