The State of Kansas today announced the launch of the Kansas Business One Stop – ksbiz.kansas.gov. The new site is a joint effort by the Secretary of State’s office and several state agencies to simplify the process of starting, operating and growing a business in Kansas. Participating agencies include the Kansas Department of Agriculture, Kansas Department of Commerce, Kansas Department of Labor and Kansas Department of Revenue.

“Whether you are a small mom and pop business or a billion-dollar entity, the Kansas Business One Stop was created to make it easier to start and maintain a business in Kansas,” said Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab. “Today’s announcement is the result of innovative collaboration between multiple state agencies to make government more accessible for Kansas business owners.”

The Kansas Business One Stop consolidates resources and information from several state agencies to provide new and existing businesses with one convenient website to manage their various business needs. The site provides resources on business formation, obtaining tax IDs, licenses and permits, workforce development programs, funding and incentives, small business support and initiatives that support veteran, minority and women-owned businesses.

Additional features to the website are in development and scheduled for deployment near the end of 2019. These will include a wizard feature to help individuals interested in starting a business navigate state requirements for starting and running a business and a toolkit to provide resources for starting the most common types of businesses. Among the features are the inclusion of additional state agencies and enhanced features for business owners.

For more information, visit ksbiz.kansas.gov.

The ARELLO® Education Certification Committee awarded the Kansas Real Estate Commission (KREC) with a Communication Award for the Kansas Real Estate Alexa skill. ARELLO® brings regulators together to promote excellence in real estate regulation.

The Information Network of Kansas (INK) and the Kansas Information Consortium (KIC) partnered with the Commission to create the Kansas Real Estate Alexa skill. This voice-enabled tool uses an Amazon device to provide accurate real estate information that is easily accessible by licensees, members of the industry, educators and the public.

“The Kansas Real Estate Commission is excited to receive this award. We strive to be a leader when it comes to using new technology to communicate with licensees and consumers,” said Erik Wisner, Executive Director. “Allowing licensees to obtain information through voice-enabled digital assistants offers amazing convenience and more immediate access to information related to their real estate business.”

KREC was recognized on Sept. 20 during the Award-Winning Ideas session at the 2019 ARELLO® Annual Conference in Denver.

To learn more, visit: krec.ks.gov/alexa.

The Center for Digital Government (CDG) has announced the winners of the 2019 Government Experience Awards. The recently redesigned Kansas.gov site, the official website for the State of Kansas, was recognized with a fifth-place finish in the category of “Overall State Government Experience.” The award category recognizes the top 10 state websites in the nation, placing strong emphasis on improving the citizen experience and innovations in how citizens interact with government.

In a news release issued Sep 18, 2019, Dustin Haisler, chief innovation officer for the CDG, states:

“This year’s results are evidence that state and local government agencies are continuing to grow the sophistication of their digital experiences. The Government Experience Award winners from this year are not just leveraging innovative tools like chatbots to amplify their reach, they are also going the extra mile to build a proper foundation to support the future and ensure citizens get the right information at the right time.”

The 2019 redesign of Kansas.gov was delivered as a service by the Information Network of Kansas, Inc. (INK). The new user experience focuses heavily on providing information via search, which lessens the burden on citizens to navigate through various pages and categories to find the information they need. Other key highlights include the integration of INK’s award-winning artificial intelligence chatbot, “Agent Kay” into government services. Agent Kay, the official chatbot of the State of Kansas, provides 24/7 user support on a variety of topics, including taxes, business information, filing information, and other frequently asked questions.

“The Information Network of Kansas serves as the gateway to public information in Kansas and I am happy to see the fruits of our public-private collaboration recognized for improving efficiency and service delivery to our citizens. This recognition belongs to everyone involved in these ongoing efforts to make Kansas government more accessible and user-friendly, and I look forward to more innovations to come.” Aaron Kite, Chairman, Information Network of Kansas Board of Directors

The winners of this and other categories will be honored at an awards event Sept. 27 in Denver, Colo.

The Center for Digital Government (CDG) has announced the winners of the 2019 Government Experience Awards. The recently redesigned Kansas.gov site, the official website for the State of Kansas, was recognized with a fifth-place finish in the category of “Overall State Government Experience.” The award category recognizes the top 10 state websites in the nation, placing strong emphasis on improving the citizen experience and innovations in how citizens interact with government.

 In a news release issued Sep 18, 2019, Dustin Haisler, chief innovation officer for the CDG, states:

“This year’s results are evidence that state and local government agencies are continuing to grow the sophistication of their digital experiences. The Government Experience Award winners from this year are not just leveraging innovative tools like chatbots to amplify their reach, they are also going the extra mile to build a proper foundation to support the future and ensure citizens get the right information at the right time.”

The 2019 redesign of Kansas.gov was delivered as a service by the Information Network of Kansas, Inc. (INK). The new user experience focuses heavily on providing information via search, which lessens the burden on citizens to navigate through various pages and categories to find the information they need. Other key highlights include the integration of INK’s award-winning artificial intelligence chatbot, “Agent Kay” into government services. Agent Kay, the official chatbot of the State of Kansas, provides 24/7 user support on a variety of topics, including taxes, business information, filing information, and other frequently asked questions.

“The Information Network of Kansas serves as the gateway to public information in Kansas and I am happy to see the fruits of our public-private collaboration recognized for improving efficiency and service delivery to our citizens. This recognition belongs to everyone involved in these ongoing efforts to make Kansas government more accessible and user-friendly, and I look forward to more innovations to come.” Aaron Kite, Chairman, Information Network of Kansas Board of Directors

The winners of this and other categories will be honored at an awards event Sept. 27 in Denver, Colo.

The Kansas Law Enforcement Memorial Foundation (KLEM) website was recently recognized as an AVA Digital Award “Gold” winner in the category of government web-based production. The AVA Digital Awards is an international competition recognizing all aspects of digital communication.

The KLEM website was publicly unveiled on Nov 19, 2018, at a joint-press conference of the Kansas Attorney General, the Kansas Law Enforcement Memorial Advisory Committee, and the Kansas Law Enforcement Foundation. The site was created as part of an initiative to help build awareness of the Kansas Law Enforcement Memorial.

“Congratulations to the Kansas Information Consortium on this well-deserved award for the Kansas Law Enforcement Memorial Foundation website,” Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt said. “The finished product is user friendly and expertly designed to show off the state memorial honoring Kansas’ fallen heroes. I commend KIC for the hard work on this project at no expense to taxpayers.”

The Kansas Law Enforcement Memorial is located on the northeastern corner of the state capitol grounds. The memorial honors law enforcement officers, who by virtue of their commitment to uphold the law and protect the citizens of Kansas, gave their lives in service to the people of this state. A fundraising initiative is currently underway to expand the memorial and the grounds.

The development and maintenance of the KLEM website, tour, and donations page are performed by KIC as a service of the Information Network of Kansas, Inc. (INK). Under INK’s and KIC’s public-private partnership, eGovernment services are delivered through a self-funded model, which does not utilize taxpayer funds.