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Release Date: May 2003

FIVE INNOVATIVE PROGRAMS WIN GOVERNMENT OSCAR

E-Government, Higher Education, Energy Efficiency and Others Awarded $100,000 Prizes

(CAMBRIDGE, MA) - The Institute for Government Innovation at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government today announced that five groundbreaking public sector initiatives-ranging from the federal government's web portal to a program that encourages Appalachian youth to attend college-have won the "Oscar" of government award programs.

Each of the five winners of the 16th Annual Innovations in American Government Award will receive $100,000 grants to support replication activities of their efforts.

"These winners vividly demonstrate that there is an energetic ferment in America today to continuously and creatively improve our public life - an ongoing research and development collaboration between citizens and their governments at every level," said Gowher Rizvi, Director of the Institute for Government Innovation at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.

The five winning programs are:

  • FirstGov (www.firstgov.gov), administered by the U.S. General Services Administration, is the federal government's official, comprehensive web portal to government services and information. FirstGov's links to more than 180 million pages of information from federal, state and local governments provide secure, constant access to government services - and attract more than 1.4 million visitors per week.
  • The Ohio Appalachian Center for Higher Education (www.oache.org), a consortium of 10 colleges and universities in the State of Ohio, breaks the cycle of poverty and unemployment in predominantly rural Appalachian Ohio. OACHE grants help more than 14,000 citizens obtain higher education and brighter futures.
  • Efficiency Vermont (www.efficiencyvermont.org), a program of the State of Vermont, is the nation's first independent, nonprofit, ratepayer-funded energy efficiency utility. It has saved citizens more than 99,000 megawatt hours of electricity in its first three years -- more power than is produced by the three hydroelectric dams on Vermont's Winooski River in a year.
  • La Bodega de la Familia (www.familyjusticeinc.org) is a collaboration with the New York State Division of Parole. This trailblazing family-focused partnership within Manhattan's multicultural Loisaida community significantly decreases drug use, reduces rearrests and convictions, and improves family well-being among drug offenders on parole and probation.
  • 311 System, a program of the City of Chicago, is a 24/7, one-stop shopping center for all non-emergency city services. Since the program's inception in 1999, 311 has become a comprehensive, high-tech, customer-focused online and telephone information and response service, boosting efficiency across city government.

"These five winners-unique in their creativity, approach and commitment to real results-reflect the tremendous breadth of impact and diversity of innovation in American government at every level," said Stephen Goldsmith, Faculty Chair of the Institute for Government Innovation at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. "They are models of innovation that can be replicated throughout other jurisdiction in our country, and by other governments around the globe."

The winners were selected from among fifteen finalists and nearly 1,000 applicants. For 16 years, the Innovations in American Government Award has recognized quality and responsiveness at all levels of government and has fostered the replication of innovative approaches to the challenges facing government. The award - a program of the Institute for Government Innovation at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government - is administered in partnership with the Council for Excellence in Government. The program was founded by the Ford Foundation to identify and promote excellence and creativity in the public sector.

The Institute for Government Innovation at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, established through an endowment from the Ford Foundation, fosters excellence in governments throughout the world. It serves as a global hub for public-sector innovators through networks, conferences and research.

The Council for Excellence in Government is a national, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization whose mission is to improve government performance by strengthening results-oriented management and creative leadership in the public sector, and to build understanding by focusing public discussion on government's role and responsibilities.

For more information on the Innovations in American Government program and this year's finalists, please visit www.innovations.harvard.edu or www.excelgov.org.

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Contact:
Sarah Howe (202) 530-3270
showe@excelgov.org
Innovations in America Government
79 John F. Kennedy Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
Phone: (617) 495-0557
Fax: (617) 496-4602
E-Mail: innovations@harvard.edu
Web: www.innovations.harvard.edu

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