Smarter use of data, the spread of citizen-centric websites and the creation of new digital services are the fastest growing trends in state and local government, if Virginia’s latest awards ceremony is any indication.
State technology officials joined Gov. Terry McAuliffe on Wednesday to present 17 awards highlighting “innovation and efficient service” by state, local and education agencies. The Governor’s Technology Awards showcased work in categories like “innovative use technology in education,” of which the Virginia Cyber Range was a winner, and “IT as efficiency driver,” which was presented to the Division of Legislative Automated Systems for its Virginia Ethics Search Portal.
“Every project honored today has used information technology to improve citizen service, through metrics, including decreased cost, faster response time or ease of completion,” McAuliffe said in a statement. “The Commonwealth has a bright future with talented groups like this continuing to improve government through technology.”
Secretary of Technology Karen Jackson, who presented awards alongside Chief Information Officer Nelson Moe, told StateScoop the event is not only a celebration of technological achievements, but also the latest sign that core ideas advanced by the McAuliffe administration are gaining influence.
The governor has been a strong advocate of technology and cybersecurity initiatives since taking office in 2014.
“We’re seeing more and more emphasis being put on creative apps, creative ways of better reaching and better communicating with commonwealth citizens,” Jackson said. “A lot of the things we talked about in this new Virginia economy world about digital, the IoT, enhanced communications with citizens, use of data for analytical decision making, that seems like it’s starting to have an impact and make its way into the norm.”
There’s a lot of creativity in government that not everyone is aware of, Jackson said.
“The geeks in state government don’t get recognized as much as they should and this is kind of an opportunity for them to come together and celebrate some victories,” she said.
The full list of winners by category:
Cross-boundary collaboration on IT initiatives
- Electronic Motor Voter, Virginia Departments of Elections, Motor Vehicles
IT as efficiency driver — government to citizen
- Virginia Ethics Search Portal, Division of Legislative Automated Systems
- Digital Courtrooms Upgrade, Fairfax County Courts
IT as efficiency driver — government to business
- Site Selector Application, Roanoke County
IT as efficiency driver — government to government
- County Demographics Website, Prince William County
- Utility Map Viewer, City of Charlottesville
- State Pointer Exchange Services, Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles
Innovative use of technology in local government
- Social Services Cloud Hosted Case Management, Chesterfield County
Innovative use of technology in education
- Cyber Range Initiative, Virginia Cyber Range
- JMU X-Labs, James Madison University
Innovative use of big data and analytics
- Zika Disease Testing Request Approval System, Virginia Department of Health
- Democratizing Open Data, Fairfax County
Innovative use of open data
- Opioid Addiction Indicators Dashboard, Virginia Department of Health
- Smarter Roads Data Portal, Virginia Department of Transportation
Best citizen portal
- Website Redesign, Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
- Powhatanva.gov, Powhatan County
- Jamescitycountyva.gov, James City County
[“Source-statescoop”]
