Apple iPhone users can now search the Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing's online database, thanks to a free Apple application which can be downloaded from iTunes, says Francine Giani, executive director of the Utah Department of Commerce.

Giani says the department makes Utah the first state in the nation to offer an iPhone service for a government agency.

Now, users will be able to look up a contractor's license from a job site, patients can verify a doctor's license from a waiting room and homeowners can search for a licensed electrician from their backyard.

Utah.gov, the state government's official Web portal, was ranked first in the 2008 Digital States Survey by the Center for Digital Government and first in the nation in the Center for Digital Government's 2007 Best of the Web competition. It is managed and operated without tax funds through a public-private partnership between the state and Utah Interactive, the Salt Lake City- based official partner for the state of Utah.

Utah Interactive is a subsidiary of the firm NIC.