Release Date: March 2003
THREE CUTTING-EDGE PROGRAMS LEVERAGE TECHNOLOGY TO REACH FINALS FOR PRESTIGIOUS AMERICAN GOVERNMENT AWARD
Nation-leading initiatives awarded $10,000 grants, eligible for $100,000 prize
(CAMBRIDGE, MA) - Three groundbreaking civic uses of computer technology have made the shortlist for the sought-after Innovations in American Government Award. Each of the 15 finalists receives a $10,000 grant and is now eligible to win $100,000 in what is often referred to as "the Oscars" of government award programs. They include:
The Citywide Geographic Information Systems Utility, managed by New York City's Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications. This advanced-technology mapping program provided critical information to responders during 9/11, the West Nile virus outbreak and the anthrax threat. It gives an instant, accurate, minutely detailed picture of every important physical feature of the city, from curb lines to waterlines, transportation routes to building addresses. Overlays with information ranging from crime statistics to construction roadblocks can be added. By integrating data on this common base map, all city departments are virtually on the same page, saving precious time in an emergency.
FirstGov, administered by the U.S. General Services Administration. Repeating as a finalist, and newly upgraded to incorporate the latest in government transactions and services, the federal government's FirstGov.gov web site is the nation's comprehensive, one-stop official portal to government services and information. Citizens, businesses and government employees can visit FirstGov.gov to get a copy of a birth certificate, choose retirement benefits, apply for a student loan, report a company's quarterly wage earnings, file a patent, buy stamps and much more. FirstGov's links to more than 180 million pages of information from federal, state and local governments provide instant, easy, secure and constant access to the government by the people. No wonder it attracts more than 1.4 million visitors per week.
University-Community Information Initiatives, created by UCLA. This unprecedented use of public university resources has spawned two information-rich Web sites that are helping to transform lives and communities throughout Los Angeles. Making key public records easily accessible to the citizenry, Neighborhood Knowledge Los Angeles helps residents reverse entrenched patterns of urban decline and disinvestment by identifying financially abandoned buildings before they become neighborhood problems. The other site, Living Independently in Los Angeles, was created in large part by residents with disabilities, who mapped local resources for disabled citizens and seniors. The two sites are now models for a wide range of university-community technology projects at UCLA and have sparked the nation's first community information system built to serve users throughout an entire state.
"Each in their own way, these three finalists - a local, a state and a federal program - capitalize on technology as the leveler, a great way to bring the power of government to the service of citizens," said Stephen Goldsmith, Faculty Chair of the Institute for Government Innovation at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. "When you consider the radiating power of these technological innovations as they're rapidly replicated by other jurisdictions, the impact is impressive."
"Many applicants leveraged technology innovatively," said Patricia McGinnis, President and CEO of the Council for Excellence in Government, "but these finalists represent the crème de la crème. They're terrific examples of how much more can be delivered in the era of e-government than electronics - efficiency, effectiveness, excellence."
These three outstanding technology programs were among nearly 1,000 applicants for the 16th annual Innovations in American Government Award. Each of the 15 finalists will deliver a presentation at the National Press Club on May 7, 2003. After a full day of presentations the National Selection Committee will select five winning programs and announce them the following day. Each winner will receive a $100,000 grant to encourage replication of its innovation in other jurisdictions. Chaired by David Gergen, Director of the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard University and editor-at-large of U.S. News & World Report, the distinguished Committee includes new members: former Maryland Lieutenant Governor Kathleen Kennedy Townsend and former San Diego Mayor Susan Golding.
About the Innovations Award
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.
# # # #
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
Return to Feature Releases