Internet-related technologies are remaking government operations at every level, but more needs to be done as technologies advance. Los Angeles County’s treasurer and tax collector, Mark Saladino, recently completed a project to allow applicants for business licenses to file online. This move to a more modern system illustrates the appeal of Internet-based communication as a vehicle for improving customer service, while at the same time helping reduce operating costs.
Previously, multiple trips or phone calls to county offices were required to file a paper application, provide identification, check on application status and receive the license. Even under the new system, the applicant still needs to appear in person to file the application and to provide positive identification, including fingerprinting in certain cases. However, the applicant now can follow the status of the application online and receive the license without additional trips.
This type of automation is just one example of the kinds of steps that government is taking at all levels – federal, state and local – to achieve operating efficiencies. The county has been at the forefront of applying computer technology to government services for several decades. With the advent of the Internet in the early 1990s, the county moved ahead rapidly in its various departments to make services available online. Recently, this included mobile applications in response to the reality that many kinds of business processes are being transferred to various handheld communication devices.
Regrettably, budgetary constraints have had their effect on well-meaning efforts to expand online applications in various county departments. A report prepared by county Chief Executive William T Fujioka to the Board of Supervisors in June 2011 revealed that 122 online service applications were in use across 31 county agencies and departments. They range from something as simple as viewing lost-and-found animals on the Animal Care and Control website to interactive GIS mapping applications, which are available through the Regional Planning Department website, pertaining to land use in unincorporated communities.
The report further detailed 10 new online services “in development phase” affecting eight departments and 11 new online services “in planning phase” affecting seven departments. The services include applications as simple as digitizing the archives of the Board of Supervisors to allow users to review, search or print meeting information dating back to 1899 or as complex as online handling of land-use permits and plans through the Permit and Land Management Solution system being developed as a massive joint project by six county departments.
Two conclusions were inevitable from the data presented: Most of the existing applications are of the “look-up” rather than “interactive” variety, and projects “in development” or “in planning” were minimal in number, considering the wide scope of county activities.
As a result of this input, the board last month approved a motion requesting the county’s Citizens’ Economy and Efficiency Commission, led by Chairman Isaac D. Barcelona of Lancaster, to conduct a review of the county’s transition to electronic applications that include online filing and access by citizens together with electronic processing and approval by county departments, and to recommend ways to improve efficiencies in the system.
“E-government” has been a tag that has been applied to the broad field of adapting government functions to electronic communication in order to meet the dual objective of convenience for the citizen and cost savings for the government entity. In the early days of the Internet, these functions were most often look-up functions. In “e-government 1.0,” Citizen A would access an electronic database via the Internet as an alternative to the old way of visiting the records library of Department X in person.
More recently, “e-government 2.0” applications have evolved where Citizen B can initiate action on his home computer to pay taxes and fines, to apply for and receive certain kinds of permits and – as in the case of Saladino’s department – to file for and eventually receive a business license for certain types of establishments.
The new E&E Commission project involves a review of existing e-government applications in individual county departments to assess how they were initiated and carried out, while comparing approach, progress and effectiveness in the areas of readiness, strategy and implementation. This is a vital activity that will need support from all levels of county management to achieve usable recommendations for future improvement.
Arne Kalm is a retired financial consultant and investment banker. He has been a member of the Los Angeles County Citizens’ Economy and Efficiency Commission since 2010. He lives in Arcadia.
