INDIANAPOLIS --Indiana's award-winning state Web site keeps getting better. Last month, Governor Joe Kernan unveiled several enhancements that will make it even easier for Indiana citizens and businesses to interact with their state government through accessIndiana, the official state Web site (www.IN.gov).

"As the Internet becomes an integral part of everyday life, there is more and more demand to access state services electronically and accessIndiana continues to meet that demand," said Governor Kernan. Noting that the accessIndiana portal experienced an all-time high usage of more than 30 million accesses during the month of March, Kernan remarked that "Hoosiers are truly finding value in the State's Web portal. Through accessIndiana, the state is providing more and improved opportunities for Hoosiers to go online instead of standing in line to do business with Indiana government."

The enhanced site design includes the following features:

-- Enhanced News and Event Calendar - The state's eNewsroom and event calendar allow Indiana citizens and businesses to access the latest state government news and event information directly from the accessIndiana home page. This information is automatically updated every 30 minutes.

-- Live Help - Hoosier citizens and businesses can visit the portal's Help Center for immediate online assistance from accessIndiana customer service representatives.

-- Customer Surveys - The state will update its customer survey on a monthly basis to gain valuable feedback about accessIndiana sites and services.

-- Opinion Polling - Each month, the state will feature a new opinion poll on the accessIndiana portal. The votes from this polling are immediately tabulated so participants can see real-time results.

-- Local Weather Information - accessIndiana users can now check local weather conditions when they visit the Web portal.

-- myLocal.IN.gov Portal - Hoosier citizens and business can use accessIndiana's new myLocal.IN.gov portal to access state government resources relevant to their community, find their local city or county government's Web site, make payments to participating local governments for property taxes and more.

These enhancements to the accessIndiana portal illustrate the state's continued commitment to customer service. Indiana has long operated one of the nation's most acclaimed state Web portals. In 2003, the State received three prestigious industry awards for the accessIndiana portal: third place in the Center for Digital Government's Best of the Web Competition; third place in Brown University's Survey of State eGovernment Performance; and sixth place in the Center for Digital Government's First Annual Digital Legislatures Survey.

This year, the accessIndiana portal has already received two eGovernment awards: the MIT/Accenture Digital Government Innovation Award for its Electronic Postmarking pilot project with the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, and the Indiana Geographic Information Council Award for Achievement in Geographic Information Systems (GIS).

"IN.gov was already a great site, but we wanted to make it even better," said Laura Larimer, chief information officer for the state of Indiana. "The latest accessIndiana redesign is sure to keep Indiana positioned as a national leader in eGovernment. But most important, it is likely to receive continued praise from the State's most important judges -- its citizen and business users."

About accessIndiana (www.IN.gov)

accessIndiana, the state of Indiana's official Web portal, has provided citizens and businesses with access to state government information and services since 1995. Home to more than 220,000 pages of information and hundreds of interactive services, accessIndiana allows Hoosiers to renew driver licenses and vehicle registrations, pay Indiana individual income taxes, make reservations at state park campgrounds and inns, renew professional licenses, research Indiana law, track legislation, identify and contact legislators, and conduct secure business transactions from their homes and offices. Last year, the portal averaged 25 million accesses each month. This year, the portal is averaging 30 million accesses each month -- demonstrating that accessIndiana is helping get Hoosiers online instead of in line. accessIndiana's services are developed and maintained by Indiana Interactive, a wholly owned subsidiary of eGovernment firm NIC (Nasdaq: EGOV).

About NIC

NIC manages more eGovernment services than any provider in the world. The company is helping governments, citizens and businesses communicate more effectively by putting essential services online. NIC provides eGovernment solutions for 1,500 state and local agencies that serve more than 51 million people in the United States. Additional company information is available at www.nicusa.com.
 
Contacts 
accessIndiana
Stephanie Hayes, 317-234-2457
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