Carrion Proposes Digital Overhaul of Government Services with New Legislation

Bill 35-026 aims to integrate and modernize government websites, reducing reliance on costly external contractors

Senator Samuel Carrion hopes that his newest piece of legislation will fast-track the digitization of government services, making them more accessible and responsive to citizen needs. Introduced on Monday in the Senate Committee on Government Operations, Veterans Affairs and Consumer Protection, Bill 35-026 is an act which would amend Title 3 of the Virgin Islands Code by adding a new chapter - 33A - to enact the 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act - IDEA. Mr. Carrion lamented that government agencies are separately contracting out the design of their websites at a “tremendous cost” to the government. Explaining the rationale behind the conceptualization of the legislation, the senator explained that government websites are “not properly connected, and sometimes not compatible to each other.”