Bloomington Recognized as a “Digital Cities” Winner

Bloomington, Ind. - The Center for Digital Government (CDG) has announced the national winners of the 2017 Digital Cities Survey. Now in its 17th year, the annual survey recognizes cities using technology to improve citizen services, enhance transparency and encourage citizen engagement.

The survey honors cities in five population classifications this year, and Bloomington was tied for 10th place in the 75,000 - 124,999 category. CDG cited, “Bloomington holds innovation in high regard, and having established an Innovation Task force in 2016 and creating a director of innovation position in early 2017, the city is moving forward with a number of initiatives,” said CDG executive director Teri Takai.

CDG applauded Bloomington for innovative projects like automatically transcribing meeting minutes; the use of drones; enhancing video communication; and redesigning the city website for a mobile-first approach, accounting for the more than 50% of users coming from mobile devices.

“This award is recognition for the efforts of Information & Technology Services Department staff and some of our latest innovations to better serve our residents and all those interested in the City of Bloomington,” stated Mayor John Hamilton. “Congratulations to Information & Technology Services Director Rick Dietz and Innovation Director Tom Miller, both of whom have worked with employees across the city organization to apply their talents and creativity to these projects.”

“This year’s leading digital cities are leveraging technology to connect disadvantaged citizens with critical information and services, promote citizen inclusion in important government processes, and share government data with the public,” said CDG’s Takai. “Thanks to the efforts of these innovative cities, citizens can now meaningfully interact with city government more easily than in any other time in history. Congratulations to the winners!”

Information & Technology Services Director Rick Dietz stated, “We’re honored to be recognized for the Digital Cities award. It recognizes policy and achievement across a broad range of IT operations including IT hiring/retention, cyber security, mobility, social media, networks, IT budget, disaster recovery, best practices, and innovation and IT collaborations.”

A complete listing of Digital Cities winners, criteria, and more is available on the CDG website.

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