The National Electronic Commerce Coordinating Council (eC3) is currently accpeting nominations for the 2008 eC3 Excellence Awards Program which recognizes outstanding performance in newly implemented government programs. Nominations are due by 5pm (EST) on Wednesday, September 10th and the winnders will be announced at the eC3 annual conference, December 9th through the 12th in Seattle, Washington. Complete information including the nomination form is attached.

The 2008 awards will highlight programs in one of three categories. One award will be given for each category. Programs from federal, state, or local government are encouraged to submit nominations. Three award categories are:

• Innovation in the use of social networking to enhance citizen involvement in government. Traditional government surveys its citizen for input though public hearings, town hall meetings and providing a period of time for the public to comment on proposed policy. The award in this category will go to the jurisdiction making the best use of social networking to collect and evaluate citizen input.
• Innovation in protecting the privacy and integrity of citizen information. Today many of the releases of private citizen data occur because the data is stored on insecure laptops. Poor identity management allows other repositories of sensitive information to be compromised. An innovative, effective, comprehensive policy, legislation and/or practice of computer security to prevent such violations and reduce identity theft will garner top honors in this competition.
• Innovative use of the Web in government management practices. Over the next decade, organizations will be challenged to change in the way they manage. There is a need for collaborative management and powerful tools to facilitate collaboration. As the millennials enter the workforce, their expectations will challenge the status quo. Already they expect the same tools in the work place that they used in school and at home. The winning entry in this category will demonstrate a program to revamp the workplace to enable collaborative management and adapting the work environment to attract the best and brightest of the millennial generation.

Nominations are due no later than 5 p.m. (EST) on Wednesday, September 10th. Once received, a panel of judges will review all the submissions and announce a list of finalists by the end of October. All finalists will be invited but not required to attend the eC3 conference. Finalists will be given the opportunity to exhibit their project and share their lessons learned as part of conference workshops.