Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Digital Government Top 10 for the State of Utah 2015

New technologies and innovations are changing the nature of digital government in 2015. Digital government has become transformative in nature and provides regular opportunities to change the way government interacts with the public. This is as true in Utah as it is anywhere in the world. Last week, I meet with a team of bright young executives from Prime Minister Modi's Digital India initiative and we had a great exchange of ideas. I was extremely impressed to see their level of sophistication in areas such as open data.

If you've followed my blog, you know that each December since 2002, I've put together a top 10 list of the best of egov in the state of Utah. It helps me to review some of our key accomplishments, track progress over time, and give some additional thought to what's ahead. That's still what I'm most excited about and 2016 will be a great year.


    Hire Utah
  1. Two new mobile apps for the Utah Department of Workforce Services
    Utah has had tremendous success using online services to connect job seekers with potential employers. This has helped the state maintain one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country. Recently, the Department of Workforce Services created two new mobile apps: Hire Utah, which lets employers post job opportunities from their mobile device and Utah Jobs, which helps qualified applicants find the job they are looking for.
  2. Utah Transportation and the Internet of Things
    The Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) is one of several agencies finding new applications for the Internet of Things. For example, UDOT recently incorporated a real-time snow plow tracking feature into it's web and mobile traffic information applications. In addition to location tracking, the vehicles also send real-time vehicle status information which will save the state thousands of dollars in vehicle maintenance costs. The Department of Technology Services (DTS) is working on a more comprehensive Internet of Things Strategy for the state.

  3. The rollout of a new open data portal.
    DTS unveiled the state's new open data catalog on January 1, 2015 to begin the new year. By December, the portal had over 1,800 data sets and over 3 million page views.
  4. Creative new business websites and services
    Just check out this new Silicon Stories website and you'll get an idea of what I'm talking about.
  5. NASCIO holds its annual conference in Salt Lake City
    The National Association of State CIOs brought its annual meeting to Utah in 2015 for the first time. There were some great presentations from Utah SMEs, including CIO Mark VanOrden who retired in November, UDOT Director Carlos Braceras, and Purchasing Assistant Director Jennifer Salts who shared a lot of great tech innovation emanating from Utah.

  6. New uses of GIS services like Utah crash mapping
    State agencies created dozens of new interactive maps that help users understand what is happening in the state and aid agencies in their ability to address a wide variety of challenges.
  7. Publishing of Utah education data
    Utah's Educational Data Gateway made substantial strides in 2015, providing more information on school performance.


  8. Increased use of business intelligence dashboards and analytics
    Utah is working to become a data-driven government, making better use of data and analytics for business decisions.
  9. The new Utah.gov portal
    Here's the April press release announcing the 2015 version of Utah.gov
  10. Silver 2.0
    Silver 2.0 is the new source for Utah birth and death certificates and introduced several new innovations in the way digital IDs are verified.
There is still a lot to look forward to. 2016 will be a great year!

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