Daudt looking to give government services a tech boost

House Speaker Kurt Daudt is launching a new effort to help us better connect with the state government.

He's hoping to hear from people about new ways to use technology, such as our phones or computers, to better access information and services.

Daudt is putting together a select committee on technology and responsive government. Rep. Dave Baker from Willmar will chair the committee.

Their mission is to look for better ways that people can use computers and mobile devices to get basic services from state government.

"We need to need to improve our customer service to our constituents to make sure that we are serving them and remember that process in everything that we do,” said Daudt. “So we hope the customer, the citizen of Minnesota will drive everything we do through this committee and it will be a lens that we can kind of put ourselves in their shoes." 

The state already has online services for people to renew tabs online, buy fishing licenses, and even reserve a campsite.

A lot of this started under Governor Dayton with his un-session two years ago.

The governor's office says IT consolidation back in 2013 has saved the state $60 million.

But Daudt believes the government can do more online and he wants to hear from citizens as to what they want.

He wants to have his new committee make recommendations by the end of the session, but he says a lot of this may take years.