Awards And Certifications From November 19
Ann Arbor Earns Top Ranking In Annual Digital Cities Survey: For the first time, the city of Ann Arbor was ranked No. 1 in the midsized city category (75,000 to 124,999 population) by e.Republic's Center for Digital Government and Digital Communities magazine for its use of technology to create a seamless environment between local government and citizens. The annual survey focused on results achieved by cities, via the use of technology, in operating efficiencies and realizing strategic objectives despite current fiscal constraints. According to the Center for Digital Government, the highest-ranking cities in the survey showed that consolidating and enabling shared services created cost savings, and new citizen engagement tools increased citizen feedback and improved services. Marana, Ariz. won in the 30,000-74,999 population category, Salt Lake city in the 125,000-249,999 category, and Louisville, Ky in the 250,000 and up category. Ann Arbor's highlighted technology projects included the launch of A2 Open City Hall, www.a2gov.org/opencityhall.aspx, a new online forum for citizens that features questions about specific city projects or topics, on a regular basis, and invites the public to share their feedback conveniently in an open and transparent forum; the development of systems platform for the Ann Arbor Fire Department that consolidates several complex and disjointed systems and processes into a single system view for managing personnel and equipment resources; the launch of a first-of-its-kind year-long test of connected vehicle technology involving nearly 3,000 cars, with assistance from the City of Ann Arbor Information Technology staff, combined with usage of the city's network. Top 10-ranked cities from each category will be honored at a special awards ceremony concurrent with the National League of Cities annual conference in Boston on Nov. 30. To learn more about the 2012 Digital Cities Survey and winners, visit at www.digitalcommunities.com/survey/cities/?year=2012.
