National Association of Counties * Washington, D.C.            Vol. 32, No. 12 * June 26, 2000

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New NACo IT survey shows
more Web-active counties

By Beverly Schlotterbeck
editer

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If you work in a small county with a population under 50,000, you probably don't have access to e-mail, the Internet or a PC. On the other hand, if you work for a larger county (250,000+) you are probably IT-able, complete with all the tools of the Information Technology era.

NACo’s latest survey of information technology use in the nation’s counties – conducted in April – comes up with few surprises, but does show that counties in growing numbers are providing Web-based information to their citizens and getting personal computers into all their departments.

More than 60 percent of counties participating in the survey have Web-sites up and running, and another 15 percent plan to have their URL on the block by the end of the year. Mostly, county sites are used to post county records or disseminate other kinds of information. Only a small number (8 percent) are using the Web to process transactions, although a significant number (41 percent) report they are planning to add transactional capacity in the near future.

“This survey reinforces my impression that the digital divide doesn’t only signify a gap between the rich and the poor, but increasingly represents the disparity between government and the private sector. Only 40 percent of our counties are currently using the Internet to conduct business. Since we’re in an era where an Internet year lasts only three months, this gap will only grow larger,” said Bert Jarreau, NACo’s chief technology officer.

On the hardware side, better than half of the counties (57 percent) say that every department has at least one personal computer. But the percentage drops dramatically when counties report on access to PCs for their employees: Only 26 percent of participating counties report that all their employees have PC access.

The digital divide continues to yawn wide between small and large counties. Sixty-six percent of counties with populations under 25,000 do not provide e-mail access to their employees, while 31 percent of counties with populations under 50,000 say they do not plan to develop a Web site.

Overall, half of the survey’s participants report that they do not provide e-mail capacity for any of their employees, On the other end of the scale, 15 percent provide access to all employees.

When asked to rate themselves against other counties in terms of being a leader in using information technology, respondents turn modest. Thirty percent rate themselves as “a leader” in the use of technology applications, while a significant number (69 percent) count themselves as either “about the same” or a “little behind” other counties.

Seven hundred and fourteen counties responded to the survey, which was distributed to all the nation’s counties. “We were exceptionally pleased with the demographics. A 23 percent response rate to a broadbased survey of this type is phenomenal,” said NACo Research Director Jacqueline Byers. “We got excellent response rates, demographically and geographically,” she added. (See graphs.)

Results of the full survey will be released and available at NACo’s Annual Conference in Charlotte, N.C., July 14-18.