Policy makers at the federal, state and local levels have begun to understand the potential power of information technology systems to make governments more efficient, less costly, and more responsive to citizens. Most are able to imagine the types of services they'd like to start offering online, from motor vehicle registrations to fishing permits. But the hard part is figuring out how, exactly, to move lumbering bureaucracies, step-by-step, to that bright future.

That's why King County, Washington's digital government strategy is particularly impressive. County Executive Ron Sims has laid out a comprehensive, ground-up plan to digitize King County government. The plan starts, literally, in the ground: piggybacking on cable television franchises' build-out of their own networks, the county is laying a broadband telecommunications infrastructure capable of handling all of its public institutions' needs long into the future. (Under the terms of a cable franchise renewal, AT&T agreed to collaborate with the County to build its high-speed data network.) Dubbed "I-Net," it will be the backbone connecting approximately 300 schools, libraries, and government sites throughout the County and will be used for two-way video, voice, and data services.

To build on that solid foundation, Sims has directed the county's Department of Information and Administrative Services to work with County agencies to identify opportunities ripe for effective use of information services. Some of the plans envisioned for 2001-2002 include government-to-business e-commerce, electronic court records, development permits, ride-matching and carpool services, and a parks facilities reservation system. Those services will bolster an existing stable of services that already includes property search resources, vital records sales, and a sex offender search engine.

In addition to online local government services, I-Net will help public institutions function more efficiently in their internal operations. For example, physicians at public hospitals will be able to access high-resolution medical images from other physicians and discuss them via real-time video conferencing. Moreover, County employees will have a vastly improved ability to access government information to do their jobs better, and to monitor the performance of critical public services.

King County's I-Net is an initiative that was brought to our attention as the result of an "innovation tour" of the west coast earlier this week by members of the executive committee of the DLC's Local Elected Officials Network (LEON). Houston City Councilman Carroll Robinson (LEON's chairman), Tampa City Councilman Bob Buckhorn, and Charlotte Mayor Pro Tem Susan Burgess, along with Progressive Policy Institute President Will Marshall, received a first-hand briefing on I-Net and other local government innovations in the Seattle area.