Survey: State of Georgia Scores High in Web-Access

The state government is making progress in providing "sunshine law" public information on the Internet, but conditions are still partly cloudy in Georgia, according to a survey by The Associated Press.

The survey of 20 categories, ranging from death certificates to political campaign contributions and expenses, was part of a national campaign by the American Society of Newspaper Editors to gauge Online access of public information in all 50 states. It was conducted in February as a runup to Sunshine Week, March 15-21.

It did not include the Web site www.open.georgia.gov, which was unveiled at the beginning of the year as a gateway for information and documents concerning state expenditures to provide services to its citizens.

That site "speaks to the level of transparency that state government is trying to achieve," said Michael Clark, communications director of the Georgia Technology Authority.

The AP survey found some excellent Online resources in some cases, and stumbling blocks on other agency Web sites.

For example, the State Ethics Commission site was found to have "exemplary" search engine technology to find personal financial disclosure reports from state officials. It is easy to search, understand, download or print information such as campaign contributors and lobbyist reports.

On the other hand, reports on inspections of hospitals, nursing homes and child care centers are available through the Office of Regulatory Services in the Department of Human Resources -- only not online. Visitors to the site, http://ors.dhr.georgia.gov, are directed to write to the offices at an Atlanta address to obtain the information at 25 cents per page.

The survey found a lot of comparable statewide school test data at the Department of Education site, http://www.gadoe.org, but it was difficult to find without some familiarity.

But anyone seeking internal and external audit reports can find a search engine that is top notch and easy to navigate at the Georgia Department of Audits and Accounts' http://www.audits.state.ga.us/index.html.

State Department of Transportation records of projects and contracts were equally easy to find at the GDOT Office of Contract Administration, http://tomcat2.dot.state.ga.us. The site offers detailed descriptions of proposals, bids and awards for both contractors and consultants.

Authors of the survey report said Sunshine Week surveyors "discovered some states that are doing a fantastic job of providing information to the public; some are outstanding only in certain categories. The survey teams also found some states weren't so good, and others that are working on getting better."

Georgia was ranked in the top third among the 50 states with its Internet access to public information. With data supplied in 14 of the 20 categories, the state tied with five others in 10th place. Texas ranked the highest, with all 20 catergories, followed by New Jersey with 18.

The information least likely to be found online were death certificates and gas pump overcharge records, each found on the Web sites of only eight states. Also infrequently posted online were schools' building inspections and/or safety ratings, which are posted by only nine states, and school bus inspection reports, 12 states.

Clark, of the Georgia Technology Authority, said one obstacle to complete disclosure is that there is no one agency in charge of what information must be displayed online.

"For some agencies, we provide the content management system," Clark said. "You're looking at the IT infrastructure, and we don't have authority over the content. We provide the tools. What they do with it is up to them."

He said he has found "there's a great deal of information out there on the state Web sites. I don't know if I have a strong sense of what gaps exist. That's not something that I've researched."

Overall, Clark said, the agencies are doing a better job of providing services online than they did when he started with the Technology Authority in 2000.

In a national survey by the Brookings Institution that grades state Web sites in overall design and efficiency, Georgia improved from a rank of 38 two years ago to No. 2 in the nation in the latest, Clark said.

"It's a continual evolution in making more available," said Bert Brantley, spokesman for Gov. Sonny Perdue.

"There's a push and a pull between having information and records available" and the use of taxpayer money to make it available, Brantley said.

He said the Open Georgia Web site contains things like salaries and payments to contractors that always has been available but difficult to access. But it costs money to select information that can be uploaded easily to a site that can be searched by the public.

(AP)