NASCIO Awards

AWARDS & RECOGNITION

2009 Awards: Digital Government: Government to Citizen (G to C)

RECIPIENT:
Virginia - Virginia.gov Portal Widgets

As part of its 2008 portal redesign, the Virginia Information Technologies Agency and its public-private partner Virginia Interactive set project objectives:

Increase usage of government information by citizens
Utilize new Web technologies
Provide simple tools accessible by all users
Provide a means for Virginia agencies to push real-time information to interested users – without incurring cost
Expedite information portability
Engage younger citizens with government in their native web environment - without alienating less adventurous users
Analyze effectiveness of new tools

To achieve these goals, Virginia chose widget technology – and thus led the nation in their deployment by government. Widgets are movable, sharable mini-applications used by consumers to craft custom experiences.

Transparency and speed of information delivery are significantly enhanced by enabling portable content. By allowing users to choose content and post it on their own sites, the portal fulfills its mission of government information delivery without requiring return visits. From lottery numbers to election results, Virginia.gov’s widgets provide a means for citizens to obtain real time government information. This innovative content delivery benefits citizens and Virginia government entities.

Content providers establish a process once that is updated automatically. They benefit from cross-pollination of data, as interested persons discover content on sites otherwise unrelated to the state portal. Other benefits include precise usage measurement, cost savings, improved information delivery, effective outreach, redundancy and income.

Since launch in June 2008, Virginia has seen impressive widget usage statistics. Dynamic content contained within these ‘wrappers’ has been viewed more than 825,000 times from over 2500 placements beyond the portal. Constituents now are able to obtain real time government information – where they want it, when they want it, how they want it.

"Citizen engagement is a high priority across Virginia government. Portal widgets allow citizens to easily adopt government information and use it, and it is simple and cost-neutral for government to participate. We are honored by this NASCIO recognition and encouraged to continue similar pursuits."
George Coulter, Chief Information Officer, Commonwealth of Virginia

FINALISTS:
Click on the title to download program submission.

Minnesota
Minnesota Unemployment Insurance Technology Initiative Project

North Carolina
Integrated Voice Recognition System for Unemployment Insurance Initial and Continued Claims

OTHER NOMINATIONS:
Click on the title to download program submission.

District of Columbia
Apps for Democracy - An Innovation Contest

Florida
Florida Offender Alert System

Georgia
1.800.Georgia Contact Center

Hawaii
NonCandidate Electronic Filing System

Kentucky
Kentucky Integrated Child Care System (KICCS)

Massachusetts
Mass.Gov: Achieving a True "Single Face of Government" Through Continuous, Sustainable Improvement

Maine
Maine Online Qualifying Contributions for Clean Election Candidates

Nebraska
BillTracker