From our research, it appears that G2G services rarely are the initial objective of e-government. Most often G2G applications follow after efforts aimed at satisfying a need for citizens or businesses. One benefit of being a part of a later phase is that G2G applications can rest on existing infrastructures and therefore do not bear this initial cost burden. We also saw instances where connecting G2G information or transactions occurs solely to achieve a G2C or G2B outcome.

When we did find G2G initiatives under development, we discovered little attention to an enterprise approach. More specifically, there were limited standards in use, issues with identity management and single sign-on, no clear cost structure, and limited or no joint governance structure. The initiatives were linking G2G business, but not doing so with a holistic view.

Finally, we found that the ongoing support and training required for G2G applications is greater and usually requires more resources than initially anticipated. We found, not surprisingly, that the most common and important characteristics of successful G2G efforts include a combination of leadership, credibility, collaboration, and participant buy-in.

Information was collected about G2G initiatives from the states of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maine, Indiana, Minnesota, Indiana, Virginia, and Washington. The following are short descriptions about the initiatives in each of these states. None of these initiatives was complete at the time of the research, although some were partially operational. The projects are summarized in Table 1.

The State of New Jersey’s portal project enhances the state’s ability to share information with local clerks and finance officers. The portal functionalities include role-based access, single sign-on, links to commonly used Web sites, and the capabilities to customize the site according to individual preferences. At the time we conducted this research, New Jersey was using the portal for communication purposes only, not transacting business with local governments. However, representatives spoke of ongoing work to develop an application, which will allow finance officers to manage their pension funds via the web.

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Dynamic Site Framework (PA DSF) offers a scaleable, dynamic, data-driven web application framework, designed to help local governments build and maintain their own web sites. The idea is to consolidate the time, cost, and effort required to develop and maintain a web site, yet ensure that local governments can control content. Designated regions in the state or PA DSF ‘host sites’ offer grant funding and training and technical support for local governments.

PA DSF is a collaborative initiative that includes the Commonwealth’s Office for Information Technology, the Governor’s Center for Local Government Services, Department of Community and Economic Development, and local governments. Its purpose is to help local governments get started on the Web. It offers a platform for local governments and creates a common look and feel across the state. PA DSF is an example of state and local engagement, with the focus on the State’s support for local efforts to begin to use the Web as well as the State’s inclusion of local government in its strategic plan.

The State of Maine features Rapid Renewal, an online vehicle registration renewal application. Forty municipalities and the state Bureau of Motor Vehicles have partnered to provide citizens with access to Rapid Renewal. Maine requires vehicle owners to go to both the state Bureau of Motor Vehicles and the town or city hall for vehicle registration renewal. The online service works in this way: vehicle owners input unique identifiers, which are queried against the state and local relational databases. The citizen may then pay the renewal fee in real-time and then complete the transaction. The information and renewal fees are then automatically distributed to the town/city and state accounts.

The State of Minnesota’s Cooperative Purchasing Venture (CPV) uses a members-only Web-based application for aggregate purchasing of goods and services under contract terms set by the state. For a membership fee of $500, a ‘government unit’ (defined as a county, city, town, school district, or other political subdivision or any in or out of state agency) can participate. School districts across the state signed up for the CPV with the idea of enhancing their ability to purchase computer equipment. Participants receive an access code, which allows them into the secure area of the state’s Materials Management Division where they can look up products and place orders. At certain times of the year a volume purchasing committee, which is part of the state’s Information Technology Special Interest Division of the Minnesota Education Organization and the State’s Office of Technology aggregates orders from across the state and negotiates with the vendors for the best price. In the first six months, participating school districts saved an estimated $1.1 million.

The City of Indianapolis and Marion County in the State of Indiana are participating in a pilot program to develop an intergovernmental portal to allow electronic transfer of criminal conviction records within the state. The Department of Corrections, the Department of Revenue, the Family and Social Services Administration, the State Police, and the Bureau of Motor Vehicles are working to develop a case management system containing court information that is electronically transferred among the agencies. The idea was to find a way to assist the courts with caseload management and to provide access to more timely and accurate information for law enforcement and other agencies. The vision is to eventually have a statewide system.

