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Jed Boal ReportingChances are you've visited Utah.Gov online some time in the past several months. If not, you're probably missing out on a simpler way to get business done.
The Web site was launched about a decade ago. As with most early Web sites, it was more informational than interactive.
Today, it's invaluable to most of us, and getting more useful. Utah.gov has a new look: more color, a picture banner that shows off Utah's beauty, and more than 800 services you can access online. Utah State Chief Information Officer, J. Stephen Fletcher, says, "Mostly, they're looking for services such as hunting and fishing licenses, (and) registration of a vehicle."
Fletcher showed us around the data room at the State Office Building. He says the revamped site should take the complexity out of bureaucracy, and help all of us find what we need quickly. This site is not only state services, but for local services, too.
Online you'll also discover that Utah is one of five states in a new pilot program with Google to offer more efficient searches for users. Fletcher says, "We are basically re-prioritizing searches as you go forward. We're going to group things together, to make the information available to you."
Utah's Web site draws more visitors per capita than any other government Web site in the nation, nearly 1.7 million visitors each month.
Fletcher says, "We're averaging five to 10 page hits for every user that comes on to our Web site, so it's a huge amount of traffic."
Utah also leads the nation in per capita computer ownership and Internet connection, so we expect to go on line to:
1) Renewal Express
2) Hunting and Fishing Licenses
3) Professional License Renewal
4) One Stop Business Registration
The online services save the state an estimated $15 million each year.
