Picking Up the Tab – Who pays for the web site in your state?

It’s no secret that the Internet forced society to change as the general public discovered the new electronic medium’s many conveniences. Businesses scrambled to whip up Web sites to meet the sudden demand, and those sites evolved rapidly from simplistic to sophisticated, able to handle a variety of transactions directly with consumers or through third parties such as PayPal.

Public-sector leaders also recognized the benefits of various Web-based transactions with the range of constituents that different agencies serve. Government Web sites popped up on the Internet soon after the public’s fascination with all things online proved permanent.

The problem is that once an agency went beyond a simple online brochure, nobody had a clear idea of how to proceed. Surprise, surprise — the biggest unknown was devising a way to pay for electronic government.

Governments had three choices: build and manage their own Web sites; pay somebody else significant money to build and manage them; or sign a self-funding contract, which unlike the first two options, doesn’t cost the government a dime.

By Shane Peterson

Full Story: http://www.govtech.net/magazine/channel_story.php/95673