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That's
the goal of wisconsin.gov
By
Ray Barrington
Dotcom Magazine
If you've
ever had to deal with government, you know it can be time-consuming
at best, exasperating at worst.
Go here, go there, then double back to where you were. If
the staff behind the state's new governmental Web site,
www.wisconsin.gov, have their way, that will become a thing
of the past.
The site, introduced in January during Gov. Tommy Thompson's
farewell State of the State address, allows easier access
to all aspects of state government, says Linda Seemeyer
of the state Department of Administration.
"We tried to make this site more citizen-centric," she said.
"With the old site, you really needed to know which agency
you wanted." Even the address was more confusing: badger.state.wi.us
is hardly easy to remember for somebody in, say, New Mexico.
Not only is the new site easier to find, but it's easier
to use. "We hope outside the state when they're considering
visiting Wisconsin or maybe moving here, they'll get on
the Web and take a look," Seemayer said.
A user could check on tourist attractions, employment services,
educational systems or road conditions.
A primary feature is a "build a business" link.
"Each of the state agencies have a piece of that," Seemayer
said. "If you want to form a limited liability corporation,
you have to register with the Department of Financial Institutions,
then the Department of Revenue for a tax number, the Department
of Workforce Development for unemployment compensation.
What we've tried to do is to bring them all to one place."
Eventually, Seemayer said. Wisconsin residents might be
able to handle all of their licensing needs online. They
might even pay taxes through the site.
The state started work on the new site in September and
was brought online during Thompson's speech.
"Our goal was to have it ready by the State of the State,"
Seemayer said. "We had tremendous cooperation from all the
agencies."
The site is supported heavily by new Gov. Scott McCallum,
Seemayer said.
"He's a real advocate for e-commerce and e-government,"
she said.
But McCallum has made one immediate change in the site.
As originally designed, the home page of the site had updated
Wisconsin lottery numbers.
McCallum, a foe of gambling, had them removed, although
a link to the state lottery's Web site remains on the page.
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