Comments on: Column: When Tech Supports Policy Decisions

By: Vivienne Armentrout

Vivienne Armentrout — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 15:47:01 +0000

I’ve admired Washtenaw County’s website for years. Not just because I used to be on the BOC (I had nothing to do with it) but because it has always seemed to be supremely logical and accessible. Thanks to Andy and his co-workers.

I wish the same could be said for Ann Arbor’s website. Regardless of the award, the user interface has many problems, which I will not go into here.

By: Andy Brush

Andy Brush — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 15:27:58 +0000

Congratulations to the City of Ann Arbor received for the number 1 status in the Digital Cities Survey. It comes as a result of a lot of hard work, most of which is done in the background. And even when this hard work comes to the surface it is greeted “ho hum” by the media. Washtenaw County has been in the top 10 for 8 out of 9 years (sometimes high, sometimes lower). Ho hum. In a way, this is as it should be, since IT isn’t the work or the information, it just makes the work and information easier or more accessible. I appreciate the Chronicle’s occasional pieces that highlight how technology makes journalism easier or more informed – how you can spend more time analyzing and less time digging. It lets us know when we are on the right track and also gives us some nudges on things we ought to do.

By: Jim Rees

Jim Rees — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 14:34:35 +0000

I guess I thought plans were already being submitted electronically. If not, where do the PDFs come from? Are staff scanning in the paper?

I think a kiosk would be great. While I loved the pedestal, I find it hard to find the project I want out of the stack, and moving from one page to another is not easy. I do hope the kiosk would have a screen at least as big as the sheets of paper we have now, and an easy to use navigation system.

By: Edward Vielmetti

Edward Vielmetti — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 05:26:20 +0000

I’ll be interested to see how much of police officers time is spent accounting for their time.