Mississippi's Official Website Overhauled

www.ms.gov, relaunched Wednesday after its first major update in over a decade. The site serves as a gateway to an array of official partner sites, including 135 online services, 139 agency websites and 130 social media sites. The primary mission of ms.gov is to provide enhanced government information and service delivery to Mississippi residents, visitors and businesses. “Since I was State Auditor, I have pushed for stronger e-Government initiatives, and today’s launch brings government closer to the people it serves,” Gov. Phil Bryant said. “This new site allows residents, businesses and visitors to easily access government services and information any time.” Members of the redesign team focused their efforts on improving the site’s usability and interface and used web analytics, market research and government web design best practices to set priorities for the overhaul. Interface advancements such as cached text size, print version presentation, multi-lingual translation and mega drop down menus are standard throughout the site. The second phase of the redesign is expected to launch later this year and will feature additional content enrichments and free mobile applications for smartphone users. In addition to an updated look and feel, the site offers robust functionality improvements: Live Chat: allows citizens to chat online with a member of the ms.gov support team Interactive Mapping: plots government and tourism points of interest, from state agencies to airports Mississippi Showcase: highlights citizen-submitted photos of Mississippi’s natural beauty and unique heritage Find It Here: enables citizens to search and instantly find government information using Google technology Search for Online Services: enables site visitors to find interactive services by keyword, agency or category Feedback: allows users to submit individual comments about the site from any page Social Media: connects users with social media outlets for the state and partner agencies Promotional Service Advertisements: promotes featured government services The improvements—valued at $250,000—were accomplished at no cost to the taxpayer through a public-private partnership between Mississippi Interactive, a subsidiary of NIC, and the State of Mississippi. Mississippi Interactive is the official e-Government solutions provider for the state of Mississippi. The company builds and manages interactive government services on behalf of the state and is a wholly owned subsidiary of e-Government firm NIC (EGOV). NIC Inc. (EGOV) is the nation’s leading provider of official government portals, online services and secure payment processing solutions. The company’s innovative e-Government services help reduce costs and increase efficiencies for government agencies, citizens and businesses across the country. NIC provides e-Government solutions for more than 3,000 federal, state and local agencies that serve 98 million people in the United States.]]]]> ]]>