Virginia is recognized as a leader in its use of information technology to increase citizen access to government. To increase awareness of both national recognition and best practices, award-winning IT initiatives are compiled here. In addition to narratives about recent Commonwealth honorees, several national sites referenced here offer helpful tools including examples from other states.
In 2009, the Commonwealth was honored as the recipient of three prestigious first place winners and one honorable mention for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Information Technology in State Government by the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO). NASCIO's Recognition Awards Program, in its 21st consecutive year, recognizes programs that exemplify best practices, support the public policy goals of state leaders, assist government officials to execute their duties and provide cost-effective services to citizens.
Commonwealth Initiative | Recognition | Category |
---|---|---|
Virginia Performs: Virginia's Performance Leadership and Accountability System | Winner | Data, Information and Knowledge Management |
Virginia.gov Portal Widgets | Winner | Digital Government: Government to Citizen |
Virginia Technology Portfolio 2.0 | Winner | IT Project and Portfolio Management |
University IT Internship Partnership | Honorable Mention | Cross Boundary Collaboration and Partnerships |
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In 2008, the Commonwealth was honored as the recipient of two prestigious first place winners and one honorable mention for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Information Technology in State Government by NASCIO.
Commonwealth Initiative | Recognition | Category |
---|---|---|
Virginia's IT Infrastructure Partnership | Winner | Enterprise IT Management Initiatives |
Interlocking Spheres of Collaborative Protection | Winner | Information Security and Privacy |
Commonwealth of Virginia Knowledge Center | Honorable Mention | Data, Information and Knowledge Management |
Virginia's official state portal Web site, www.virginia.gov, was ranked the best in the nation by the Center for Digital Government in its prestigious 2008 Best of the Web competition. The honor follows an extensive redesign of the site in early 2008. The state Web portal is developed and managed through a public-private partnership between the Virginia Information Technologies Agency (VITA) and Virginia Interactive, a Richmond-based wholly owned subsidiary of eGovernment firm NIC (Nasdaq: EGOV).
The City of Virginia Beach was named as a finalist in the city portal category.
Virginia also received two 2008 Digital Government Achievement Awards (DGAA) from the Center. The Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy's e-forms initiative and the Department of Taxation's telework initiative both received the prestigious awards, and the City of Newport News also was honored for its Open eGov program.
"Effective use of digital government tools on our state Web portal makes it easier for users to conduct their business with government and provides measurable cost and personnel efficiencies," said Lem Stewart, Chief Information Officer of the Commonwealth. "This prestigious endorsement of our efforts by the Center for Digital Government is a win for the citizens of the Commonwealth."
Virginia again received the top score in the Government Performance Project's "Grading the States 2008" report, the nation's only comprehensive, independent analysis of how well each state performs in serving the public. The project is headed by the Pew Center on the States. The report examines amd measures four key areas- money, people, infrastructure and information. In the first such rating in three years, Virginia achieved an overall grade of A- for performance. Only the states of Washington and Utah received equivalent high marks.
The Commonwealth received top marks in this category, improving on its previous score of A- to an A overall. Strategic Direction, Budgeting for Performance, Managing for Performance and Online Services and Information were rated as 'strengths' in this category by reviewers. The national average grade in this category was a B-.
Virginia was ranked third in the nation in the Center for Digital Government's 2008 Digital States Survey, a comprehensive biannual review of digital solutions and best practices among state governments. The program is the nation's original and only continuous survey of state governments use of technology to serve citizens.
State chief information officers and senior executives from across the nation participated in the survey, which benchmarks progression in digital government. It covered a wide range of areas from infrastructure to online applications and new Web 2.0 technologies provided to citizens. This year's survey also included a first-in-nation measure of sustainability efforts, especially in the area of green IT.