COVITS

Hosted by Government Technology, a division of e.Republic

Each year, COVITS brings together public sector leaders, innovators and changemakers who are shaping the future of technology in government. From digital transformation to strategic planning, this symposium delivers forward-thinking content, peer exchange and real-world insights. Whether you're leading policy, managing IT operations or supporting smarter service delivery, COVITS is your front-row seat to Virginia's tech evolution. 

COVITS 2025 was hosted Sept. 16-17 at the Greater Richmond Convention Center in Richmond, Virginia. View a recap of the event here.

Each year, winners of the Commonwealth Technology Awards are announced at COVITS. These awards recognize the top public sector information technology programs and projects completed over the last year. 

Information on how to submit your project for the 2026 Commonwealth Technology Awards will be shared here when it becomes available. 

2025 Commonwealth Technology Award winners

In 2025, there were four award categories, with each recognizing state and local winners. Congratulations to the winning projects and teams! Learn more about each winning project here.

Category: IT in Serving the Customer and Business - State
Recognizes the innovative use of IT to improve access to and service from governmental entities. Included are projects that improve Virginian's interaction with government, promote availability, usability and/or transparency of information, and increase public awareness and adoption of services.

Winners:

• Office of Regulatory Management – Virginia Permit Transparency (VPT)
• Virginia Department of Health – VA MyEHDI Parent Portal 

Category: IT in Serving the Customer and Business - Local
Recognizes the innovative use of IT to promote efficiency by improving business access to and service from local governmental entities. Included are projects to improve electronic interaction of businesses with government, promote availability, usability and/or transparency of information, and increase business awareness and adoption of services.

Winners: 

• Prince William County – PWC Works    
• Chesterfield County – Digital Access for All Initiative   

Category: Innovative Use of Technology - State
Recognizes the innovative use of IT to solve a business problem at the state level. This category is open to any state agency.

Winners:

• Virginia State Police – STARS Infrastructure and Subscriber Upgrade    
• Virginia IT Agency – VITA Commonwealth App Store    
• Department of Labor and Industry – Project Starfleet   

Category: Innovative Use of Technology - Local
Recognizes the innovative use of IT to solve a business problem at the local level. This category is open to any local government entity, including social services, first responders and geographic information systems (GIS) practitioners.

Winners:

• Chesterfield County – Planning Pending Cases Application   
• City of Fredericksburg – City Tree Management Initiative

Category: Innovative Use of Data, Analytics & AI - State
Recognizes the innovative use of technology in collecting, storing, retrieving, and analyzing a variety of structured and unstructured data sources at the state level.

Winners:

• Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services – Synthetic Data Generator    
• Virginia Tech – DASH application

Category: Innovative Use of Data, Analytics & AI - Local
Recognizes the innovative use of technology in collecting, storing, retrieving, and analyzing a variety of structured and unstructured data sources in local government.

Winners:

• City of Alexandria – Smart Intersections Project   
• Arlington County – AI-Driven Non-Emergency Call Diversion Initiative

Category: Cybersecurity and Privacy Initiatives - State
Recognizes the effective use of cybersecurity and/or privacy initiatives to protect Virginians at the state level.

Winner:

• Department of Motor Vehicles – Identity Verification Source of Record (SoR) Project

Category: Cybersecurity and Privacy Initiatives - Local
Recognizes the effective use of cybersecurity and/or privacy initiatives to protect Virginians at the local level.

Winner:

• Virginia Defense Force – Cyber Security Assistance for Virginia Localities