Best of the Web Wrapup

On Friday, I met with other states, counties, and cities that received Best of the Web awards. Seattle was represented by a large contingency, having received first place in the City portal category. They do an excellent job at providing online services and innovation to a city and citizenry that is focused on high tech. We also spent some time with the egov group from Maine. They have also done an excellent job moving things forward in that State, creating a portal that is user-centric, visually appealing, easily navigable, and service oriented. Harry Sutton, a former State of Utah manager, was there to receive the 4th place award for the Commonwealth of Virginia. Harry is doing well with the Social Services department.

Part of the afternoon session was spent on a discussion of new technologies and what government should expect in the future. Nothing earth-shattering was mentioned in the session - more webservices, more mobility, location based / GIS service more integrated with everything else, etc. were the things most commonly proposed.