Journals Proceedings

Abstract

Given the staggering quantity of textual information on the Internet, several systems of information search and retrieval have been proposed in recent years, such as Question-Answering Systems (QAS), whereby users employ natural language in their search, retrieving a specific answer to their question instead of a list of relevant documents. Government websites publish a wide array of textual information such as laws, procedures, and policies. Users generally do not perform searches in government websites due to the complexity of search mechanisms, which are sometimes too technical for lay people. The article proposes an architecture for the integration of QAS with government web portals in order to improve the search process on the part of citizens, thereby improving the interaction between citizens and government. It also discusses the research findings related to the design and implementation of a QAS in the Colombian context proposed for a local government