Orange County Earns Digital Counties Survey Award for the Second Year in a Row, Places Eighth Nationwide
By: Orange County Communications Department
Building on the excitement of winning our first Digital Counties Survey Award last year, Orange County is honored to have established a trend with a repeat this year. The Digital Counties Survey, conducted by the Center for Digital Government (CDG) in partnership with the National Association of Counties, is an annual review of the nationwide state of county services in the digital sphere. According to the CDG, the survey “ identifies the best technology practices among U.S. counties,
including initiatives that streamline delivery of government services, encourage collaboration, enhance cybersecurity, and apply innovative and emerging technologies to county priorities. ” The survey is comprehensive and covers nearly every aspect of the ways a county can interact with its residents online. With the Board of Supervisors ’ Digital Citizen Initiative as a guiding principle, staff have reviewed (and continue to review) their operating procedures, with the goal of making most services available online and as convenient as possible. Improvements since last year ’ s award include the Parks & Recreation Department ’ s launch of online program registration capability and the Development Services Department ’ s adoption of their online application and permitting portal. However, the journey itself is the destination, and we are always on the lookout for ways to refine service delivery. For example, at the end of last month the Animal Shelter began offering most of its forms and applications online. While celebrating these advancements, we are proud the backbone of our digital capabilities remained strong. Examples include our emergency operations connectivity, the efforts of the Orange County Broadband Authority (FiberLync), our public communication efforts, the expansion of our Information Technology Department, and advancements in cybersecurity, among much more. These foundational components positioned us to pursue further improvement.
Thanks to this strong foundation and the consistent effort of our staff, spearheaded by our Information Technology Department. Orange County has not only received the award twice, but has placed in the top ten for localities in our population category each time. We look forward to continuing to improve the ways we serve our residents.
Page 4 | August 2023
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