Digital Government

A measure of the utilization of digital technologies in state governments.

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT? State governments that fully embrace the potential of networked information technologies will not only increase the quality and cut the costs of government services, but also help to foster broader use of information technologies among residents and businesses, leading to faster economic growth. Government can play a key role in advancing the digital economy by refocusing its procurement power and providing a critical mass of digital services, from smart cards for welfare recipients to online tax filing and voting. But for these efforts to work, they must be intimately linked to reengineering government itself.

THE RANKINGS: States with a tradition of progressive “good government” appear to have gone farther along the path toward digital government than states without this tradition. But this
relationship is not completely predictive. In part, this may be because digital government efforts appear to be driven by the efforts of particular individuals—governors, secretaries of state, legislative committee chairmen—who believe that their states should go in this direction.

STATES BY RANK
Rank	State	Score
1	Washington	79.7
2	Wisconsin	79.5
3	Alaska	76.6
4	Missouri	73.5
5	Kansas	72.9
6	Florida	72.7
7	South Dakota	71.5
8	Minnesota	71.2
9	Michigan	70.6
10	Pennsylvania	70.4
11	Wyoming	69.8
12	Maryland	69.4
13	Arizona	68.8
14	Massachusetts	67.7
15	Nebraska	67.2
16	Indiana	67.1
17	Virginia	67.0
18	Oregon	65.7
19	Utah	65.7
20	Tennessee	63.7
21	South Carolina	63.4
22	California	62.8
23	Kentucky	62.1
24	Connecticut	61.0
25	New York	60.1
26	Iowa	59.5
27	Ohio	59.4
28	New Jersey	59.1
29	Mississippi	58.7
30	Colorado	58.5
31	Texas	58.2
32	Nevada	56.8
33	North Carolina	56.5
34	Alabama	56.1
35	New Hampshire	55.3
36	Vermont	55.3
37	New Mexico	52.4
38	Oklahoma	52.1
39	North Dakota	50.9
40	Delaware	50.5
41	Montana	49.8
42	Maine	48.9
43	Rhode Island	48.2
44	Idaho	48.0
45	Hawaii	46.3
46	West Virginia	46.1
47	Louisiana	45.0
48	Georgia	44.3
49	Arkansas	41.2
50	Illinois	39.4

	U.S. average	60.4

ALPHABETICALLY
State	Rank	Score
Alabama	34	56.1
Alaska	3	76.6
Arizona	13	68.8
Arkansas	49	41.2
California	22	62.8
Colorado	30	58.5
Connecticut	24	61.0
Delaware	40	50.5
Florida	6	72.7
Georgia	48	44.3
Hawaii	45	46.3
Idaho	44	48.0
Illinois	50	39.4
Indiana	16	67.1
Iowa	26	59.5
Kansas	5	72.9
Kentucky	23	62.1
Louisiana	47	45.0
Maine	42	48.9
Maryland	12	69.4
Massachusetts	14	67.7
Michigan	9	70.6
Minnesota	8	71.2
Mississippi	29	58.7
Missouri	4	73.5
Montana	41	49.8
Nebraska	15	67.2
Nevada	32	56.8
New Hampshire	35	55.3
New Jersey	28	59.1
New Mexico	37	52.4
New York	25	60.1
North Carolina	33	56.5
North Dakota	39	50.9
Ohio	27	59.4
Oklahoma	38	52.1
Oregon	18	65.7
Pennsylvania	10	70.4
Rhode Island	43	48.2
South Carolina	21	63.4
South Dakota	7	71.5
Tennessee	20	63.7
Texas	31	58.2
Utah	19	65.7
Vermont	36	55.3
Virginia	17	67.0
Washington	1	79.7
West Virginia	46	46.1
Wisconsin	2	79.5
Wyoming	11	69.8

Source: Progress & Freedom Foundation, 1998 data.

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