WarwickRi.gov has been recognized by Juggle as one of the top city government websites in the state of Rhode Island. Below you'll find an interview with Robert Martin, eGovernment Specialist for the City of Warwick.
- WarwickRI.gov is a top-notch web portal; what has been your role in its development?
As the e-Government Specialist for the City of Warwick, I conceptualized and designed warwickri.gov entirely. However, during the development phase, I relied on the tremendous technical support from the Joomla! open-source community, detailed content and guidance from fellow municipal employees, and constructive feedback from Warwick residents.
- Can you summarize the history of Warwick's web portal?
Since 1997, the City of Warwick’s web portal has progressed through three major phases. Naturally, the initial phase was a simple presence on the internet -- the basic publishing of municipal information online in a static environment. This enabled citizens and businesses to readily access City of Warwick information without having to travel to government offices, stand in long lines, or lose valuable work hours.
In 2003, the old warwickri.com evolved into warwickri.gov which provided more citizen interaction and government information. This site offered a wide range of downloadable municipal forms, regular content updates and press releases, bulletin board functionality, basic legislation and ordinance search capabilities, and robust cultural / historical resources.
The main goals of this phase were to give Warwick residents the tools to research any aspect of their municipality and the ability to interact with both elected officials and department directors via feedback forms and email.
Finally, in 2007, warwickri.gov migrated to the Joomla! CMS platform and entered its transaction phase. Upon integrating the functionality, data, and content of the former municipal website, the focus of this stage was two-fold: to build self-service applications for the general public and to develop an effective municipal intranet in order to facilitate the streamlining of daily governmental operations. Examples of these programs include the ability to provide online tax and utility payments; comprehensive municipal applications (i.e. employment, building permits, license renewals, etc.); online availability of requests for proposals and bidding opportunities; and internet-based property assessment data.
- What are the overarching objectives of Warwick's current e-government initiatives?
Although I was given a considerable amount of autonomy in the overall programming and development of warwickri.gov, Mayor Scott Avedisian recommended that the new site should revolve around three major elements: government transparency, citizen engagement, and fiscal responsibility.
Government Transparency
Open-government is the cornerstone of any effective e-government program. Following federal mandates for transparency and open-government standards, some examples of warwickri.gov transparency initiatives include:
- The online availability of Warwick City Clerk documents and information, including the entire City of Warwick Code of Ordinances, proposed legislation, and detailed Warwick City Council, board, and commission minutes and agendas.
- The creation of a detailed “Online Budget Resource” whereby the complete Personnel Supplement, General Fund, Enterprise Fund, and Captial Fund budgets are available for the upcoming fiscal year.
- A comprehensive collection of RSS data feeds of State and Federal information relevant to the City of Warwick.
- The entire Comprehensive Plan of the City of Warwick.
- The integration of the City of Warwick Assessor’s website for timely and accurate updates of assessment data and consistent availability for public review.
- The availability of Public Service Announcements (i.e. Road conditions, construction updates, severe weather alerts, school closings, etc) delivered via RSS
- A dynamic events calendar for all government functions (council meetings, board and commission meetings, etc) with directions, printable agendas, and relevant message threads.
Citizen Engagement
While transparency provides Warwick residents with a wide range of information, the citizen engagement element provides the tools to interact with any branch of municipal government. Some examples located at the current version of warwickri.gov are:
- Citizen Action Center – Here, residents can directly contact both elected officials and municipal employees regarding any issue relevant to the day-to-day operations of Warwick City Hall. Also, boards and commissions post proposed policies and government initiatives with an open comment field so that concerned constituents may offer their feedback to the policy makers and fellow residents.
- Online senior transportation (Transwick) reservations
- Lead abatement program applications
- Building Department online forms and applications
- The ability to offer free web space (with CMS capabilities) for Warwick non-profits and neighborhood organizations.
- Recycling and Sanitation online scheduling for white goods pickup with complete printable collection calendars.
