Albany, NY - The Center for Technology in Government, located at the University at Albany, has just released practical guidelines to help government organizations go online with their services. The Center worked with seven New York state and local government agencies to develop Internet Web sites in 1996. The idea was to open government service to the public 24 hours a day, seven days a week. A Web site, available by using a personal computer, a modem, phone line, and communication software, can answer questions for people who find it difficult to travel to a government office during normal business hours. New Yorkers will be able to save time and effort by visiting an agency's "virtual office" online.

Developing & Delivering Government Services on the World Wide Web: Recommended Practices for New York State presents principles and practical tools to guide government agencies in deciding how best to design, manage, and market Web services. The research project showed that a Web site is a service as much as a technology, so Web developers need guidelines to understand the policies and organizational issues involved in being on the Internet.

Developed in cooperation with the Governor's Task Force on Information Resource Management (now known at the New York State Office for Technology (OFT), Recommended Practices points to the most effective resources available for Web service development. It includes practical tools that can be used by any organization interested in establishing a Web presence. The management tools, such as, Stakeholder Analysis, Best Practices Checklist, and Cost Performance Worksheet, provide for careful planning and knowledgeable resource allocation.

The Center for Technology in Government, an Innovations in American Government award winner, forms strategic partnerships with government agencies, technology corporations, and university faculty and students. Three dozen high tech companies, more than thirty government agencies, and a dozen academic researchers have participated in Center projects since its inception in 1993. Its mission is to solve problems related to public services through the use of information technology in state and local government.