Carson City ranks among the best government agencies in the U.S. for technology use

For the second consecutive year Carson City has been listed by e.Republic's Center for Digital Government and the Digital Community Program as being among the top U.S. metro areas to effectively use the internet and technology.
In cities with a population of between 30,00-74,999, Carson City ranked second out of 10. Last year the capital city was ranked seven. First place this year was Eden Prairie, Minn., and 10th place was the town of Flower Mound, Texas.
Carson City was the only Nevada municipality recognized in the survey.
The survey focused on results achieved by cities, via the use of technology, in operating efficiencies and realizing strategic objectives despite current fiscal constraints.
"Cities that are investing in technology are capturing cost savings that are critical to continuity of operations and their ability to meet higher demand for services," said Todd Sander, director of e.Republic's Digital Communities. "The highest-ranking cities in the survey showed great strides in consolidating, enabling shared services, government transparency and communications interoperability. We applaud these innovators as they work in the spirit of collaboration to provide extraordinary value to constituents despite budget setbacks."

Here is a summary of Carson City's 2011 initiatives for the Digital Cities 2011 survey response. You can also find this in PDF form on the city's website here.

The Digital Cities survey is designed to assess an organization’s current environment, recently completed projects, and projects that are planned for the next year. Note that projects are from across the city government organization. The Digital Cities assessment is an assessment of the use of technology citywide – not necessarily projects run out of the IT Department.  

Projects in the past 12 months or ongoing:
 
— NEW EMAIL ARCHIVE SYSTEM. Easy to search, low cost, ensures better retention practices 
— SMART PHONE AND CELLULAR STIPEND PROGRAM – reduces the support burden, increase  choice 
— THE CARSON CITY GUEST NETWORK.  Free Internet is several City locations 
— ROLLOUT OF 20 IPADS CHANGING THE COMPUTING ENVIRONMENT 
— FIBER OPTIC INFRASTRUCTURE, involving public and private partnerships 
— PURCHASING REFURBISHED COMPUTERS. (limited basis) 2‐yr‐old computers at ~28% of the cost  
— FOUR COUNTY WIRELESS ETHERNET  
— HIGHLY VIRTUALIZED ENVIRONMENT. Reduces hardware and software costs, increases reliability 
— TELESTAFF AUTOMATED STAFFING; scheduling, communication, and time management solution 
— LIBRARY AUTOMATED BOOK CHECK IN 
— UPGRADED and EXPANDED VPN SOFTWARE 
— ONLINE SURVEYS –routine use online surveys  
— GIS OUTSOURCING  
— LEVERAGING THE CITY’S FLEET OF PRINTERS AND COPIERS; research, leading to volume contracts 
— LONG TERM MAINTENANCE CONTRACTS. lower annual costs by 20% 
— WEB‐BASED SOFTWARE USED THROUGHOUT CITY FOR PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT (ActiveStrategy)   
— AUTOMATED POLICY DISTRIBUTION AND COMPLIANCE TOOL. (PolicyTech)  
— ONLINE WORKPLACE HARASSMENT TRAINING implemented in August 2011.  (From ELT) 
— PHOTO GALLERY.  A shared public photo gallery has been established and is getting loaded with pictures and video.  http://gallery.carson.org// 
— STREAMING OF ALL BOARD OF SUPERVISORS MEETINGS 
— QR CODES.   The City has begun using QR codes in several areas.  Tourism, library, now City events and information 
ICT ‐ GREATER ROLE IN EMERGENCY OPERATIONS AND MAJOR INCIDENTS , includes instant remote connectivity and quick‐setup call center  
— JURISDICTIONAL DIFFERENTIATORS:  Regional cooperative projects, policy makers and executive 
embrace of technology to mitigate effects of cutbacks, early recognition of financial downturn, 
forward‐looking Public Works Department 
 
Upcoming or in progress: 
— Law Enforcement Guest Network, encrypted and password protected 
— FURTHER EXPANSION OF CITY’S MOBILE WIRELESS SOLUTION used in September 6 iHop incident 
— Completion of VINE: VICTIM NOTIFICATION  
— ONLINE PHONE BOOK. New online phonebook application will be implemented 
— JUDGES’ IPAD‐BASED “PROBABLE CAUSE” APPROVAL 
— Expansion of CENTRALIZED ID/DOOR BADGE SECURITY SYSTEM 

The survey was open to all U.S. cities with a population of 30,000 or more. The first-place winners in each of the other three population classifications are:
— City and County of Honolulu, Hawaii (250,000 or more population)
— City of Olathe, Kan. (125,000 - 249,999 population)
— City of Roseville, Calif. (75,000 - 124,999 population)
This year's survey was underwritten by AT&T; CDW-G; Hyland Software, developers of OnBase; and Symantec.
Winners were honored Nov. 11 at a special awards ceremony at the National League of Cities annual conference in Phoenix, Ariz.

Here are the 2011 Digital Cities Survey Winners:
250,000 or more population:
1st City and County of Honolulu, Hawaii
2nd City of Seattle, Wash.
3rd Metropolitan Gov't of Nashville & Davidson County, Tenn.
4th City of Aurora, Colo.
4th City of Chicago, Ill.
5th City of Corpus Christi, Texas
6th El Paso City and County, Texas
7th City of Riverside, Calif.
8th City of Boston, Mass.
9th City of Baltimore, Md.
9th City of Long Beach, Calif.
9th City of Virginia Beach, Va.
10th City of Fort Worth, Texas
10th Louisville Metro Government, Ky.
10th City of San Antonio, Texas

125,000 - 249,99 population:
1st City of Olathe, Kan.
2nd City of Winston-Salem, N.C.
2nd Salt Lake City, Utah
3rd City of Alexandria, Va.
3rd City of Hollywood, Fla.
4th City of Irving, Texas
5th City of Augusta, Ga.
6th City of Hampton, Va.
7th City of Chesapeake, Va.
8th City of Chula Vista, Calif.
9th City of Madison, Wis.
10th City of Modesto, Calif.

75,000 - 124,999 population:
1st City of Roseville, Calif.
2nd City of Lynchburg, Va.
3rd City of Pueblo, Colo.
4th City of Arvada, Colo.
5th City of Ann Arbor, Mich.
5th City of Simi Valley, Calif.
6th City of Thornton, Colo.
7th City of Avondale, Ariz.
8th City of Roanoke, Va.
8th City of Westminster, Colo.
9th City of West Palm Beach, Fla.
10th City of High Point, N.C.
10th City of Independence, Mo.
10th City of Santa Monica, Calif.

30,000 - 74,999 population:
1st City of Eden Prairie, Minn.
2nd Carson City Consolidated Municipality, Nev.
3rd City of North Port, Fla.
4th City of Danville, Va.
5th Town of Jupiter, Fla.
6th Village of Schaumburg, Ill.
7th City of Fayetteville, Ark.
8th Town of Manchester, Conn.
9th City of New Berlin, Wis.
10th Town of Flower Mound, Texas

The Center for Digital Government is a national research and advisory institute on information technology policies and best practices in state and local government. The Center is a division of e.Republic, a national publishing, event and research company focused on smart media for public sector innovation.