2009 Recognition Awards for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Information Technology
Nominations for the 2009 NASCIO Recognition Awards are now closed.
- About the Program
- Resources for Nominators
- Award Categories
- Project Eligibility
- Submission Guidelines
- Evaluation and Scoring
- Submission Deadline
- Awards Presentation
About the Program
Successful information technology initiatives in state government deserve to be highlighted and shared in order to promote innovation, foster better government, and engage citizens. For the twenty-first consecutive year, NASCIO will honor outstanding information technology achievements in the public sector through its Recognition Awards for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Information Technology. Emphasis is placed on recognizing those information technology initiatives which exemplify best practices, support the public policy goals of state leaders, assist government officials to innovatively execute their duties, and provide cost-effective service to citizens.This summer, NASCIO will select the outstanding achievements for 2009. Awards will be given in the ten categories described below. The deadline for nominations is June 3, 2009.
Resources for Nominators
- 2009 Call for Nominations Brochure
- Template for Nominations
- Judges Scoring Checklist
- Compliance Checklist
- Recognition Award Archive – Search previous years’ nominations
Award Categories
Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery
This category addresses IT initiatives related to continuity of government operations that make states better prepared for major incidents such as natural or man-made disasters, cyber attacks, pandemic flu and major infrastructure failures. Whether through planning methodologies, management information systems, infrastructure protection, security systems or recovery mechanisms, IT initiatives support government business continuity and recovery. Security of government information provided by citizens, businesses and other state customers and its availability in the event of disruption should be addressed. Business continuity or disaster recovery initiatives may relate to contingency planning, disaster recovery, homeland security, health alerts and business resumption. Benefits in this category are more likely to be speculative than quantifiable, as it addresses planning and preparedness more than reaction to an actual event. Testing and mock exercise results can be included as both part of execution (adapting plan) and results.
Cross-Boundary Collaboration and Partnerships
This category addresses identifying, planning, coordinating, sharing, integrating or joining up formerly unintegrated IT-related organizational goals and strategies, governance and management, policies, architecture and standards, business processes, data and information, systems and applications, services, technologies and infrastructure. Collaboration or partnerships must involve at least one public governmental entity and should include significant collaboration with other public groups including localities, higher education institutions, or not-for-profit sectors. Private partnerships can support, but the state government entity should exhibit a leadership role. Examples of functional and service areas may include performance management, budgeting, criminal justice, emergency management, taxation and revenues, human services, health, education, and workforce training.
Data, Information and Knowledge Management
This category addresses strategies, processes, applications, solutions, initiatives or programs that create, use, process, leverage or manage data, information, content, knowledge and intellectual value, property or capital. Examples may include data and information architecture, data warehouses/data marts, data mining, repositories, analytics, business intelligence, performance management, e-Discovery, data and information integration, metadata and master data management, knowledge management, information life-cycle management, data quality and supporting and developing the knowledge worker and workplace. Outcomes and benefits may include the provision of information-related content and services, as well as support for development of policies, performance assessments, funding, decision-making and making government more transparent and/or inter-connected.
Digital Government: Government to Business (G to B)
This category addresses innovative applications that foster improved interaction between government and business, including better service at less cost to business for regulatory compliance, economic development that encompasses setting up and growing a business and/or doing business with the state, and day-to-day government-to-business interactions. Examples include innovative services, one-stop solutions, provisions for transparent transactions, online registering, compliance tracking, notifications, automating licensing, permitting, reporting, payment, procurement, and similar services. This category might also include citizen benefits, if the system simultaneously allows visibility into business processes/reporting, such as complaints/recommendations. Submissions should include details about the longevity of the service, target audience and the current adoption rate as well as steps taken to ensure data and transactional security. Reference any performance measures and client satisfaction data. Include any development and/or training initiatives that ensure expanded access to, and independent use of these services by people with disabilities, particularly employees, as well as others who would not normally have easy access to digital government initiatives.
Digital Government: Government to Citizen (G to C)
This category addresses governmental applications that provide innovative service to citizens or increase government's efficiency and/or citizen interaction. Acceptable submissions include any type of electronic interface and may demonstrate two-way communication capabilities, self-service applications, personalization, subscription and notification features, and provisions for government transparency and accountability. Examples of digital government applications include personalized mapping and service location trackers, social networking, unemployment services, veterans' services, comprehensive benefits availability and eligibility services, licensing, vehicle registration, justice/safety/courts programs, issue/bill tracking/commenting, insurance, retirement programs, environmental service, and tax collection. Efficiency improvements such as e-voting, on-line permitting, and on-line bill payment will also be considered. Include details about the longevity of the service, target audience, outreach campaigns encouraging use and the current adoption rate as well as steps taken to ensure security of private data and transactions. Reference any performance measures and citizen satisfaction data. Include any development and/or training initiatives that ensure expanded access to, and independent use of these services by people with disabilities or others who would not normally have easy access to digital government initiatives.
Digital Government: Government to Government (G to G)
This category addresses digital government initiatives aimed at enhancing intergovernmental collaboration, planning, performance, transparency, fiscal accountability, cross-jurisdictional services and intergovernmental transaction processing. Examples include state government-wide information systems, integrated justice systems, health information systems, multi-state systems sharing, information sharing, geographic information systems and similar services that leverage a common solution across two or more federal, state, local and/or tribal governments. Include details about the longevity of the service, target audience and the current adoption rate as well as steps taken to ensure security of private data and transactions. Reference any performance measures and satisfaction data. Include any development and/or training initiatives that ensure expanded access to, and independent use of these services by people with disabilities, especially government employees, or others who would not normally have easy access to digital government initiatives.
