Ann Arbor Ranks No. 6 In Digital City Rankings
For the third year in a row, the City of Ann Arbor has been recognized for its use of technology to create a seamless environment between local government and citizens by e.Republic's Center for Digital Government and Digital Communities magazine.
The 10th annual survey, which measured and assessed the use of information technology by local governments, focused on measurable achievements and the cities that did it best rose to the top of the Digital Cities rankings, which are categorized by population size.
This year the City of Ann Arbor was recognized as the No. 6 Best Digital City in the country in its population category (75,000 to 124,999) in the annual Digital Cities Survey rankings. Ann Arbor finished fifth in the competition in 2009 and seventh in 2008.
The City of Ann Arbor's website at www.a2gov.org features a variety of online resources that helped Ann Arbor to earn the ranking and improve service efficiencies and access to information including:
* Data Catalog: Successful launch of an Open Data Catalog has made information easily available and helped foster open government and strive toward improving citizen engagement.
* Online Water Bills: Online utility bill presentment and payment system provides around-the-clock access and avoids paper bills by delivering electronic statements. There is a 27 percent customer acceptance and usage rate and approximately 800 customers, or 2.7 percent, have opted to receive paperless statements.
* Social Networking: The city leverages digital e-mail subscription management, Facebook, Twitter, Animoto and Foursquare, as part of its communication tools to encourage citizen participation and feedback. Citizens can sign up for e-mail updates, follow us on Twitter and Like us on Facebook.
* eTRAKiT: This online permitting and development records system allows around-the-clock access to planning and development information, inspection results, the ability to look up permits online and check registration with the city or schedule inspections.
Other key initiatives delivered this year included:
* Financial System Replacement: Implementation of the new scalable financial management system. New World's LOGOS.Net, was finalized in approximately five months. The system is hosted in the new City/County data center.
* Document Management: Implemented several scan and retrieve document management initiatives to ease paper-records storage and increase document retrieval accessibility for several departments including the Assessors, City Clerk, Police Department, Engineering, and Systems Planning service units.
The survey is open to all U.S. cities with a population of 30,000 or more and respondent cities are classified into four size-based categories. 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, Inc., a national publishing, event and research company focused on information technology in the public sector. To learn more about the 2010 Digital Cities Survey and winners, visit www.centerdigitalgov.com.
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