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Center for Digital Government and Digital Communities magazine have named the most advanced digital cities in USA. The cities were chosen from the results of the ninth annual Digital Cities Survey, which examines how municipalities incorporate information technology into operations which better serve citizens engaging with local government.
“This year’s winners demonstrate how cities have faced economic challenges with creativity and innovation in the use of information technology,” said Cathilea Robinett, executive director for the Center for Digital Government. “The Survey clearly shows that cities place a high value on positive experiences for their constituents when using government services. These winners are at the leading edge of the future in digital advances for citizens.”
The survey was open to all U.S. cities with a population of 30,000 or more and respondent cities were classified into four size-based categories.
The first-place winners in each of the four population categories are:
- Corpus Christi, Texas (250,000 or more population)
- Norfolk, Va. (125,000 – 249,999 population)
- Santa Monica, Calif. (75,000 – 124,999 population)
- Flower Mound, Texas (30,000 – 74,999 population)
The Digital Communities magazine presents some interesting trends and statistics from Digital Cities Survey. These statistics represent growth in self-service, transparency and sustainability over the past year:
Online Self-service
- 82 percent of respondents have webcasts — streamed audio and video, live and archived
- 74 percent have RSS feeds (up 21 percent over last year)
Citizen Participation and Transparency
- 87 percent have city government body meeting minutes available online, archived and searchable
- 73 percent conduct online surveys or polls
- 57 percent have podcasts (a 26 percent increase over last year)
- 67 percent have blogs (a 37 percent increase over last year)
- 62 percent have microblogs (such as Twitter)
- 64 percent use social networks (such as Facebook and MySpace)
Environment Sustainability
- 85 percent have done data center consolidation and virtualization
- 45 percent have established metrics and installed instruments to measure energy efficiencies
- 66 percent use e-waste recycling efforts and earth-friendly disposal
Sources
- Center for Digital Government – Top Digital Cities in America 2009
- Digital Communities magazine – Top Digital Cities Announced for 2009