Enterprise IT Management Initiatives
This category represents state initiatives to plan, organize and execute enterprise-wide technology initiatives. The focus should be on solutions that employ policies, best practices and processes for enterprise change management, workforce development, governance or transformation of service delivery. Initiatives nominated should provide information regarding how the project has assisted the state in managing technology assets-people, hardware, software, etc, as well as costs. This category may include state-wide efforts in the areas of policy-setting, public/private partnerships, and/or outsourcing, and may include implementation of best practice management structures such as ITIL, CoBIT and the ISO/IEC 20000 standards to improve service delivery and accountability. The Awards Committee encourages submissions that address the 2009 state CIO priority strategies and solutions, including consolidation, shared services, budget and cost control, security, enterprise resource planning, governance, transparency and green IT.
Information Communications Technology (ICT) Innovations
This category covers initiatives or services to leverage communication technologies to promote economic development, interoperability and improved quality of life. This may be accomplished by facilitating or providing communications capabilities that increase citizen access, enable state government to operate more efficiently and efficiently and effectively or offer more innovative, responsive, and personalized services to citizens. Initiatives or services could be unique uses of current technology or the application of leading-edge technology. Examples include specialized customer information delivery systems, multimedia learning applications, technologies enabling rehabilitation, geographic information systems, artificial intelligence (AI) systems, and media delivery independent systems such as wireless applications (i.e., PDA, mobile, or remote computing). Other examples include interface improvements that encourage broader use of technologies by citizens and use of Web 2.0 techniques such as social network analysis (i.e. enabling new ways of performing vertical applications that results in significantly enhanced communication or cost savings), collective intelligence (enabling new ways of doing business across governmental entities that will result in major shifts in operational or public policy dynamics), and mashups (i.e. new combinations or integrations of data that produce results that were not the original reason for producing the raw source data).Challenges in this area include low-cost broadband connectivity for all citizens regardless of geographic location or economic status, and solutions to regulatory compliance related to broadband spectrum and the FCC.
Information Security and Privacy
This category encompasses both IT security and privacy as strategic initiatives within state governments. These initiatives may include cybersecurity, risk assessment, data security, IT security awareness, crisis communications, or privacy frameworks. Challenges in this area include automated or directed external threats, hardware or software vulnerabilities, remote or mobile access, insider threats, incident management, or crisis handling. Examples also include telework adoption, education and awareness programs, state-level leadership and mentoring, initiatives to create a privacy culture, and efforts to organize for IT security.
IT Project and Portfolio Management
This category is for state initiatives which have developed a framework, governance processes, policies and systems for the efficient management of IT investments from concept, funding, implementation, operation to retirement. This category can include activities designed to improve the investment evaluation and selection process for IT projects; improving the project management discipline through training, mentoring, and career-path efforts; strengthening the management and transparency of individual projects to ensure that funds are being expended properly and that projects are within scope, schedule and quality; or projects to improve the management of the state's existing IT project portfolio. All nominations will be considered based on the merits of the management process, rather than the product of the project.
Project Eligibility
- Nominations will only be accepted from NASCIO state and territory members in good standing. Corporate members and non-profit organizations who would like to submit a nomination must work with the state CIO’s office to coordinate their nomination.
- The project must be in full production a minimum of 6 months for a nomination to be considered. Any benefits highlighted in the nomination must be measured from December 1, 2008 or earlier.
- To be eligible for an award, the nominated initiative must stand on its own. If the initiative represents one phase of a project or the project is part of a larger program, the nomination may explain the broader context but should only include benefits realized by the specific initiative being nominated.
- Outsourced projects or business processes will be considered as long as the initiative is defined, managed and controlled by the state. Please be sure to fully explain this relationship in your submission.
- NASCIO Recognition Awards focus on state best practices. Initiatives that are regional or national in scope are not eligible for consideration. n Only one nomination per category will be accepted from each state or territory.
- Each project may be submitted in only one award category.
- Initiatives that have previously received a NASCIO Recognition Award are not eligible. Previous award finalists and honorable mention recipients will be considered.
- The recipient of a 2008 Recognition Award in a certain category is excluded from consideration in that same category during 2009. They are free to submit nominations in other categories. Selection as an Award Finalist in 2008 does not impact eligibility in 2009.
Submission Guidelines
Please carefully review the submission guidelines below. All nominations must follow the prescribed format using Arial 12pt font and margins no smaller than 1 inch. Nominations that do not meet the submission criteria or format will not be considered. Click here for a nomination template and additional resources for nominators.All nominations must follow the format prescribed in the Template for Nominations. This format includes the following elements:
- Cover page including the title of the nomination, category and state (one page in length)
- Executive Summary (one page in length)
- Description of the business problem and solution, including length of time in operation.
- Significance to the improvement of the operation of government
- Benefit of the Project - In this section please address the financial and non-financial reasons why this project was worthy of the investment made.
Evaluation and Scoring
Nominations will be evaluated on the clarity, quality and completeness of the information presented. Submissions which do not follow the required format or are submitted after the deadline will not be considered.Each of the following elements will make up a portion of the total score as indicated below.
- Contextual Principles – How well the nomination exemplifies best practices, supports the public policy goals of state leaders, represents an innovative use of existing technology or a use of new technology, assists government officials to efficiently execute their duties, provides cost-effective service to citizens and transfers to other agencies or units of government (20% of total score)
- Section C - Description of the Business Problem & Solution (20% of total score)
- Section D - Significance of the Project (20% of total score)
- Section E - Benefit of the Project (40% of total score)
Submission Deadline
Nominations for the 2009 NASCIO Recognition Awards are now closed.Nominations must be submitted in electronic form and must be received no later than midnight local time on June 3, 2009. For more information, please contact Dianne Adams, NASCIO Programs & Education Coordinator, at (859) 514-9153 or dadams@amrms.com.
