10th Annual Digital Cities Survey – 2010 Results

Top U.S. Digital Cities Awarded by the Center for Digital Government

e.Republic's Center for Digital Government and Digital Communities Program today announced the top-ranked local governments in the 10^th annual Digital Cities Survey. The survey recognizes municipalities that successfully incorporate information technology into operations to better serve constituents and businesses. Recognized cities have continued to realize operational objectives despite financial challenges, strategically investing to maximize dollars and effectively conduct the business of government.

"This year's winners continue to demonstrate the transformative power of information technology," said Digital Communities Director Todd Sander. "Economic conditions are bringing about a fundamental rethinking of local government structures and support strategies. It is clear from the results that digital technology is a critical factor in helping organizations not only maintain, but actually improve service delivery when faced with fewer employees and smaller budgets."

The survey was open to all U.S. cities with a population of 30,000 or more.

The 2010 Digital Cities Survey was underwritten by AT&T; Cisco; EMC; Hyland Software, developers of OnBase; McAfee; and Microsoft. All companies are proud partners of city governments across America.

Winners will be honored at a special awards ceremony in Denver, Colorado on December 2nd.

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 eRepublic, a national publishing, event and research company focused on smart media for public sector innovation.

Congratulations, Digital Cities Survey Top Ten winners!

250,000 or more population

1^st City of Boston, Mass.

2^nd City of Louisville, Ky.

3^rd City of Aurora, Colo.

4^th City of Charlotte, N.C.

5^th City of Chicago, Ill.

5^th City of Corpus Christi, Texas

6^th New York City, N.Y.

7^th City of Plano, Texas

7^th City of Riverside, Calif.

8^th City of San Antonio, Texas

9^th City of Tucson, Ariz.

10^th City of Fort Worth, Texas

125-249,999 population

1^st City of Richmond, Va.

2^nd Salt Lake City, Utah

3^rd City of Norfolk, Va.

4^th City of Irving, Texas

5^th City of Hampton, Va.

5^th City of Winston-Salem, N.C.

6^th City of Alexandria, Va.

7^th City of Augusta, Ga.

8^th City of Lakewood, Colo.

8^th City of Modesto, Calif.

9^th City of Hollywood, Fla.

10^th City of Des Moines, Iowa

10^th City of Santa Clarita, Calif.

75-124,999 population

1^st City of Pueblo, Colo.

2^nd City of Olathe, Kan.

3^rd City of Lee's Summit, Mo.

4^th City of Roseville, Calif.

5^th City of High Point, N.C.

5^th City of Independence, Mo.

5^th City of Simi Valley, Calif.

6^th City of Ann Arbor, Mich.

6^th City of West Palm Beach, Fla.

7^th City of Arvada, Colo.

8^th City of Roanoke, Va.

9^th Village of Schaumburg, Ill.

10^th City of Berkeley, Calif.

30-74,999 population

1^st Town of Castle Rock, Colo.

2^nd City of Lynchburg, Va.

3^rd City of Danville, Va.

4^th City of Annapolis, Md.

5^th City of Dublin, Ohio

6^th Town of Manchester, Conn.

7^th Carson City, Nevada

8^th City of Medford, Ore.

9^th City of North Port, Fla.

10^th Town of Flower Mound, Texas

Summary of Selected Survey Findings and Trends:

Measures to deal with Economic Downturn

• 95% of responding cities are pursuing federal stimulus, grants and fees to lessen dependence on the city general fund - a slight increase (five percent) from 2009

• 85% plan reductions in staffing and operating hours - a nine percent increase over last year

• 80% are consolidating data centers, servers, applications and staff - eight percent over last year

• 58% are pursuing joint service delivery - a seven percent increase since last year

The largest increase since 2009:

• 56% plan increased reliance on third parties (private, commercial and not-for-profit) - up 25 percent

• 66% are planning agency consolidation, mergers and/or elimination - a 22 percent increase since last year

• 56% may have cuts in public service delivery - a 15 percent increase in cuts

Priorities, This Year and Next Year

Governance & Management: The two highest priorities this year are the highest for next year:

• Aligning the IT strategic plan with the city's strategic business plan, and

• Fiscal Stability/ New Service Delivery Cost Models

The following are a higher priority in 2011 than 2010 (in priority order):

• Disaster recovery/ business continuity,

• Cyber Security/ Information Security (Operations and Policy),

• Governance,

• Cross Agency/ Cross Jurisdictional Collaboration,

• Accessibility,

• Project Management Process (Operations),

• Project Initiation and Oversight (Policy),

• ICT Workforce: Skills Development and Retention, and

• Identity and Access Management

Computing Management: The top three priorities 2010:

• Virtualization

• GeoSpatial (GIS) Computing and Analysis, and

• Mobile Computing - Equipped Field Staff

Network Management:

• Wireless is the top priority for 2010 and 2011

• In 2011 Unified Communications (voice, data, video, presence) moves ahead in priority over broadband

Collaboration

Cities reported the following levels of sustained collaboration in service delivery:

• 70% - Public Safety, Emergency Management & Corrections

• 68% - Finance, Administration and Tax

• 59% - Licensing and Permitting

• 52% - Energy, Environment, Parks and Recreation, Natural Resources

• 49% - Employment, Labor and Workforce

• 43% - Commerce and Labor - Economic, Business, Community and Workforce Development

• 42% - Health, Social and Human Services