KU helps state earn top spot in information technology rankings

LAWRENCE -- Innovative research and advanced online services for students at the University of Kansas were two major factors that helped the state of Kansas earn the top spot in a recent poll of state digital services.

Kansas tied for first place with Illinois in the overall rankings of the 2001 Digital State Survey. Last year, Kansas ranked second overall. The rankings appear in the most recent edition of Government Technology magazine.

The survey, which was based on a comprehensive poll of chief information officers in the 50 states, examined information technology services in eight categories: e-commerce and business regulation; taxation and revenue; social services; law enforcement and the courts; digital democracy; management and administration; education; and geographic information system/transportation.

Kansas earned top rankings in the social services and GIS/transportation categories, and it was the only state to score in the top 10 in seven of the eight categories. Kansas also rated highly in taxation and revenue (third place); digital democracy (fourth); education (seventh); law enforcement and the courts (ninth); and management and administration (10th). The state ranked 15th in e-commerce and business regulation.

Marilu Goodyear, vice chancellor of information services at KU, said collaboration between the state and its institutions of higher learning was key to achieving the top ranking.

"We have worked hard and are very pleased to receive this recognition. The No. 1 ranking is due to our advances in information technology in the regents institutions, as well as the close cooperation between higher education and the agencies in Topeka," said Goodyear. "This close cooperation elevated the state of Kansas to such distinction."

Don Heiman, chief information officer for the executive branch of Kansas government, said KU contributed to the state's overall ranking in a number of ways.

Kansas received a perfect score in the survey's first-ever GIS/transportation category in large part because of research conducted at KU's Kansas Geological Survey, Heiman said. Specifically, the survey noted the research project that resulted in an online tool to help citizens monitor groundwater in the High Plains Aquifer, which runs beneath almost one-third of the state.

Another prominent KU research project that relies on GIS is the LandScan population database, created by researchers at KU's Kansas Applied Remote Sensing Program. The database helps authorities determine the number of emergency officials needed to respond in the case of a terrorist attack or natural disaster.

Along with research, KU also played a major role in the state's ranking by providing infrastructure, Heiman said. KU's Lawrence campus supports the Great Plains Network and the Kansas Research and Education Network. The Great Plains Network provides a high-speed network that connects researchers in North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and Arkansas. KREN provides telecommunications services -- including Internet2 connections -- for higher-education institutions in the state.

Furthermore, KU was recognized for services that allow students to access grades, loan applications, distance-learning classes, course syllabi and library catalogs online.

"There is just a wonderful team of technologists at the University of Kansas," Heiman said. "Our high ranking was in large part due to the leadership of our major universities."

Although the state's ranking in the education category slipped from first place last year to seventh place this year, Heiman said that was due mostly to the fact that elementary, secondary and higher education were all lumped under the same category for the first time this year.

However, Heiman said he was confident that further state funding of the KAN-ED initiative would help place Kansas back at the top of the education rankings. KAN-ED, which is spearheaded by information technology officials at KU, is a broadband technology-based network designed to connect all K-12 schools, higher education institutions, public libraries and hospitals to one another and to the outside world.

The digital survey, now in its fourth year, was sponsored by Government Technology magazine, in conjunction with the Center for Digital Government, the Progress and Freedom Foundation and Compaq Computer Corp.