State Study

California may be home to Silicon Valley and the Tech Coast, but its state government ranks smack in the middle among the 50 states when it comes to overall use of digital technologies.

The Progress and Freedom Foundation’s 1998 Digital State report places California 24th on the list--down from 16th last year--based on how well computers and the Internet have been used to improve law enforcement, business regulation, democracy and other services. Washington state is ranked No. 1 for the second year in a row.

California’s single bright spot is a No. 2 ranking in higher education, behind Michigan. The Golden State ties with Arizona, Hawaii, Kansas, Mississippi, Nebraska, Oregon and Washington for second place in that category.

California also stands out as one of four states whose Y2K liability is estimated at more than $100 million. (Arizona, Texas and Virginia also share this dubious distinction.)

The Progress and Freedom Foundation, a Washington, D.C., group that studies the public policy implications of the increasing use of technology, compiled its rankings after interviewing the states’ chief information officers (or equivalents) and studying the states’ official Web pages. Altogether, states improved their use of technology by 39%.

The report, released last week, concludes that organizational and technical infrastructure is necessary for states to reach their digital potential.