Respondents to this survey highlighted several near-term priorities, including a focus on cybersecurity; customer experience; AI and machine learning; process automation; recovery and resilience; analytics and intelligence; data governance; workforce training and retention; agency collaboration; and modernization.
In honor of these recipients, we’ll be taking a closer look at their work in the final portion of this three-part series.
Up to 75,000 Population Category
7th: Newark
The city of Newark claimed a seventh-place spot in this year’s Digital Cities Survey, climbing three places since last year. The improvement is tied to the redoubling of modernization efforts, a strong focus on resilience and cybersecurity, and a commitment to accessibility and digital equity.
In the last year, Newark has invested in server hardware upgrades that not only improve system performance across departments but also make the city’s system more resilient and less susceptible to disasters. At the same time, certain functions like permitting, payments and records management have been moved to the cloud for constituent convenience and security.
Where cybersecurity is concerned, Newark has taken a proactive approach by enhancing endpoint protection capabilities, training staff on incident avoidance and management, and building strong policy enforcement mechanisms. Future plans for the city include AI and machine learning threat detection, enhanced data encryption, and the implementation of zero-trust principles.
75,000 to 124,999 Population Category
2nd: Carson
Coming off a couple decades of municipal budget deficits and underinvestment in IT, the Southern California city of Carson reinvented itself some four years ago with new budget practices that have resulted in more stable footing.
That’s culminated in a bevy of significant advancements, including the largest IT project in city history by dollar amount: a citywide fiber installation to connect all of Carson’s major parks and municipal facilities, which began this year. The fiber network, building off the deployment of public Wi-Fi in its parks, will support real-time access to city services, intelligent transportation systems and new public safety capabilities.
The IT department has also completed — ahead of schedule and under budget — a major ERP deployment. That’s resulted in many improved processes, for example decreasing permit processing times by 55 percent and increasing business license collections by $400,000, as well as eliminating a six-month licensing backlog.
Aside from a slew of other achievements — a new city website with an AI chatbot, cyber upgrades including 24/7 monitoring and the formal adoption of data governance practices, to name a few — what stood out about Carson’s IT approach was its personal touch in helping staff. Migrating to a new agenda management system cut down on late nights and off-day work for late additions to agendas, while professional development work included bringing in Google to host expert workshops on new technology. And an “IT Gardening Service” has involved sweeping through departments, engaging employees one-on-one to ask if they have any unresolved IT issues, down to new headsets and webcams that aren’t working.
9th: Thousand Oaks
Thousand Oaks, Calif., updated its infrastructure and organizational structure to make digital services easier to navigate for the city’s 122,000 residents and better protect assets from growing cybersecurity threats.
On the digital infrastructure side, the city launched a redesigned website built for accessibility and intuitive navigation, especially on mobile. The new site also integrates analytics tools to track demand for services and identify opportunities for improvement.
To strengthen system resilience, Thousand Oaks invested in a new Security Operations Center and Managed Detection and Response (SOC/MDR) service, enhanced backup systems and implemented redundant Internet routing to boost network reliability.
The city also launched a structured rollout of artificial intelligence tools, starting with an AI use policy focused on ethical and secure adoption. With the policy in place, the city ran a pilot program with some staff integrating Microsoft Copilot. Staff reported saving time on routine tasks like drafting documents and summarizing meetings, and the city is expanding the AI program citywide.
Organizationally, Thousand Oaks established an independent IT department with new leadership positions and a five-year strategic plan. The reorganization added key roles, including IT director and project manager, and brought a new focus on workplace mobility, prompting the city to transition from desktop computers to laptops. Twenty percent of staff are now mobile enabled as a result, with the city hoping to reach 70 percent in the coming year.
10th: Carlsbad
In the last year, Carlsbad initiated a significant undertaking to track and report economic data. The result was an interactive dashboard, developed by the city’s Innovation and Economic Development Department, that presents citywide economic data in a user-friendly format. The dashboard provides key data on a range of topics including population and workforce demographics, income and housing statistics, business activity, and more. This information provides valuable insights into the city’s economy not just for city staff and officials, but for business owners and residents as well.
In the realm of cybersecurity, Carlsbad is revising its disaster response and continuity of operations plans, as well as establishing a standard plan for auditing and monthly backup validations. The city also migrated to G5 licensing, which has enhanced security practices, consolidated tools and prevented silos, allowing for better tracking of threats and vulnerabilities. And in the interest of improving services for residents, the city expanded its municipal fiber network and brought wireless Internet access to the Alga Norte Aquatic Center and park complex.
*Note: The Digital Cities Survey is from the Center for Digital Government, which is part of e.Republic, Industry Insider — California's parent company.
