The infomart dispenses information, but cannot listen and change anything in their lives. Then we have the transaction machine to pay a ticket, register for an arts class, react to a notice, etc. The transaction machine can offer the user practical tools with which to conduct business with government. The government has the opportunity to levy a transaction or convenience fee, thereby reducing overall costs and making it possible to enlist private partners and launch the government onto the high road in the Information Age. And that is when the transformational portal comes into play.
Many governments are excited about the Web s ability to offer forms online.
Well, there are forms for everything, and they can be downloaded from the Web. Fill out information they have probably given the government countless times before, then fax or e-mail the form to a government database or employee. That employee then takes the information from the form and updates a file, and slowly the citizen s real goal is reached. A citizen s desire is never to fill out a form but to get something done. Here s an example.