Ad slogans aside, many states and localities are already on the road to m-government using wireless technology. Most often, the driving force is the communication demand of public safety and law enforcement. But uses for it are spreading to education, economic development and employee efficiency, among others.
In Texas, for instance, auditors no longer have to wait for various agency staff members to come to their offices to discuss finances or performance management. With wireless laptops and virtual office software that allows them to tap directly into the most current information available in the home office, auditors can pick up their notebooks and go. "Our staff is mobile," says Ralph McClendon, network planning manager in the state auditor's office. "They're constantly out among the agencies."
The idea of portability is big in schools as well. Maine has chosen nine schools to be demonstration sites as the state gears up to equip all 7th graders with wireless laptop computers. Such devices will enable students to take their wireless notebooks from classroom to classroom without the need for 25 students to plug in at the beginning of each class and unplug at the end--even if there were 25 outlets and phone jacks available in each classroom.
DELIVERANCE
Jacksonville, Florida, is latching onto wireless access for its economic development advantages. At Jacksonville Landing, a popular tourist spot, the city already has installed free wireless Internet access for those who wander by for lunch or sit in the sunshine with wireless tools at the ready. The city now wants to pilot a business version by offering connectivity in underdeveloped urban sectors. If a business is willing to move into the area, it will get wireless connectivity for free for up to 24 months.The hope is that these areas will become vibrant enough to make the list when telecommunications companies choose where next to develop infrastructure. "We hope that if there's a thriving business community, it will get consideration when telecommunication companies make decisions about laying fiber," says James Higbe, president of Connexsys, a wireless services company, one of the city's partners on the business pilot.
California is also moving forward. When the electricity crisis hit in 2000, people wanted to be notified quickly of impending brownouts. The state realized that even last-minute notice was better than none. "If I were a dentist, wouldn't you want me to have 30 seconds' notice if I had a drill in your mouth?" says Arun Baheti, director of the state's e-government office.
Under an executive order from Governor Gray Davis, the state came up with a plan to notify people of brownouts using every means available. The office of e-government piggybacked on the Office of Emergency Services' statewide radio system, which is used to alert police organizations of emergencies, and pushed a version of the brownout information out to wireless users.
The brownouts have stopped, but the state is continuing to expand wireless capability. When residents choose the type of state information they'd like to receive--traffic reports, lottery results-- and how they'd like to receive it, they can opt to get some or all of it through wireless devices. They can, for instance, ask for a traffic update to be delivered by pager on weekday mornings at home and by e- mail in the afternoon at work.
HIGH HOPES
There are challenges in the wireless-enabled world that governments are sorting out. For starters, m-government has to deal with privacy and security concerns, just as e-government does. And both the private and public sectors are groping to figure out the best uses for wireless technologies, which can be especially valuable when communication is urgent.The government may be better positioned than the private sector in this regard. Governments are already dealing with important messages, such as between public safety personnel and about children's well- being at school, that often lend themselves to immediate notification. And since 9-11, several states--California among them--have shown interest in incorporating wireless into a security and terrorism-alert system.
Clearly, a need for immediate information is one of the things driving wireless technology. People would be more likely to buy pots and pans from the comfort of their home computer than from their cell phone, but they'd be more apt to use a cell phone while on the run to check for an airplane's departure time.
To make m-government pertinent, governments have to find the most useful applications. "Finding content that's highly relevant, useful and time sensitive," Baheti says, "that's the trick."
