NACo and the National Academy of Public Administration announce the winners of the first Seal of Good eGovernance Award Program. The Award recognizes best practices and innovation in county-level eGovernance initiatives.
Hamilton County, Ohio was awarded the eGovernance Award of Excellence, the highest award granted and designated by a gold seal. Hamilton County launched its Web portal in 1998 (www.hamilton-co.org). Hamilton County serves a population of 845,268 and competed with similar-sized counties of 500,000 to one million residents. The county links information on more than 50 county-related sites and more than 80 sites of public interest to its residents and the Internet community. The site currently links the public to eight public service categories available through the Internet.
Twenty-nine counties applied for the award and were grouped into seven categories based on population size, and were judged against similarly sized counties. The applicants were scored based on seven criteria addressing customer-centric interactions; seamless service-delivery, leveraged partnerships, participation of multiple government sectors, innovative use of technology for service delivery, ease of replication, and privacy and security.
Thirteen counties received the eGovernance Award of Distinction, designated by a silver seal. They are: Nevada County, Calif.; Johnston County, N.C. Geographic Information Systems; Dakota County, Minn.; Howard County, Md.; Larimer County, Colo.; Sedgwick County, Kan.; Seminole County, Fla.; Fairfax County, Va.; Montgomery County, Md.; King County, Wash. Rideshare Operations; King County, Wash. Department of Transportation; MyFloridaCounty.com, Florida (MyFloridaCounty.com is sponsored by all 67 counties in the state.); and Oakland County, Mich.
Seven counties were awarded the eGovernance Award of Merit, designated by a bronze seal. They are: Beaufort County, S.C.; Stearns County, Minn.; Kent County, Mich.; Washoe County, Nev.; Broward County, Fla.; Dallas County, Texas; and Maricopa County, Ariz.
The following counties received an Honorable Mention for submitting their applications and making strides toward the provision of online, citizen-centric service delivery: Ross County, Ohio; Arlington County, Va.; Chester County, Pa; Cobb County, Ga.; and Camden County, N.J.
An expert panel of five judges evaluated the award applicants. The panel was composed of representatives from Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University, IBM, Public Technology, Inc., NACo, and the International City/County Management Association.
The Seal of Good eGovernance Awards will be presented at NACo’s Annual Conference, July 12-16, in New Orleans. Awardees information is included on the academy’s home page at: www.napawash.org/pc_egovernance/seal.html.
The National Academy of Public Administration is an independent, nonprofit organization chartered by Congress to improve the performance of government institutions at every level.
(For more information, contact Susan M. Pandy at (202) 347-3190, ext. 3005, or spandy@napawash.org.)
