Broad band looks at e-government

Hempstead County aims to be the most connected region. For several months, the group was larger initiative in the transition to Hempstead County. Dave Phillips of the University of Arkansas Community College at Hope, and Wesley Woodard with the Economic Development Council, were key in the organization of the district generally.

The goal according to Phillips, is gaining partners to support the use of powerful Internet connection to improve business and communication through out the county. Other related community workshops held in May were telemedicine and e-commerce seminars.

Janet Grard, is the general manager of information, with the Arkansas.gov website. She was the guest speaker on e-goverment.

Grard explained how vital it is to have what she called, a portal.

Grard stressed that many people want to go to website and find out everything they can about a city, such as what it offers in the way of commerce, specific locations, or attractions.

A county may apply for a $2,000 grant to get help with their website, according to Grard.

Sandra May, Hempstead county tax assessor, attended for Hempstead County. The site can set up and allow taxes to be paid online. Hunting and fishing licenses can be bought on-line. Traffic tickets and much city business can be done on-line. Court records can be put on line and accessed.

She said Arkansas.gov has state of the art security to protect against hacking into classified information on-line.

She stressed also that a website should make things very easy to access. They should have a “common look and feel,” she said.

When the conference came to a close, Woodard began making plans to organize a meeting with county officials. The meeting will be discuss the e-goverment opportunities for Hempstead County.