SALT LAKE CITY – The Center for Digital Government announced the state of Utah again topped the Digital States Survey. Conducted every two years, the survey evaluates states’ use of technology to improve service delivery, increase capacity, streamline operations and reach policy goals, and assigns each state a grade based on quantifiable results.
Over the past two years, Utah has aggressively pursued a migration path to cloud computing to increase security and quickly deliver flexible IT services to state agencies and residents. With the increase in state employees working remotely, the Department of Technology Services has worked to ensure secure network connections and an effective support model to be able to support remote workers. Looking ahead, the Utah IT team is seeking to leverage an Artificial Intelligence center of excellence to enable further innovative government services.
State Chief Information Officer, Michael Hussey, has overseen a continuing effort to get the most out of state tax dollars by supporting over 1,400 online services, making it easier for Utah citizens and businesses to interact with government.
Utah is one of only five states in the country to receive an “A” grade in this year’s Digital States Survey. An “A” grade represents states that have demonstrated results in all categories of the study, including data management, policy alignment, adaptive leadership, citizen engagement, and innovation. According to the Center, top states include actions supporting state priorities and policies to improve operations or services, hard- and soft-dollar savings/benefits, progress since the last survey, innovative and citizen-centric services, and effective collaboration.
In addition, Utah earned Digital States Survey Awards in the following categories:
● Leadership: IT Strategy consistency and support of the Governor’s priorities and the actions Enterprise IT takes to improve working relationships, planning, policies and coordination with agencies.
● Citizen Centric: Mobile and digital services that engage individual citizens/businesses. Solutions may focus on transactions, decision support and other interactions with government groups.
● Continuous Innovation: The exploration, testing and appropriate application of Emerging Technologies beyond current operations to improve government services.
The state’s technology operations are managed by the Department of Technology Services under the direction of CIO Hussey. See the full report HERE.
About the Center for Digital Government. The Center for Digital Government is a government 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.
About DTS. The Department of Technology Services (DTS) is the technology provider for the State of Utah Executive Branch Agencies. DTS has embarked on an unprecedented transition to consolidate all IT resources and services for the State of Utah into one department helping to reduce costs, increase services to taxpayers, and more closely align IT with the business needs of the State of Utah.
