The Department of Environmental Management (DEM) is the latest Rhode Island state agency to launch a transparency portal allowing taxpayers to view all expenditures for the Department. Expenditures are displayed in a detailed, user-friendly format in the context of expenditure classifications with a few easy clicks, which will be updated on a weekly basis. In the past two months, three other transparency portals have been launched including the Office of the Governor, Department of Administration, and the Department of Transportation.
To visit the DEM portal, please visit www.dem.ri.gov, or visit www.ri.gov/opengovernment for links to all state agency portals. The Department of Administration plans to launch additional state agency portals on a rolling basis.
The portals were created by the Department of Administration in partnership with RI.gov, at no cost to the Rhode Island taxpayers. Commenting on the success of the program, Gary Sasse, Director of the Department of Administration said, “We have received positive feedback on our continuing efforts to provide information on how taxpayer money is being spent, and are looking at additional web-based services that will bring efficiency and accountability to state government.”
“The transparency portal will enable the Department to continue to demonstrate how web-based tools allow us to work smarter and with greater efficiency,” said Department of Environmental Management Director W. Michael Sullivan, PhD. “The recent conversion of all agricultural product registrations to a web-based format is a one good example of how this is being accomplished. Keeping the public informed about what we are doing, how we approach problem solving, and how we spend taxpayer money is a good government practice made available through this new website portal.”
DEM has recently made other improvements to its website including launching a comprehensive online system for the 2009 renewal of registered agriculture products such as pesticides and fertilizers. DEM’s online service, developed in conjunction with RI.gov, is available 24 hours a day at www.ri.gov/DEM/agriculture, and allows companies located across North America to complete renewals quickly and conveniently. Rhode Island is one of the first states to develop an online system and to require companies to renew electronically. Since the launch, DEM has received more than 14,000 renewal applications.
About RI.gov: RI.gov is Rhode Island's homepage and official state government Web site, a collaborative effort between the State of Rhode Island and Rhode Island Interactive. The RI.gov site and services are developed by Rhode Island Interactive, a Providence-based, wholly owned subsidiary of the eGovernment firm NIC (NASDAQ: EGOV).
About DOA: The Department of Administrative provides a wide variety of services to a number of different customers. Some of our primary resource management services include: Accounting Services, Budgeting, Human Resources and Division of Information Technology, Purchasing, Capital Project Management, Facilities Management, Risk Management, Statewide Planning and Legal Services.