USDR is a nonpartisan organization formed in 2020 to work alongside governments to build their capacity to meet the needs of the public in the digital age.
The awards were selected by a committee of nearly 20 civic tech leaders; the government entities awarded have not necessarily partnered with USDR.
“At a moment when effective digital services matter more than ever, these awards are our rallying cry for modernizing how government serves communities,” USDR’s announcement said.
Government winners include the New Jersey Department of Labor (DOL)’s use of AI and Pennsylvania’s response to support those impacted by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
For its AI Assistant, the New Jersey DOL received the Seed Award, which honors solutions that expanded to help multiple jurisdictions. The assistant acted as a translation tool to create accessible content for benefit programs in Spanish, Haitian Creole, and plain English. Plain language glossaries improved the accuracy of translation, and the initiative increased access in a way that is replicable.
“As a result, we saw more [unemployment insurance] UI application submissions in Spanish and higher follow-through rates — improving access to critical benefits for New Jersey workers that can be scaled to help around the country,” department Commissioner Robert Asaro-Angelo said in a statement.
The Speed of Need Award, which recognizes rapid delivery of projects benefiting the public, went to Pennsylvania for its HR1 Digital Response Initiative. State officials are delivering multiple prototypes with the goal of improving the state’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program error rates. The prototypes are informed by interviews with stakeholders and visits to county assistance offices.
Two winners tied for the Demos not Memos Award, which honors agile methodology and iteration: the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care’s Educator Portal and Credential Management System, and Arlington County, Va.’s “Employee #10” Historical Proportional Forecast.
Massachusetts’ educator portal was designed through an iterative process for various types of educators. Through accessibility testing with third-party vendors, beta users were able to confidently navigate applications. Arlington County’s AI pilot used an Excel-based forecasting model based on previous primaries, informing real-time decisions during voting.
The Innovation in Constraints Award, recognizing creative solutions despite limitations, went to the city of Portland’s Digital Services team for improving the user experience on its permitting website, with limited resources. The platform’s transformation included replacing jargon, using a shared design system, and improving accessibility.
The Cross-Jurisdiction Collaboration Award, which recognizes multijurisdictional partnerships, went to Colorado's Energy Savings Navigator. This was a collaborative effort between the Colorado Digital Service, the state Public Utilities Commission, the Colorado Energy Office and the governor’s office. The multilingual platform is intended to help improve access to energy benefits.
