Falling in Gov
Proceed With Caution
But before you jump into the e-gov ocean, take some time to
survey the waters. The growth of the market can be attributed to
some age-old image reasons and to some practical business reasons
as well. Jeremy Sharrard, associate analyst with Forrester's
Internet Policy and Regulation Group, observed political
motivations from the evolutionary outset of e-government.
"Governors and mayors wanted to be able to stand up and say
'We're offering services online so you don't have to
wait in line.' There was some political capital to be gained
there," says Sharrard, who points to a shift over the past few
years to a strong emphasis on cost savings. Gartner Group predicts that combined U.S. federal, state and
local e-government spending will most likely exceed $6.2 billion by
2005. Hotbeds of activity are in Web site building, online citizen
services, ASPs and systems integration.
15%:
The amount of federal, state and local fee and taxes Forrester
Research estimates will be collected online by 2006
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EzGov.com was, at one point, a contemporary of GovWorks.com, but
its Web site building service offerings proved much more resilient.
The site took over as the market leader and as a good example of a
company that survived on the strength of a well-considered business
plan. Content Continues Below
In a recessive economy, government money still stands as a
beacon of reliable income. However, a report issued by the House
Small Business Committee Democrats showed that federal buying from
small businesses in 2000 was at its lowest since 1994. The
small-business share of prime federal contract dollars has also
declined to 22.3 percent from a high of 25.5 percent in 1996. The
federal government may be the most visible playing field, but most
opportunities for entrepreneurs are at the local and state
levels. The United States is brimming with localities—35,000 of
them. Sheer number says there's an opportunity to take
advantage of those either looking into or actually launching
e-government initiatives. He also estimates that big companies like
KPMG Consulting and EDS are only interested in the largest
localities. That leaves thousands of underserved municipalities
open for growing businesses to pursue. And that's why
Nute's business is "MunicipalNet Inc.," not
"FederalNet Inc." | Citizen
Gain | | Would you rather wait 10 seconds for a
Web page to download, or sit on a plastic chair at the DMV for an
hour? Citizen services is an area that's just getting out of
the starting blocks. This segment covers everything from paying
fines and fees online to renewing automobile tags and registering
to vote. Net-connected citizens are asking for the convenience, and
attentive politicians are beginning to hear and address their
requests. Businesses can get a foot in the door by providing
outsourced solutions and generating profits through a percentage of
revenue. The State of California is currently a prominent leader in
Web-based citizen services. Visit http://my.ca.gov
to get a feel for where governments across the United States will
want to go.
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