Essential Information for Government

E-Government

E-government is using the Internet and GIS to create more effective government. The combination of readily available Internet access and maps lets governments provide a new level of service to both businesses and the public.

GIS-enabled Web sites can provide services for the following.

• Government-to-business applications for economic development, land development, licensing, or permitting.
• Government-to-citizen applications provide information on government services and streamline the interaction for accounting and feedback.
• Government-to-government applications improve the amount, quality, and speed of information exchange within and among various levels of government.

Better communication helps governments and citizens use resources more wisely. In addition, it allows agencies to collaborate on large-scale planning problems and respond to emergencies.

GIS Portals

GIS portal technologies are helping to organize all the individual GIS efforts in dozens of countries around the world. These individual portals, which register GIS services, will grow to become interconnected and share metadata information.

In the United States, the Geospatial One-Stop Web site is one of 24 presidential initiatives that encourage data sharing, collaborative planning, and expanded partnerships.

• The Role of GIS Portals and Spatial Data Infrastructures
  GISUser.com, July 15, 2004—by Clint Brown, ESRI
• Geospatial One-Stop and Hurricane Isabel: Riders on the Storm ArcNews—By Hank Garie, Executive Director, Geospatial One-Stop