[Durham INC] Durham Named 2013 Digital Cities Survey Winner

[Blalock, Amy]

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CITY OF DURHAM
Office of Public Affairs
101 City Hall Plaza
Durham, NC 27701


News Release


News Media Contact:
Amy Blalock
Sr. Public Affairs Specialist
(919) 560-4123 x 11253
(919) 475-7735 (cell)
Amy.Blalock at DurhamNC.gov<mailto:Amy.Blalock at DurhamNC.gov>
http://Facebook.com/CityofDurhamNC
http://Twitter.com/CityofDurhamNC


For Immediate Release: November 12, 2013



Durham Named 2013 Digital Cities Survey Winner
Durham Ties for Third Place in its Population Category; Highest Ranking N.C. City

DURHAM, N.C. - The City of Durham has been nationally recognized for its use of technology to improve transparency with residents and operate more efficiently with taxpayer dollars.


e.Republic's Center for Digital Government and the Digital Communities Program announced the top-ranked cities in the 2013 Digital Cities Survey. Durham tied for third place with City of Alexandria, Va.in the 125,000 - 249,999 population category, and is also the highest ranking North Carolina city in this category.



In its 13th year, the annual survey is a part of the Digital Communities Program and is open to all U.S. cities. The survey criteria focused on results achieved by cities -  via the use of technology -  in operating efficiencies, realizing strategic objectives, innovative or creative solutions or approaches, effective collaboration and transparency measures, among others.



According to Technology Solutions Director/CIO Kerry Goode, winning this national designation is an acknowledgement of how the City is using enhanced technology to better engage, communicate, and conduct business with residents. "Our use of technology places the City in the forefront with modern best practices that our departments then use to enhance engagement with our residents and elected officials," Goode said.


According to Goode, an example of this embraced use of technology is the use the iLegislate, which is an application on iPads that replaced the once cumbersome and paper intense City Council agenda process - the backbone of City operations. "The use of this cloud-based technology has saved City taxpayers thousands of dollars in printing costs and has enhanced Council members' and the public's understanding of issues affecting Durham," Goode said. "Now, City staff can enhance presentations by embedding links to visuals, maps, and other resources to provide better and more graphic explanations, enabling Council members to make better informed decisions."

This award is in addition to the now twice-received "Citizen-Engaged Community" designation from the Public Technology Institute for accomplishments in aligning technology to enhance resident engagement. In addition, the City was also awarded the 2013 Certificate of Excellence from the ICMA Center for Performance Measurement for its performance dashboard for residents.

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, the nation's only media and research company focused exclusively on the state and local government market and education. For more information, visit http://www.govtech.com/cdg/.



For more information about the 2013 Digital Cities Survey winners, visit http://www.digitalcommunities.com/survey/cities/?year=2013.



About the Technology Solutions Department
The Technology Solutions Department aligns the City's information technology infrastructure and systems to the business needs of the City's departments. It designs, implements, and maintains the technology hardware, applications, and programs. Guided by the City's Strategic Plan, Technology Solutions ensures that its services support making Durham a great place to live, work, and play by helping provide a well-managed city and stewardship of the City's physical assets. To learn more, visit http://durhamnc.gov/ich/as/ts/Pages/Home.aspx.

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