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Illinois Ranked Best In Nation for Digital Technology

Governor George H. Ryan announced that Illinois' use of digital technology to make government more accessible and to improve service has been ranked the best in the nation, according to a major national survey conducted by The Progress & Freedom Foundation and the Center for Digital Government.

Illinois tied with Kansas for the first place rank in the 2001 digital state survey. In 2000 Illinois ranked fourth in the nation and was voted "most improved" because in the 1998 survey, Illinois ranked 49th among the states.

"This is great news for the people of Illinois. By emphasizing the use of technology and investing in it, we have fundamentally changed the way government operates and serves people," Ryan said. "This is the culmination of a goal that we set when I took office. I wanted Illinois to be a leader in the use of technology as well as a leader in the high-tech economy of the 21st Century. With this new ranking, we have accomplished both of those goals within four years."

Illinois has the sixth largest high-tech economics in the United States. A recent University of Minnesota study found that the Chicago metropolitan area has more high-tech jobs ? 347,100 ? than Silicon Valley, Seattle, Boston and other high-tech centers in the United States.

Much of the growth in Illinois' high-tech economy over the last three years is due to the direct investment of state government and a strong commitment by the governor to building a high-tech infrastructure that attracts and encourages cutting-edge research, new application and marketable products.

"Initiatives such as VentureTECH, the Illinois Century Network and the creation of the Illinois Technology Office have played an integral role in pushing Illinois to the forefront of government in the nation," the governor added. "More importantly, this administration has made government more available to the people, allowing citizens greater access to services than ever before."

Each year the Center for Digital Government and The Progress & Freedom Foundation complete a comprehensive study of technology services in all 50 states. This year's analysis places Illinois nationally among the top ten in six of the eight categories evaluated: In none of the categories did Illinois fall out of the top 20.

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