Granicus Recognizes 16 Government Organizations for Excellence in Digital Transformation

The Granicus 2019 Digital Government Awards Honor Transformational Digital Achievements Improving Government Efficiency, Effectiveness, Engagement, and Service Delivery

Granicus, the leading provider of cloud-based software solutions and digital engagement services for the public sector, today announced the recipients of the 2019 Granicus Digital Government Awards. The winners implemented transformational digital initiatives that demonstrate excellence in online service delivery, citizen experience, process efficiency, and program-driven outcomes.

“The Granicus Digital Government Awards provide a showcase for this important work and honor those that made these achievements a reality.”

“By embracing and harnessing the power of modern, digital technologies, government leaders are reimagining what’s possible as they build strong communities, strengthen connections with citizens, and drive life-changing outcomes for the people they serve,” said Mark Hynes, CEO of Granicus. “The Granicus Digital Government Awards provide a showcase for this important work and honor those that made these achievements a reality.”

2019 Digital Government Award Winners

Granicus recognizes leaders in six award categories: Tech Trailblazer Award, Citizen Service Award, Digital Efficiency Award, The Difference Maker Award, Innovator of the Year Award (Individual), and the Modern Website Award. Each category includes winners from federal, state, and local government agencies. Any government organization was eligible to participate.

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Tech Trailblazer Award

The Tech Trailblazer Award is Granicus’ highest honor for leaders in public sector digital transformation. This award, recognizing digital transformation excellence, identifies initiatives that have delivered a profound improvement in government activities, processes, and/or competencies by transitioning from outdated tech or in-person interactions to modern digital technologies.

• City of Georgetown,Texas: Increased civic participation and streamlined the board application, review, and selection process by bringing the entire process online — filling board vacancies for its 220 seats quickly and efficiently.
• Weld County, Colorado: Doubled its opt-in subscribers of county-related news and information as a result of ongoing and targeted communications — leading to a more engaged and connected community.
• New York State Department of Taxation and Finance: Keeps taxpayers and businesses updated with targeted and relevant communications resulting in engagement rates of over 70% and improved overall taxpayer experiences.

Citizen Service Award

This award recognizes organizations that have leveraged digital technologies to improve a public service capability and enhance the citizen experience.

• City of Arlington Water Utilities: Combined digital communications regarding water-usage with online service access to give customers new ways to control their water bills and reduce overall water usage.
• Oregon Department of Transportation: Leveraged targeted and effective digital communications to help manage Oregon’s transition to REAL ID and proactively reduce lines and wait times at DMV locations supporting the program.
• Transportation Security Administration (AskTSA): Introduced AI virtual assistants to improve travelers’ experiences and wait times — effectively responding to online questions in just under 1 minute (down from 49 minutes).

Digital Efficiency Award

This award is for organizations that serve as models in government efficiency — from reducing paper use to streamlining labor-intensive processes.

• City of Margate, Florida: Increased efficiency in the meeting management process by replacing time-consuming manual tasks with digital solutions — saving city staff over 100 hours and 10,000 sheets of paper.
• California State Teachers’ Retirement System: Used modern, trusted, secure communications solutions to significantly improve deliverability rates, and avoid spam blockers and blacklists to bring important information to more educators across the state.
• Alameda-Costa Transit District: Increased efficiency at the state’s third-largest bus-only transit district — using digital options to accelerate internal processes and reduce paper usage by an astounding 57,000 pages per year.

The Difference Maker Award

Whether saving lives or feeding the hungry, this award recognizes organizations improving citizen engagement and impact through a unique campaign purpose, effective content, and exceptional outreach methods.

• City of Berkeley, California: Leveraged multi-channel crisis communications during massive wildfires in California, bringing thousands of residents to local libraries for safety and relief.
• Alaska Department of Transportation: Implemented a multi-channel emergency response plan during a 7.0 magnitude earthquake, getting thousands safely back home.
• U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs: Provides more than five million Veterans with access to their electronic health records and other digital tools for proactively managing their health.

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Innovator of the Year Award

This Innovator of the Year Award, the only digital government award presented to an individual, recognizes an enthusiastic government leader who delivers results by solving problems in unique ways.

• Francisco Salguero, Deputy Chief Information Officer, U.S. Department of Agriculture: Contributed to $42.3M in cost savings by aligning teams in concert with technology modernization initiatives designed to reduce the agency’s data center footprint, improve power utilization efficiency, decommission obsolete equipment, and repurpose labor.

Modern Website Award

This award goes to organizations that used a data-driven approach to strengthen the relationship between government and citizens through a modern, mobile-friendly website.

• City of Kansas City, Missouri: Placed citizen experience at the center of its website redesign approach, delivering an improved experience and quickly connecting residents to the services and information they are searching for.
• The City of Port St. Lucie, Florida: Launched a mobile-friendly and accessible website that, with more intuitive navigation, greatly improves the customer experience.
• The County of Hawai’i: Launched two website redesign projects in 2019, including one dedicated to Kīlauea eruption recovery that has been pivotal in sharing information with victims and coordinating services with relief agencies.

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