In the recent 2022 Digital Counties Survey from the Center for Digital Government*, seven of California’s 58 counties received honors — and two of the seven counties earned first place in their population category. Find complete coverage by Government Technology* magazine here. Here are more details on California’s winners:
- A longtime contender in the under 150,000 population category, Nevada County reclaimed No. 1 through a focus on projects across the enterprise. Several departments streamlined the broadband deployment process and the county deployed a new last-mile broadband grant program paid for out of the General Fund. In disaster recovery, Nevada County stood up an off-site enterprise-level backup via Rubrik with multiple backups in different locations. Officials implemented the NIST Cybersecurity Framework and multifactor authentication for all access outside its network; and for residents, the county created readynevadacounty.org for fire and preparedness; Zonehaven for evacuation warnings and orders; and a new customer relationship management (CRM) portal for county services.
- Gold Country’s Placer County rose from fourth place to first in the 250,000-499,999 population category by building on its work in consolidation and accessibility. This year, that included a cloud-first application strategy and cloud migrations, the Ready Placer website and the Ready Placer GIS dashboard, which offer citizen-facing preparedness information such as evacuation tips. The county expanded its Microsoft Power BI platform to facilitate dashboard-style analytics and performance metrics and created the Placer County Broadband Equity Program to push out digital accessibility and connected fiber. Last year, the county released its three-year 2021 Information Technology Strategic Plan and launched the Placer County Probation Outreach Vehicle, a mobile probation office, courtroom, and assessment center.
- Two California counties won acclaim in the 500,000-999,999 population category. San Joaquin County, which is in the second year of its Digital Services and Innovation Strategy adopted in 2020, placed sixth this year. To keep constituent safety a top priority, San Joaquin is working with law and justice leaders on modernization road maps with initiatives including updating public safety radios, deploying a new probation system for juveniles and implementing a new case management system for the district attorney’s office. The county also created a hybrid telework policy to confront remote access technologies and cybersecurity needs; and its Information Systems Division is writing a permanent telework policy.
- Also in this category, Ventura County placed eighth, having worked hard at upgrading its IT infrastructure. Officials deployed NSX from VMware, to enhance network security and performance; built a GeoHub site for their open data initiative; and partnered with their cities on the Ventura County Broadband Plan to envision middle-mile fiber that will connect all cities and public facilities. The county also last year deployed the Business Assistance Grants Program for small businesses struggling during COVID-19; and its enterprise GIS team created the application for this program. County cybersecurity enhancements included two-factor authentication for all staff.
- In the population category of 1 million residents or more, Alameda County placed fifth — up three places this year as it continues simplifying its infrastructure to become more agile. Using Salesforce and Microsoft Forms tools, the county deployed dashboards for vital social service programs, to visualize demographics and trends and guide decision-making — including by automating intake and assessment for Project Roomkey, which offered care to people who were homeless and COVID-positive or COVID-exposed. The county also offered accessibility training to website teams and promoted continuous learning. More than half its staff now have laptops enabling them to work anywhere. Alameda finalized new virtual- and remote-first guidelines at the end of 2021.
- San Diego County, the state’s second largest by population, placed sixth in this category by focusing on residents and planning for the future of IT. Its Tell Us Now app empowers quick reporting of issues like graffiti and potholes. The county’s library system is using American Rescue Plan Act monies to buy laptops and mobile hot spots for more than 7,400 households, via one-year device loans. A new priority in the county’s 2021-2024 Information Technology Strategy, “Speed to Deliver,” aims to improve the speed of IT solution delivery through DevSecOps, design-centered thinking, promoting application development platforms and restarting the county’s innovation program. And the county’s Operational Plan emphasizes equity, outcome-centered programs and services, and goals typically supported by innovative tech.
- San Bernardino County placed 10th in this category through a focus on public access, communication and security. Officials hired the county’s inaugural CIO as part of an ongoing push to protect systems and data — which includes semiannual testing of disaster recovery processes and vulnerability management. The next 12 to 18 months will see the county undertake further efforts to enhance IT security and collaborative cybersecurity work. The county’s govDelivery web-based software from Granicus will further connect with residents, integrating online services, digital communication and websites and emails. And weekly email updates to subscribers that began as a COVID-19 informational newsletter are now a more general source of news that reaches more than 240,000 subscribers.
