1997 Information Technology Survey
of Washington Cities and Towns

See a detailed count below the summary

Forty-three percent of Washington’s 275 cities and towns responded to the second annual MRSC Information Technology Survey. Of those responding, 23% are under 1,000 in population, 32% between 1,000 and 5,000, 23% between 5,000 and 10,000, and 22% over 10,000. (Compare to actual distribution of all cities: 34%, 33%, 14%, and 20% in the respective categories from small to large.)

Increased Internet access represents the greatest change from last year. Fifty-five percent of cities and towns have Internet access, up from 28% in 1996. Among cities less than 1,000 in population, only 2 of the 25 (8%) responding cities had Internet access. This jumps to 51% for cities between 1,000 and 5,000, and to 100% for cities over 25,000.

Twenty-seven percent of the responding cities maintain home pages on the Web. This rises steadily from 0% of the cities under 1,000 to 69% of the cities over 25,000. Only three of these cities maintain a Web server at the city, the rest maintain sites on another server.

In the area of software, more cities are using Microsoft products than in the past. In previous surveys, we have found a fairly even split between WordPerfect and Word, but now find that 66% use some version of Word, and 45% use some version of WordPerfect (some use both). Many cities have upgraded from Windows 3.x to Windows ‘95: 54% use the former on at least one computer while 62% use the latter on at least one computer. For Network operating systems, however, Novell NetWare remains most prevalent: 65% of cities and towns use some version of Novell NetWare or IntranetWare, and 21% use Microsoft NT.

When asked about your information technology needs, far and away the two most frequent responses were software training and Internet access. Other frequent responses included funding issues, workstation and server software upgrades, new or expanded computer networks, development of an Information Technology Plan, Year 2000 issues, GIS, and a telecommunications policy.

Please help us understand your current Information Technology environment by answering the following questions.

1. What type of PC/Workstation operation system do you use?

2. What type of Network Operation System do you use?

3. What type of Host Operating System do you use?

4. Which of the following hardware devices are in use in your city?

5. Which software project does your city PRIMARILY use for each of the following functions?

A. What software suites?

B. What type of word processin software?

C. What software products are you using for spread sheets?

D. What software products are you using for e-mail?

E. What software products are you using for database management?

6. Does your city have access to the Internet?

7. What is it by way of?

8. If it is a dial-up, is it....?

9. How is it available?

10. Does your city have a home page on the World Wide Web?

11. Do you maintain a Web server on your site?

12. Who maintains these pages?

13. Does your city have a strategic plan for Information Services?

14. Does your city have a service contract (for a particular technology project or for ongoing hardware or software support)?

15. What is the population of your city?

16. What is the total number of employees in your city (full time equivalents)?

17. What is the total number of Information Technology Service employees in your city (full time equivalents)?