San Diego, California - The County of San Diego’s website and three additional information technology projects have won awards from a national research and advisory institute that promotes digital innovation by state and local government agencies.

The Center for Digital Government recently placed San Diego County third in the county category of its Government Experience Awards. This award recognizes cities and counties that have gone to the web and beyond to improve the experience of government and push the boundaries of how citizen services are delivered.

Additionally, the County won several Center for Digital Government’s Best of California awards, which recognize government organizations in the state for innovative technology initiatives. The County won three of the 15 honors awarded. They are:

Most Innovative Use of Social Media/Citizen Engagement: The County won this award for the development and implementation of a video comment feature on its recommended budget website. This year the County enhanced its budget website with an option for citizens to provide public comment via video. More than 30 videos received during the public comment period were posted to YouTube and embedded on the County’s website for viewing.

Best IT Collaboration Among Organizations: The County won this award for its Justice Electronic Library System Dependency Document Distribution System— this paperless e-system completely automates all documents used by probation, law enforcement, County Child Welfare Services, County Counsel and outside parties working to protect the county’s at-risk children through Dependency Court hearings. The system saves taxpayers more than $630,000 a year in staff time formerly spent handing paper copies needed for court.

Best Data Analytics/Business Intelligence Project: The County won the award for its Health and Human Services Agency Dashboards. The dashboards centralize data collected from service departments and allow for informed data-driven decision-making and support strategic planning by the Health and Human Services Agency executive and management team.