SAVE Commission's findings - La Follette School of Public Affairs ...

3. Delivering community programming
such as public affairs, lifelong learning,
public involvement and cultural networking
(see Preamble).
4. Providing local and state government
coverage and service, such as legislative
coverage and
public hearings
(see Preamble).
5. Delivering training
and information
to public
employees (see
Goal #20).
6. Allowing userfriendly
transactions
with government
on functions such as licenses and
permits (see Goals #15 and #21).
7. Creating partner-city relationships
linking Wisconsin with cities and states
(see Goal #9).
8. Connecting Wisconsin knowledge
providers with customers around the
world as part of an intellectual capital
strategy (see Goal #9).
9. Serving the court system in all dimensions,
from taking depositions to cost
effectively taking expert testimony from
distant points (see Goal #22).
“Agency agendas, schedules,
reports and activities should be
on computer to facilitate
communication between
citizens and government.”
Thomas Steele, La Crosse
10. Putting government information on-line
in a cost effective, revenue-neutral
fashion (see Goal #16).
Statewide service will be responsive to regional
interests, which will have community
ownership and be responsible for content development.
The consortium
might involve
vocational schools, K-
12 systems, not-forprofits
and others.
Programming and the
local infrastructure
will be financed by a
variety of means, including
commercial
presentations, user
fees, subscriptions and
government underwriting.
An important part of the Utility will be
making library services, both electronic and
traditional, accessible to every citizen, which
will be possible through on-line electronic communications
to homes, schools and businesses.
Computer visionary Bill Gates talks of the high
school student looking up a homework assignment
on pre-Colombian art by surfing the
stacks of libraries around the world—all the
while sitting on his kitchen stool. The Information
Utility will be there to help the student
surf Wisconsin and the entire world of
knowledge.
Actions
12.1
Create a Public
Information Utility.
12.2
Transform libraries into
distance learning
partners.
R E S U L T S
Information age
utility will:
1 Provide cost effective standards
that will make information
access uniform across regions,
educational institutions,
government agencies and
individual organizations.
2 Save taxpayer money by
reducing the capital costs of
distance learning through
avoidance of duplicative and
incompatible technology
acquired by different levels of
government and education.
3 Decrease the cost of access by
consolidating distance learning
programs and technology
currently spread across many
agencies.
4 Increase citizen access to the
knowledge and information of
the next century independent of
the barriers of distance or
educational institution affiliation.
5 Make the library resources of
the University System available
for all citizens of the state.
6 Reduce the time and cost of
citizen access to government
information at a level of detail
unavailable currently to all but
specialists in Madison.
7 Change the role of state
employees to both providers of
information to citizens and
consumers of information from
citizens.
CITIZEN • COMMUNITY • GOVERNMENT — WISCONSIN: THE 21 ST CENTURY 37