California Wins Second in 'Best of the Web' National Competition for State Governments

SACRAMENTO, Calif.--(Business Wire)--
The State of California has won second place in the national "Best of the Web"
competition held by the Center for Digital Government. The competition
recognizes significant achievement in the overall web presence of state and
local governments. California placed third in this competition last year and did
not rank in past years.

"I am committed to making government more accessible and responsive by having
the best possible online presence - Californians expect nothing less," said
Governor Schwarzenegger. "I would like to congratulate all of the hard working
Webmasters and IT professionals for pushing our website toward the top of the
list. This recognition is great news for the many people who want to access
services, information and connect with their state government."

"This award recognizes our progress in transforming the way we deliver state
services to Californians - the central focus of Governor Schwarzenegger's agenda
to rebuild California's technology infrastructure," said Teri Takai, the State
Chief Information Officer. "By leveraging our technology assets, we have a
tremendous opportunity to greatly improve government operations and save our
precious resources, including taxpayer funding."

Best of the Web ranks the top U.S. state and local Web portals, recognizing
advances in digital solutions and communication with citizens, government
communities and business. The awards are judged by a panel of experts on a wide
range of categories, including site accessibility, innovation, cost-savings,
ease of use, and exceptional service to public.

Earlier this year, the State launched a newly redesigned Web portal, CA.gov,
with an improved, interactive design linking to new features, including widgets,
social networking Web sites and news and information provided by state agencies,
departments, boards and commissions and more. The CA.gov portal provides access
to more than 4 million pages of information, services, and on-line transactions
from 155 state agency Web sites. Some features that can be found through the
portal include:

* More than 1000 live highway traffic camera feeds,
* More than 700 online services, ranging from professional licensing to
applications for benefits and more,
* More than 540 government-sponsored YouTube videos,
* N11 directory services for traffic, traveler, repair, community, health,
disaster, emergency and other local information,
* A live help operator available to chat Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to
10:00 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time,
* 10 major state photo galleries with tens of thousands of photos,
* More than 100 state social networking websites,
* 24 state agencies with various RSS feeds; and
* 51 state agency email alert subscriptions.

On July 9, 2009, the State of California launched a new iPhone application
hosted on the CA.gov portal which helps citizens and businesses find and contact
government offices on their iPhones. To increase the availability of information
and services for Californians on-the-go, the new application provides a
directory to selected California government offices and service centers. It can
be downloaded at the Apple iTunes Store, or by visiting the www.mobile.ca.gov
website.

Also in July, the State launched an online data repository on the California
State Portal that posts state government data in raw, machine-readable formats,
so it can be reused in different ways. The site allows the public greater access
to build custom applications to analyze and display the information. The data
includes information on the economy, public health, transportation, environment
and more on a single website.

Governor Schwarzenegger has made it a priority to publish information on the
Internet to improve services for Californians and increase government
transparency and accountability including:

* In August, he launched www.MyIdea4CA.com, a Web site for Twitter users to
share their ideas for moving California forward. The Twitter forum is an
extension of a conversation that began in June 2009 when the Governor asked the
public for new ideas on the state budget.
* On June 10, he launched a new feature called "Waste Watchers" on his Web site
at www.gov.ca.gov and his Reporting Transparency site. The Waste Watchers site
allows state employees and other Californians to go online and report any
government waste they may be aware of, either anonymously or by name.
* On June 4, he signed Executive Order S-08-09 and launched a new component to
the Web site requiring all state contracts valued at $5,000 or more to be posted
online. It also lists both the internal and external audits of state departments
and agencies, including information on operations, budget and programs, dating
back to January 1, 2008.
* In April, he launched the Reporting Transparency in Government Web site to
make publicly available the statement of economic interests, Form 700s and the
travel expense claims for the Governor's office senior staff and deputies,
agency secretaries, agency undersecretaries and department directors.
* In March, the Web site, Recovery.ca.gov was also launched by the Governor as a
one-stop site to track how Recovery Act funding is coming into and being used in
California.
* Last year, the Governor launched California School Finder which allows parents
to easily find and compare schools side-by-side on data such as graduation rates
and Academic Performance Index (API) scores, as well as information on student
support services and advanced placement courses, in a one-stop easy-to-navigate
Web site.

The Center for Digital Government is a national research and advisory institute
on information technology policies and best practices in state and local
government. For more than a decade, the Center has used the annual Best of the
Web competition to recognize and celebrate state web portals that provide
innovative solutions by communicating well with constituents and businesses.

Office of the State Chief Information Officer
Bill Maile, 916-549-2845
Bill.Maile@state.ca.gov

Copyright Business Wire 2009