Smart government in a less-advantaged community: meeting the challenges in Imperial County

The new tools of e-government have begun to address and diffuse the weaknesses of government service delivery in the 21st century. The State of California among other states has a strategic vision to add to its orderly, stable structures of bureaucracy, the virtues of speed, cost-effectiveness, and quality and quantity of response to citizens that e-government provides. Imperial County, California was chosen as the site for discussion of how less-advantaged communities in California are addressing e-government. One partnership between two governmental entities - The Imperial County Office of Education and the Imperial County Irrigation District, named Project EdNet - was chosen for this paper as the working example to examine how the issues of the digital divide, democracy and equity can positively impact the citizens of less-advantaged communities in California.