Information Network of Kansas, Executive Director, Murray McGee recently spoke with local government leaders in Wichita. McGee led a work session at the 2024 WSU City/County Management Summit. He explained the history of the Information Network of Kansas and tools that are available to help local government leaders provide digital access to their information and services for the public. He gave details on the new Assessment Connect program available to assist with the County Appraisal process; Engagement Builder which can be used to create digital forms and applications. The group also discussed new ideas where technology can be utilized to help bring local government services directly to the public through websites and mobile applications.

The Management Summit was presented by the Wichita Sate University Public Policy & Management Center.

Congratulations to David Harper and the Kansas Department of Revenue for receiving the Tyler Technologies Excellence Award this week for Data & Transparency. The KDOR Division of Property Valuation is using the Assessment & Tax Pro or “Assessment Connect”, to utilize the data collected and reported from the statewide computer-assisted mass appraisal system. Adding Assessment Connect to their statewide implementation of Assessment & Tax Pro provided:

• Automated collection and aggregation of appraisal data for 105 counties across the state making it faster and easier to access and respond to data requests.

• Easy access to commercial and residential comparable property and sales data
• 50+ new metrics and reports that serve as analytical tools for counties and the state
• Increased public transparency through the Open Data portal

Harper received the award at the Connect 24 Conference in Indianapolis in May.

The Information Network of Kansas helped by providing a grant to support KDOR with the Assessment Connect tool.

Kansas Dept. of Revenue staff: (2nd from Left) Raelane Schnacker, Manager of the Computer Assisted Mass Appraisal Section and (2nd from right) David Haper, Director of the Division of Property Valuation and Division of Vehicles accept the award.

Oh, how the world of technology has changed. I was just thinking about the evolution of the internet and the organization I work for, the Information Network of Kansas.

Kansas is considered the birthplace of eGovernment. Kansas legislation (K.S.A. 74-9301 et seq.) was passed in 1990 authorizing the creation of the Information Network of Kansas, Inc. (INK).

In 1990 the Internet had existed for only 7 years; just 3 million people had access to it worldwide. 73% of these people were living in the United States, 15% were in Western Europe.

According to Wikipedia the invention of the World Wide Web by Tim Berners-Lee at CERN, was at the time, a network of networks for academic and research institution. The “web” opened to the public in 1991 and began to enter general use in 1993.

The first service INK provided in 1991 was an e-mail service for subscribers. Other services were added to meet the needs of a growing computerized government and business audience.

In 1994, INK offered a wide range of electronic services including legislative, legal, banking, and education services.

INK launched the official state web site for Kansas in January 1995. Kansas had one of the first state sites in the United States.

Think back to the technology of the time. Mobile phones were just beginning to emerge. Remember bag phones? Bulky brick phones. They were simply used for making phone calls, no texting or surfing the web. The first mobile phone with internet connectivity was produced in Finland in 1996. It wasn’t until the early 2000s when mobile cellular devices were used for business. They were not a routine household item.

In Kansas, in 1999, the Information Network of Kansas helped make hunting and fishing licenses available online. INK also launched a new state portal for access to government information in 2000. It was called accessKansas. In 2005, the portal was redesigned and renamed Kansas.gov.

This was at the time when the internet was used mostly for mailing lists, emails, creating and distributing maps with tools like MapQuest. People shared ideas through online forums and bulletin boards.

From 2005 to 2010 there was a boom in technology, storage and data access speeds leading to more households connecting to the internet. Remember dial up connections and the screech of your dial up modem? Yes, now that brings back memories.

Think of how the internet has changed by leaps and bounds over the past 14 years. During that same time the Information Network of Kansas has also expanded our services. INK provides the Kansas Department of Revenue with Webfile, Homestead, Payment Processing, Motor Vehicle Record sales and other records.

INK supported a cooperative effort of five state agencies to develop and host the Kansas Business One-Stop, a centralized website with information for the public and business community about starting and maintaining a business in Kansas.

INK created an online appointment scheduling service currently utilized by Kansans to set appointments to renew their driver’s license. Today other agencies are working on plans to utilize the same technology for public services they provide.

The Information Network of Kansas supports the KBI with the statewide Amber Alert System; we provide over the counter payment processing for over 400 state and local government agencies.

INK also supports property tax payment processing for over 70 counties.

The Information Network of Kansas has been able to assist the Governors Office in 2019 with the development of the COVID-19 Dashboard.

We helped open the doors to more public access to our legislative process through an INK Grant to assist with audio-video equipment acquisitions for the Kansas House and Senate Chambers and for legislative hearing rooms.

Our grants have also assisted the Kansas Department of Commerce statewide Broadband Mapping; the Kansas Department of Revenue-Assessment Connect tool; as well as funding a project for the Kansas State Historical Society to share more of our rich state history with the public.

Over the past 30 years, the internet has grown and evolved at an incredible pace. Along with that the Information Network of Kansas has also gone through changes and evolution.

Grant applications are accepted from May 1 to May 31. They are available online at Grants or by e-mail upon request to INK Executive Director Murray McGee.

Past projects funded through the INK Grant program include the following:
• Assessment Connect (Kansas Department of Revenue)
• Statewide Broadband Mapping (Kansas Department of Commerce)
• Updating the Amber Alert System (Kansas Bureau of Investigation)
• Online Streaming of Legislative Committee Hearings (Kansas Legislature)
• Property Tax Estimator Tool (Kansas State University)

All grant awards must be approved by the Information Network of Kansas Board of Directors.

**The Information Network of Kansas is a quasi-governmental entity focused on enabling digital access to Kansas state and local government information and services for public use and benefit.