September 6, 2012 By News Report
Gloucester County, Va., a top-10 winner of the below 150,000 population category, received its 2012 Digital Counties award Sept. 4 at a meeting of county supervisors. The award was presented by Jackie Wasni of Motorola to Applications Integration Coordinator Scott Varner, who accepted it on behalf of the county and county staff.
Varner said it was a group effort, and that departments made the transition from using index cards in 2009 to a full enterprise system. "We took a bunch of old building inspectors," said Varner, "taught them how to use the product, and they embraced it."
"You even taught a 73-year old supervisor how to use the iPad," said one supervisor, who led the board in applause for the IT department. Gloucester County was also a top 10 county in the 2011 awards.
Conducted by the Center for Digital Government and the Digital Communities program — divisions of parent company e.Republic — in partnership with the National Association of Counties, the Digital Counties survey evaluates entrants on their ability to demonstrate successful outcomes through the strategic use of technology.
This Digital Communities white paper highlights discussions with IT officials in four counties that have adopted shared services models. Our aim was to learn about the obstacles these governments have faced when it comes to shared services and what it takes to overcome those roadblocks. We also spoke with several members of the IT industry who have thought long and hard about these issues. The paper offers some best practices for shared government-to-government services, but also points out challenges that government and industry still must overcome before this model gains widespread adoption.
Don't miss this opportunity to see the latest in digital government solutions, keep abreast of current policy issues and network with key government executives, technologists and industry specialists.