NASCIO selects 31 finalists for state IT recognition awards
Busakorn Pongparnit/Getty Images
States nominated their IT success stories, detailing how they improved government operations through IT modernization and business process innovations.
The National Association of State Chief Information Officers selected 31 finalists for its State IT Recognition Awards that “showcase the use of information technology to address critical business problems, more easily connect citizens to their government, improve business processes and create new opportunities that improve the lives of citizens,” NASCIO said in an announcement Tuesday.
NASCIO fielded nearly 90 submissions this year, and 55 judges narrowed the field down to three or four finalists for each of the 10 awards categories including cybersecurity, emerging and innovative technologies, business process innovations, enterprise IT management initiatives and others.
“The theme that emerged from the award submissions as a collective is that our world has changed over the past couple years and states are rising to the challenge, rather than waiting for a ‘return to normal,’” Emily Lane, NASCIO program and brand director, said in a statement.
“The submissions, especially those named as finalists, showcase how IT is instrumental in responding to the evolving expectations of citizens and the workforce in efficient, effective, and secure ways.”
Project categories covered a range of initiatives including those that improved government relations with businesses and citizens through digital services. Entries included plans to incorporate e-licensing, compliance tracking, online transaction innovations or open data portals. Many submissions addressed issues resulting from the pandemic.
The North Carolina Department of the Secretary of State, a government-to-business digital services category finalist, nominated its “Online Business Creation Wizard,” which provides companies an easier and more efficient way of filing reinstatements and business creations online. The service “is designed to reduce the number of filings with avoidable errors, the amount of examiner time spent inputting information, and to improve the customer experience by reducing rejections,” NCSOS officials said in their submission.
Other categories highlighted cybersecurity and data management programs, which could include implementing data privacy and protection measures or increasing education and awareness on data usage, fraud detection practices or data analytics.
In Tennessee, the Department of Finance and Administration, a finalist for the data management, analytics and visualizations category, outlined its COVID-19 Vaccine Registration and Administration Solution, an online portal that offers services such as vaccine registration and appointment scheduling for residents. For health care providers, the portal provides “vaccine inventory data management, an app to check-in patients with a QR code, and data insights through a centralized dashboard,” the agency said in its plan.
States submitted projects that improved state IT operations and that have been fully implemented within the past 24 months, according to the award info packet.
The winner of each category will be announced in October during the NASCIO Annual Conference in Louisville, Kentucky.