Congratulation to e-Michigan for making Michigan one of the best states for e-government in the United States, according to the sixth annual e-government analysis conducted by Brown University researchers.

At fifth place – up from 22nd in last year’s study – Michigan is recognized as among the best out of 1,620 state and federal sites. The top ranking states included Utah, Maine, New Jersey and North Carolina.

Web sites are evaluated for the presence of various electronic features, such as online publications, number of online services, online databases, audio clips, video clips, security, translation, and disability access.

Among the researchers’ comments about Michigan’s site: “Upon glancing at the portal site, the viewer feels a democratic involvement unlike many peer portal sites… Overall, Michigan’s site is concise, yet provides a depth and breadth of services, while being useful and coherent.”

"With more and more demand for on-line government services, we are constantly growing our Michigan.gov portal to respond to the demand," remarked Teri Takai, "This award recognizes the hard work of so many dedicated state employees and it's a testament to our goal of providing government services to anyone, at anytime, from anywhere."