Web portal functionality and state government e-service

This paper reports the results of a study investigating the role of Web portals in state government electronic service delivery. We describe the functionality of the fifty US state Web portals and examine several factors which explain why some states are have higher functioning web portals than others. We find that the nearly every state Web portal is in the early stages of development. Most state Web portals provide information and access to limited set of government services. However; the level of integration necessary to provide advanced transaction capabilities is not present in most portals. We further find that the strategic IT approach employed by the state and the extent to which the state has adopted e-government friendly laws are key factors in the development of high-functioning state Web portal.