BACKGROUND
The abagOnline project received a public unveiling in April 1994. The Association of Bay Area Governments desired to create an Internet-based system of freely accessible government information to Bay Area citizens using personal computers and on-line databanks. The initial abagOnline, which stands for access to bay area governments Online, content consisted of basic information about ABAG and a directory of information about the 100 cities and nine counties of the Bay Area. At that time, only the city of Palo Alto had a World Wide Web-based Internet presence, courtesy of a joint demonstration project with Digital Equipment Corporation. There was no California State agency presence and none by any other council of governments in the nation.
Initially, the abagOnline project was created with existing information, contained highly static content, and was hosted on a commercial server by graduate students from Stanford University. abagOnline consisted of several documents formatted in basic html for the World Wide Web and served as a demonstration prototype for local governments. In October 1994 the Telecommunications and Information Infrastructure Assistance Program of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, U. S. Department of Commerce, awarded ABAG a grant to develop abagOnline. The grant enabled ABAG to obtain necessary resources and staff to aggressively pursue project goals. This final report culminates a 21-month effort which saw Bay Area government participation in the Internet parallel the explosive growth of the World Wide Web.
OBJECTIVES
Through a regionwide planning program involving public agency participants, citizens, community-based organizations, business community representatives and the computer experts of the Bay Area, the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) intended to create a system of freely accessible government information to Bay Area citizens using personal computers, on-line databanks and the Internet. This system can be described through a set of long-term objectives for the ABAG program:
Objective 1 - Any citizen in the Bay Area, with a computer and a modem, could dial one telephone number and access government information for his or her local jurisdiction or any other Bay Area agency participating in the network.
Objective 2 - Any citizen without a computer could travel to a public library or government office and (using a computer terminal or kiosk) access the same information.
Objective 3 - Local, regional, state and federal agencies would be easily able to exchange notices, bulletins, electronic mail or data with any of the other agencies on the network.
Objective 4 - Any participating government or agency would determine the level of its participation, including the information it would make accessible to the network, the degree of sophistication of its computer system and the immediacy of its data access.
Objective 5 - Participants in the network would provide a consistent user interface, and would use standards and protocols that would ensure ready and useful exchange of digital information among various types of computers, including IBM-compatible and Macintosh-based personal computers commonly used by citizens.
The "Project Tasks Timetable" detailed in Appendix A sets forth the tasks and timetable for the abagOnline demonstration project. ABAG's performance against these milestones was reported in the quarterly technical reports as described in Paragraph 12, "Special Award Conditions" of the Telecommunications and Information Infrastructure Assistance Program Financial Assistance Award (06-60-94003). A summary of task completion is provided in Section 2 of this Final Report.
SUMMARY
The abagOnline program was successful in creating a network of citizen accessible government information. When the abagOnline proposal was submitted for a TIIAP grant in April 1994, there were only two San Francisco Bay Area government organizations with a presence on the Internet-the City of Palo Alto and ABAG. At the conclusion of the grant funded activities, there were 52 cities or towns, six counties, and 22 regional agencies and special districts publishing information on the World Wide Web. There were an additional 57 school and community college districts also on the Web.
As of June 1996 the breakdown of the Bay Area local government information available on the World Wide Web was as follows:
Public access to Bay Area government information on the Web is difficult to quantify, with published estimates of two million households having access at work, school or home. Opportunities for access by the disadvantaged have grown remarkably, starting from no access in mid-1994 to 90 Bay Area public libraries offering use of the Internet access terminals. An additional 12 terminals were available in June 1996 through the Public Access Network of Smart Valley, Inc.
The abagOnline site has grown in popularity with current visits as high as 6,000 per day, compared to less than 2,000 per week in June of 1994. The most frequently requested information in descending order, is earthquake hazard maps, local government directory, local university directory, employment listings, commerce and trade information, and ABAG census data.
ABAG has developed and implemented for the abagOnline Web site several unique and "first-of-a-kind" features designed to demonstrate to local governments the range of possibilities for conducting government business over the Internet. These features include:
- Earthquake hazard maps. ABAG, with funding from the U. S. Geological Survey and the National Science Foundation, has developed and made available over the World Wide Web, over 1,000 maps presenting the risks of building damage from various earthquake scenarios.
- Bay Trail maps. ABAG presents a unique set of maps from our project to build a hiking/cycling trail around San Francisco Bay. The maps show trail alignment, parking areas, rest rooms, pet areas, and more.
- Multi-media overview of the Bay Trail. Real Audio® narration and synchronized images provide a stimulating overview of the riches of the Bay Trail.
- Telecommunications network. ABAG created a resource for local government officials working in the rapidly changing area of telecommunications brought about by the Telecommunications Act of 1996. The Web pages provide local contacts, and copies of policies, ordinance, franchise agreements, and siting decisions.
- Environmental helpline. Columnists from regional and state environmental regulatory agencies answer submitted questions about air quality, water quality, hazardous waste, waste reduction and recycling.
- ABAG Contracts Exchange (ACE). abagOnline provides an Internet posting board for cities, counties and special districts to publish announcements of requests for proposals and contracting opportunities.
- Government Listing of Bay Area Employment (GLOBE). Local governments can post employment announcements on abagOnline and reduce the high cost of newspaper advertisements.
- At work with Julie. This is a unique helpline for workers, physicians and employers with questions about workers' compensation issues authored by Julie Carroll, Director of ABAG's workers' compensation program.
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