Fort Smith website ranks 10th in U.S.

Study looked at usability, access

— Fort Smith placed 10th nationally in a Rutgers University study that ranked 101 American cities on the performance of their websites in 2010 and 2011.

“The results of this survey ... serve as proof that we have a strong foundation for building increased awareness of activities related to our city’s future,” City Administrator Ray Gosack said in a news release.

The study, which was released Nov. 20 by the NewJersey university, looked at the largest and second-largest cities in each state and Washington, D.C. Fort Smith was the smallest city in the top 10.

The other cities in the top 10, in order of their rankings, were Seattle; St. Paul, Minn.; Milwaukee; Minneapolis; Washington, D.C.; Portland, Ore.; St. Louis; Virginia Beach, Va.; and Boston.

A summary of the university’s study stated that researchers applied 18 to 26 measures to each of five categories: privacy/security, us-ability, content, services and citizen and social engagement on which the cities’ websites were rated.

In addition to ranking in the top 10 overall, Fort Smith ranked second in the content category behind Boston and ahead of San Diego, Milwaukee and Washington, D.C., according to the study results.

Performance measures for content, according to the study, included access to current, accurate information, public documents, reports, publications and multimedia materials.

Russell Gibson, Fort Smith’s director of information and technology services, said the department’s five-person team organized a large amount of information, provided graphics representing the beauty of Fort Smith and provided a customized database that allows content managers across all departments to keep information up to date and relevant to citizens.

The other members on the city’s team are Kevin Brandenburg, database administrator/lead developer; Graham Henry, senior network administrator; Ben Pense, network administrator; and Jeff Fears, senior GIS analyst.

All departments had some hand in the success of the city’s effort, Gibson said. In addition to the website, he said, the city provides online mapping, citizen-engagement portals, attention to security and the ongoing commitment to providing online payment options for various services.

“City leadership continues to emphasize providing information access to citizens 24/7 and an open, transparent philosophy for conducting the people’s business,” Gibson said. “Technology is a crucial component of fulfilling these objectives.” The research study was conducted jointly by Rutgers University’s E-Governance Institute, School of Public Affairs and Administration; and the Department of Public Administration at San Francisco University.

Northwest Arkansas, Pages 7 on 12/08/2012

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