Another G2G project in Marion County relates to warrants for late state taxes. The Summons Service Details Service, which is available through CivicNet, is a G2G collaborative project provided by the state Department of Revenue, the Marion County Civil Sheriffs' Office, and the Marion County Clerk. These state and local agencies share information and work in partnership to issue and serve court orders, and collect unpaid state taxes. This system has proven much more effective for tax collection compared to the former paper process. The system also generates a judgment of record on delinquent taxpayers, which becomes a part of the citizen’s credit history.

Fairfax County in the Commonwealth of Virginia participated in a collaborative effort with the U.S. Federal Government, the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the State of New Jersey to execute a pilot program for integrated data related to parks and recreations programs. This pilot program was part of the Government Without Boundaries initiative. The goal of the pilot was to cut across levels of government to collect and then integrate government information and services and make it available to citizens. The cornerstone of this project was the development of a collaborative framework where all the governmental entities worked together build a model of the database application. The project relied on commitment from all levels of government and on the development of data exchange standards.

The City of Kirkland formed an alliance with eight other cities within King County in the State of Washington to participate in the initiative, MyBuildingPermit.com. This application was designed through collaborative city-state effort to provide a one-stop-shop for businesses to apply, pay for, and receive electrical, low voltage, mechanical, or plumbing permits. The site offers a common area for resources including a construction tip sheet, inspection checklists, and links to other helpful resources such as a downloadable fee schedule and an event calendar and seminar listing.

Table 1. Summary of projects reviewed outside New York State.

Within New York State, we spoke with people involved G2G portal projects in the State Education Department (SED), The Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), and Department of Civil Service. We also spoke to people from several NYS agencies involved in a shared human services initiative, CentraPort, which is a collaborative effort among five state agencies and local social services departments. These projects are summarized in Table 2. One, the DEC initiative, is fully operational. The others have some operational components but are also developing new features or expanding to new users.

When New York State Education Department (SED) set out to comply with a federal mandate that required them to implement an application for school district hearing officers to submit electronic reports, they decided to design a portal that would allow several applications to be completed through a single sign-on mechanism. They created an application for electronic submittal of reports from hearing officers and added this and other applications within SED to the portal. They also developed a role-based system where individuals in school districts could access several applications that they would have to otherwise access individually.

The New York State Department of Civil Service examination staff offers county civil service departments the ability to order examinations online. Because the idea was well received by local civil service offices, the state agency began to look at other possible online offerings such as general information and utilities. After conducting an informal survey of county civil service departments, the New York State Department of Civil Service began pursuing other services that would be useful for local offices such as online forms, training information, and tests.

In 2002, the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) launched DECALS (Department of Environmental Conservation Licensing System), a computerized licensing system for hunters to apply for and receive Deer Management Permits. DECALS is a stand-alone system that connects local clerks to DEC for the sole purpose of transacting hunting and fishing license permits. The system allows the clerk to scan an applicant’s NYS Drivers License to add the hunter to the database and allow him to purchase a resident license. The information is then electronically submitted to the DEC.

Five NYS agencies worked together to develop an Intranet portal designed to connect counties to New York State health and human service agencies so that they can exchange information and access commonly used applications and Web pages more efficiently. CentraPort, as the portal is named, links county social services departments to information and applications that they need from four different state agencies – the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA), the Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS), the Departments of Health (DOH), and the Department of Labor (DOL). CentraPort co-locates access to related human services applications on a single Web site. Each individual’s rights are assigned and managed by that person’s employer and all participating organizations use the same rules and procedures. CentraPort co-locates both Web-based and older legacy systems. Users still need to sign on separately to the legacy systems, but they do not have to leave CentraPort to use them. Centraport also offers search tools to help users locate documents, statistics, training information, and Web sites within the Office of Temporary Disability and Assistance network and the New York State Human Services Intranet. While many of applications are operational, almost all are still in some form of development to expand current functions and, in some instances, to provide services that require cross program integration.

Table 2. Summary of New York State projects reviewed.