Utah, the 'Digital State,' ranks 6th in government online

Utah gets high marks for offering online access to government information, yet a recent survey found plenty to criticize.

State agencies offer volumes of stuff, but much of it isn't very useful. It can be unorganized, dated and hard to find, and some important information is missing entirely.

The state's chief technology officer said he welcomed the critique and can make more authentic records available online.

Overall, Utah scored sixth among states for making the most of its government Web sites to post information on everything from death certificates to lawmakers' political contributions, according to the survey by three media organizations.

Texas came in first, followed by New Jersey, Kentucky, North Carolina and New York.

The states were ranked by the American Society of Newspaper Editors, the National Freedom of Information Coalition and the Society of Professional Journalists.

Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. has taken to calling Utah the Digital State. It was ranked first in the nation by the Center for Digital Government in a 2008 Best of the Web competition.

Utah also won first place in Brown University's 2005 survey of state and federal Web sites. It has won other online awards, and when Huntsman switched most state agencies to a four-day workweek last year, he vowed to put even more "e-government" services online.

"Some Utahns may be surprised to know that more than 850 government services now can be found online — which is why we have been recognized as the No. 1 state in the country for digital government," Huntsman said in his State of the State address Jan. 27.

Yet lost in the accolades for improving online services is delivering actual government records online, said Joel Campbell, a former journalist who teaches at Brigham Young University in Provo.

"Utah has been a leader in e-government. You can pay your taxes and renew your car registration online. But that doesn't promote online access to documents," he said.

For starters, Utah could post the state budget and expenditures online, said Campbell, a legislative monitor for the Utah Press Association, which represents newspaper publishers. Huntsman spokeswoman Lisa Roskelley said the state is working on that.