I’m happy to reach you in this blog post via the new AustinTexas.gov.

This site is the culmination of a multiyear effort to bring our Web visitors a dynamic online tool to connect with City services and information. I view our new website as a key part of our continuing effort to make Austin the best managed City in the country.

I think we’ve made a good start. The new site offers a vastly improved user experience for our visitors and great efficiencies for those tasked with keeping content fresh and updated. The new site is a groundbreaking implementation of Drupal, an open-source content management system that provides extraordinary flexibility and cost savings.

A great website isn’t all about design, though. It’s also about openness and transparency. We’ve made great strides on that front as well – Austin joins a handful of other City governments to make City data sources open and easily available online. Our new City Data Center is available from every page on the website. Just click the link that says “AustinGO 2.0” at the top of this page.

While we’re happy to be launching this new resource, our work is far from over. Today the site is in public beta, meaning that as you explore the site, we need your feedback on what you encounter. Our web team met a very aggressive six-month implementation schedule, and we know some of what you see may be a little rough around the edges. The team is prepared to act on your feedback as quickly as possible – whether you notice a typo or bug or just have an idea to improve the website down the road.

We’ll officially launch the new site with a presentation to City Council on Jan. 26, 2012. But the project won’t be complete even then.

Over the course of 2012 we’ll roll out new functionality and improvements to the City site, including increased options for online payment and exciting new applications from our friends at Code for America.

Thanks for your patience and feedback during the beta phase of this release. It’s an invaluable part of our success. I appreciate your involvement in these initiatives, and hope you will share your experiences and ideas with me, whether about the new City website or other issues going on in Austin. Thanks.