Spotlight on Electronic Self-Service 

Self-Service to Improve Responsiveness 

Today’s Web tools give citizens greater access to information and help them collaborate with government for better service. Some clear examples include:
*The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which has offered location-based services on its Web site for years. However, static maps quickly became out of date, and response time for users was slow. Adding a Microsoft mapping and search platform, including Microsoft Virtual Earth, eased Web access and delivered faster service to users.

* The City of Camden, New Jersey, used Microsoft Citizen Service Platform to streamline operations, improve efficiency and ramp up services with a real-time system for managing citizen service requests and a digital dashboard to keep track of key performance indicators.

*The Recovery.gov Web site is considered an excellent example of Gov 2.0, including an interactive timeline of milestones to help people see the steps government is taking, along with an interactive map of state recovery sites so citizens can see how the money is being spent in various localities.

Source: Microsoft

Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) for example, is being used to rationalize access to applications and databases, reducing power consumption and increasing the efficiency of legacy systems. SOA allows for the continuous alignment of federal operations and IT. The architecture’s inherit design advantages provide IT with the ability to integrate, align, and respond to critical mission goals.

Meanwhile, with calls for increasing levels of accountability, participation and collaboration, government executives recognize how advances such as Web 2.0, for example, can enable information sharing, as well as the ability to build virtual communities and connect across geopolitical, sociological and demographic boundaries.

The style of democracy brought about by Web 2.0 wikis, blogs, tweets and other new technologies implies an easy and fast method of participation, cooperation, and interaction among people, no matter where they are located.

According to Microsoft officials, for example, Web 2.0 applications have become popular because they encourage interaction among passionate participants:
*Social networks encourage people to form ad hoc networks around shared interests.

*Wikis allow answers to difficult issues to arise organically from the collaboration of enthusiastic participants.

*Blogs communicate to a broad audience and elicit rapid feedback.

*Portals speed communications and aggregate useful content (or mashups) from across networks.

To make Web 2.0 practical for government, industry suppliers such as Microsoft recommend that agencies incorporate enterprise strategies. In other words, an IT platform that provides appropriate security, scalability, and interoperability.