Press Release

Oakland County Launches Innovative Website--Simple and Powerful

OAKLAND COUNTY, Michigan (January 30, 2002) -- Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson today announced the launch of Oakland County's newly re-designed website at http://www.oakgov.com. This completes the first phase of the County's overall Internet Strategy approved by Oakland County's Board of Commissioners in April 2001.

"We see E-Government as an innovative way to simplify and improve the quality of interaction with our citizens," says Patterson. "We're taking a progressive role on behalf of the people who have entrusted us with their tax dollars, by delivering an Internet strategy that can be leveraged by all of Oakland County. Our new website will improve access to County services and improve the quality of life for which Oakland County is internationally known. It's a win-win for everyone."

The County's new website is unique when compared to other government websites. It simplifies access to County government by integrating department and agency content into a single, cohesive and integrated site representing all of Oakland County. It provides a consistent design and navigational structure throughout the entire Oakland County system.

Extensive focus group testing showed that the way the new site is organized -- by intuitive "user" needs rather than by department -- will be a big success. Finding permits, forms, reports, news, calendar items, and other e-Government services or information is generally never more than three "clicks" away from the home page. Through a Services Index, people unfamiliar with how County government is organized will quickly be able to find what they are looking for by subject and/or audience category.

Through the County Directory, those who are familiar with County departments and agencies will quickly find the information they are looking for -- whether it's a phone number or a document from any department. These search pathways, together with other easy-to-use navigation features, ensure that all users, no matter their level of experience or personal preference, will find valuable information and services available from Oakland County's e-Government website.

With the new standards -- a unified interface, navigation system, and content guidelines -- Oakland County has established a platform from which all their future e-Government service initiatives will emerge. The singular design establishes much-needed consistency for its constituents and helps users learn how the site works the first time they visit. And now that every area within the site can have the same navigation and design, it will be easy for anyone to learn and use. With all content residing in the same system, users can search for what they need in one place regardless of the department or agency that provides it.

In addition to the re-design, Oakland County has also deployed a web content management system that allows employees without any prior technical knowledge to update their own information with ease and flexibility. This means that information management is decentralized, which will improve the timeliness and quality of content. The result will be less frustration and more value for the user while saving the County money in administrative services. A new state-of-the-art hardware infrastructure installation provides high availability and redundancy to guarantee maximum uptime and performance to the public. This technical infrastructure also serves as the basis for all future Oakland County e-Government initiatives.

The new site and its related technologies reflect the County's mission:

"Oakland County, Michigan is committed to serving its people and communities. It's empowered by progressive leadership, entrusted to embrace innovation in every aspect of government service."

For further information, please contact Phil Bertolini, Director of Information Technology, at 248-858-0814.