City Of Greenboro: City Of Greensboro Wins National 2021 Digital Cities Survey Award

Press release from the City of Greensboro:

11/18/2021 9:00 AM

The City of Greensboro was named one of the top-ranked digital city governments by the Center for Digital Government (CDG), placing eight among cities with a population between 250,000-499,999. The CDG is a national research and advisory institute focused on information technology polices and best practices in state and local government.

“The City’s Information Technology Department continues to focus on digital transformation, data driven dashboards, and building partnerships which enhance access to technology in our community,” noted Chryste Hofer, deputy chief information officer. “We are honored to be recognized by the Center for Digital Government for the seventh consecutive year. Our goal is to build a citizen-centric technology program that enriches the lives of our employees and residents.”

The City has stayed busy with technology advancements in 2021. In May, the City launched a GIS application that lets the public search for building permit information going back 10 years, with features that give residents far more flexibility than previous incarnations of the same idea. The City also released a police transparency dashboard, which allows residents to view and filter data on traffic violations, juvenile and adult crimes, use of force and more, and has also garnered interest from local researchers wanting to utilize the data for their studies.

Additionally, the City amended its acceptable use policy to hold all employees and contractors to the same ethical standards when they use social media and the city’s network and ensuring that equipment will be fully returned or reimbursed when employees leave their posts, resulting in savings of thousands of dollars. The City also moved away from its paper-wasting system of routing contracts and toward an electronic method that leverages DocuSign, reducing the average amount of time it takes to route contracts. Another notable achievement is that the City standardized the equipment and software utilized by its three different drone teams use so that the groups can share technology and best practices.

 “Innovative cities are utilizing technology and analyzing data to better serve their citizens, respond quickly to citizen needs around COVID-19, and support digital experience initiatives,” said Phil Bertolini, co-director, CDG. “The Center for Digital Government congratulates this year’s winners for their hard work and efforts to use technology to enhance citizen interactions with government.”

The City of Greensboro was named one of the top-ranked digital city governments by the Center for Digital Government (CDG), placing eight among cities with a population between 250,000-499,999. The CDG is a national research and advisory institute focused on information technology polices and best practices in state and local government.

“The City’s Information Technology Department continues to focus on digital transformation, data driven dashboards, and building partnerships which enhance access to technology in our community,” noted Chryste Hofer, deputy chief information officer. “We are honored to be recognized by the Center for Digital Government for the seventh consecutive year. Our goal is to build a citizen-centric technology program that enriches the lives of our employees and residents.”

The City has stayed busy with technology advancements in 2021. In May, the City launched a GIS application that lets the public search for building permit information going back 10 years, with features that give residents far more flexibility than previous incarnations of the same idea. The City also released a police transparency dashboard, which allows residents to view and filter data on traffic violations, juvenile and adult crimes, use of force and more, and has also garnered interest from local researchers wanting to utilize the data for their studies.

Additionally, the City amended its acceptable use policy to hold all employees and contractors to the same ethical standards when they use social media and the city’s network and ensuring that equipment will be fully returned or reimbursed when employees leave their posts, resulting in savings of thousands of dollars. The City also moved away from its paper-wasting system of routing contracts and toward an electronic method that leverages DocuSign, reducing the average amount of time it takes to route contracts. Another notable achievement is that the City standardized the equipment and software utilized by its three different drone teams use so that the groups can share technology and best practices.

 “Innovative cities are utilizing technology and analyzing data to better serve their citizens, respond quickly to citizen needs around COVID-19, and support digital experience initiatives,” said Phil Bertolini, co-director, CDG. “The Center for Digital Government congratulates this year’s winners for their hard work and efforts to use technology to enhance citizen interactions with government.”

This press release was produced by the City of Greensboro. The views expressed here are the author’s own.