There is a lot of concern that the current economic crisis is the next Great Depression. It’s hard to not hear references and people are already running to the banks to pull out all of their money, presumably to put it under the mattress until safer times.

This is a reaction of fear. I’m not saying that there are not tough times ahead. There are. We have no idea if the worst is over or has yet to come. Even with everything that has happened so far, the credit card market is poised to begin collapsing and unemployment is traditionally highest towards the end of a recession, not the beginning.

But now that we’ve got panicking covered, let’s move on to the next thing: rationally turning this into an opportunity to do something amazing.

With banks all over the world collapsing partially because of the foreclosed houses I see in my neighborhood, it’s pretty clear that globalization is here and that America is a powerful influence. President Bush has already called for an economic summit of world leaders on November 15, presumably after the election so that his successor can take part.

It’s a prime opportunity for us to lead the charge out of this mess. Bush has made a smart move by going a step further than just convening the powers-that-be and including the up-and-coming too, India and China in particular. We’ve never had this level of collaboration, this much creativity and determination all focused on the same thing.

Web developers created a set of “web standards” years ago, and now that everyone uses the same building blocks, we’ve seen the amazing innovation of the “Web 2.0” era. We should take this opportunity to establish key accounting standards, checks and balances and an entirely new level of fiscal cooperation at a global level. Everyone will be playing by the same rules. Everyone will have developed the solution, so it will be theirs. They will want to make their solution work.

Happiness lies not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort. The joy and moral stimulation of work no longer must be forgotten in the mad chase of evanescent profits. These dark days will be worth all they cost us if they teach us that our true destiny is not to be ministered unto but to minister to ourselves and to our fellow men.

– from FDR’s “We have nothing to fear but fear itself speech” inaugural speech during the Great Depression

So what will we see when we look back years from now: that we sank into defeat or that we revamped the old, broken way of doing things for a new, global approach?

The world isn’t ending. The only thing that’s over is the old, bad way of doing things. Now we get to define the new, better way. Let’s end this on our terms and make it work for us.

“So what can a website do to make your life easier?”

That question is not always readily answered, but when I met with the Probate / Juvenile Court team, their immediate response was, “We need to get our forms online”. With no central repository, they found themselves filling each request as it came in. While they had a solid collection in digital format, they found themselves sometimes scanning old paper forms, other times having to request a copy from a neighboring county. To compound matters, they received requests over the phone, via email and in person.

We resolved to do the following:

• Create a usable digital version of all of their forms that was not a scanned document.
• Aggregate all of those forms on a staged website that could later be rolled out so that the collection and uploading could happen over time.
• Make the forms as easy to find as possible by segregating the two courts, then dividing the forms by type of need.

After designing and launching the staged website, I helped the team reformat some of the tougher forms. I also worked with them to determine the most clear-cut way of presenting this online library into something that would make sense to someone without a legal background. Marriage license information was designated as an extreme example of just that, so complete instructions were included and we made sure that all of the pages linked to all the others to make learning and finding what you need as easy as possible.

Their team has done an amazing job of collecting and organizing a great deal of information. Once the site has been indexed, I’ll add in search functionality to make the forms even easier to find.

Whether it’s giving us a behind-the-scenes peek at this massive news story or broadcasting full-length shows from CBS, YouTube and Google continue to push the way video and online communication change the way we interact with the world around us.

Immediately after their release in the Content Management System, the aftermath of 2008’s Hurricane Ike knocked out the power in Clermont County for several days and a state of emergency was declared. More than ever before, the County portal and Commissioners’ sites became the best way to communicate to the public and the media. Its ease of use made what would have only been daily updates multiple updates a day, putting out information in a near real-time basis.

Both were lauded for their ability to be updated from anywhere at any time. Well, anywhere with power anyway!

There was a good deal of overlap between the Permit Central and the Building Inspection departments. Both were trying to make it easier for citizens to get the paperwork they would need for projects and to make their information more readily available to the public.

So then it occurred to them, if the goal is to become a one-stop shop, we should be one shop! And the Permit Central / Building Inspection Web site was born. Combining all of their paperwork online as PDFs and opening up their electrical releases to be able to be publicly searchable, they continue to make everything easier.