RESULTS AND PERFORMANCE

 Thanks in large part to the investments from VentureTECH, Illinois has been ranked the best in the nation in the use of digital technology to make government more accessible and to improve service. This honor was the result of a major national survey conducted by The Progress & Freedom Foundation and the Center for Digital government. Illinois tied with Kansas for the first-place rank in the 2001 digital state survey. In 2000, Illinois ranked fourth in the nation and was voted “most improved” because in the 1998 survey, Illinois ranked 49th among the 50 states.

Chicago ranks first in the nation for the number of high-tech jobs according to a University of Minnesota study and second in the nation as the best market for information technology jobs, according to Compterworld Magazine. Also, a city-by-city survey of the high-tech industry named Chicago as one of the nation’s top “cybercities” in terms of high-tech employment with more than 180,000 jobs. This ranks Chicago with San Jose, Boston, Washington, D.C. and Dallas.

Illinois is ranked one of the best states in the country in terms of human resources. Illinois’ students perform better in math and both the state’s high school graduation rate and college attainment statistics are above average, according to the 2001 Development Report Card for the States.