Fiscal Responsibility
As warwickri.gov evolves, the City of Warwick continues to search for innovative ways to institute cost-saving measures. As a matter of fact, this focus on fiscal responsibility was a major reason why the decision was made to develop warwickri.gov with open-source programs. In other words, rather than spending thousands of taxpayer dollars on outsourcing or purchasing expensive software solutions, the free Joomla! CMS was chosen as the foundation for all e-government initiatives within the City. Along with this cost-saving initiative, warwickri.gov provides:
- A municipal intranet for more efficient, cost-effective inter-departmental communications and activities.
- Online employment applications, including Police and Fire Department recruit information – a program which saves thousands of dollars each year on paper and postage alone.
- An in-house graphic creation program for municipal promotions, mailings, and newsletters.
- A comprehensive business property listing service to stimulate interest in businesses to move to Warwick, RI.
- Online bids, requests for proposals, and an awarded bids archive. The original bids are databased and converted to PDF format for vendor convenience. In addition, each year the City of Warwick saves approximately $17,000 by posting bids online rather than funding newspaper advertisements.
- From a marketing standpoint, what are some of the strategies that you have utilized to draw attention to the information and services provided by WarwickRI.gov, both on- and off-line?
For the most part, information and services provided at warwickri.gov have been promoted via local press releases and the integration of social media tools such as Facebook and Twitter. Real-time information is provided to constituents
- WarwickRI - Follow up to the minute information on everything Warwick, Rhode Island has to offer. Provided by the Warwick Department of Tourism, Culture and Development
- Warwickrec – This feed features any news and information related to the City of Warwick Parks and Recreation Department (such as upcoming events, inclement weather cancellations, etc.)
- Warwicksewer - Follow up to the minute construction updates, news, and issues related to the Warwick Sewer Authority
- How has citizen feedback influenced the development of Warwick's e-government services?
Citizen participation and feedback has significantly influenced the development of warwickri.gov. A major concern of Warwick residents is government transparency and accountability. Therefore, the current version of warwickri.gov has focused on building a vast online archive of government documents which are not only searchable, but organized in an intuitive manner as well.
- What is the most-used feature or service on the site?
By far, the most-used feature on warwickri.gov is the Citizen Action Center followed by the Assessor’s Online Database.
- Where do you see e-government heading in the next 2-3 years? Are there any exciting new features or services currently in the works for Warwick’s web portal?
Technology is evolving so fast that the next 2-3 years are certain to be an exciting and challenging time. But regardless of the circumstances, warwickri.gov will continue to emphasize government transparency, citizen engagement, and fiscal responsibility. However, some initiatives that are already in the developmental phase include:
- Live-streaming of council and committee meetings, archived meeting podcasts, and municipal webcams will be available in mid-2011.
- The creation of the Mobile Citizen Kiosk (MCK) where all warwickri.gov functionality will be accessible via mobile phone. Residents will also be able to submit a variety of municipal service requests. For example, an individual could take a photograph of a pothole and email it directly to our Department of Public Works (DPW). The MCK would automatically plot (via GPS) where the photograph was taken and send a service-ticket to both the resident and DPW.
- Establishment of a “reverse auction” program in collaboration with the State of Rhode Island Purchasing Department (i.e. potential annual savings could be in excess of $4,000,000)
- Facilitate tech-sharing initiatives amongst other municipalities as an active participant in GMIS activities.
- Online training for fire department recruits, poll workers, and inter-departmental organizations.
- What else that you would like to tell us about WarwickRI.gov?
In April 2010, the City of Warwick and the State of Rhode Island experienced historic flooding which caused millions of dollars in damage and displaced many residents from their homes. Elected officials, first-responders, and municipal employees worked feverishly to help those in need and to restore order – and during this trying time, warwickri.gov played a significant role in disseminating real-time updates and important emergency information around the clock.
I have always appreciated the tremendous benefits of e-government, albeit economical or informational. However, I take great pride in knowing that warwickri.gov assisted in preserving the safety and wellbeing of the residents of my hometown during such a disaster.