Click here for full coverage of winners in all categories.
1st South Bend, Ind.
Taking the top spot in its population category again this year, the city of South Bend balanced innovation with responsibility, deploying new technologies but in many cases also focusing on metrics, feedback and returns on investment. To make use of generative artificial intelligence, the city developed several beta tools in-house, including a revamped internal chatbot assistant for employees, another to help city staff navigate city ordinances and a public-facing translation app for city documents. The city also rolled out Microsoft Copilot across 62 key roles to improve productivity, which was coupled with training for departments and individuals, as well as guidelines for use.
Several other major initiatives for South Bend followed from partnerships. Perhaps most consequentially, the city partnered with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to host a full-scale tabletop exercise, modeling a cyber attack response with leaders from I&T, Communications, Public Safety, Utilities and various partners. I&T also contributed technology and partnerships to the city’s new Innovation Lab for digital art, music and podcast production, and city and IT leaders have started a new practice of making site visits to other cities to get ideas and expose staff to new technologies.
2nd Carson, Calif.
Coming off a couple decades of municipal budget deficits and underinvestment in IT, the Southern California city of Carson reinvented itself some four years ago with new budget practices that have resulted in more stable footing.
The IT department has also completed — ahead of schedule and under budget — a major ERP deployment. That’s resulted in many improved processes, for example decreasing permit processing times by 55 percent and increasing business license collections by $400,000, as well as eliminating a six-month licensing backlog.
Aside from a slew of other achievements — a new city website with an AI chatbot, cyber upgrades including 24/7 monitoring and the formal adoption of data governance practices, to name a few — what stood out about Carson’s IT approach was its personal touch in helping staff. Migrating to a new agenda management system cut down on late nights and off-day work for late additions to agendas, while professional development work included bringing in Google to host expert workshops on new technology. And an “IT Gardening Service” has involved sweeping through departments, engaging employees one-on-one to ask if they have any unresolved IT issues, down to new headsets and webcams that aren’t working.
3rd North Port, Fla.
North Port, Fla., jumps from sixth to third place in this year’s survey thanks to work that streamlined and strengthened operations across the enterprise. The city continues to be impacted by strong storms like Hurricane Milton in October 2024, which took out North Port’s primary and secondary Internet connections. The IT department was able to stand up a Starlink unit on top of City Hall, which helped maintain critical communications for the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) during and after the storm. Several other departments have since requested their own Starlink systems to maintain operations during future outages. IT is also helping design and plan a new EOC, which will connect via dark fiber to City Hall and have its own dedicated Internet and phone lines. It will eventually house the city’s primary data center.
Working closely with the city’s executive leadership, the IT department identified positions across North Port that could be consolidated in IT for more efficient tech work. While those positions, like GIS and financial systems analysts, remain funded by their original departments, they now report to IT. Other investments in efficiency include an Accela online permitting platform launched in December 2024 that brought North Port’s permit processing and review times from 20 to 40 days down to fewer than 10.
North Port is also strengthening its cybersecurity posture, putting in place a new firewall and zero-trust network for city-issued devices. The city plans to add an in-depth security questionnaire as part of its process for working with new vendors to ensure they are both up to city cybersecurity standards as well as compliant with state mandates. In 2024, a new SIEM tool was deployed in the Police Department for improved threat detection and monitoring, which cut incident investigation time by half.
4th Avondale, Ariz.
It's another strong showing for Avondale, Ariz., coming in fourth in this year’s survey on the strength of multifaceted efforts to streamline services, communications channels and processes across the city. Here’s an example of each: A new permitting portal makes permits completely paperless, making things simpler and faster. Social media accounts on platforms including Facebook and Instagram have been consolidated under citywide profiles, and the city now uses YouTube livestreaming to broadcast public meetings. And the IT team has identified several opportunities to consolidate applications, reducing complexity and costs. Further, it’s boosted visibility into how the city procures IT, offering an easier-to-follow process for agency partners.
Elsewhere in cyber, Avondale is taking advantage of partnerships with MS-ISAC and the state’s Counter Terrorism Information Center to further its zero-trust posture. The city also reports saving $300,000 annually by getting software and services through the Arizona Office of Homeland Security Cyber Readiness Program grant.
Currently in development for Avondale is a new website that puts user experience at its heart, prioritizing accessibility upgrades like improved contrast ratios, alt text, tagging and overall readability. And as for emerging technology, supplementing the work of an AI committee focused on responsible uses with tangible results is a digital twin pilot in progress, in use by Economic Development staff.
5th Independence, Mo.
In Independence, Mo., a long-term vision drives IT work, with a focus on efficiency. Over the past five years, the city has worked on improving its IT infrastructure and developed processes for long-term planning to meet future needs. Consolidating IT staff under a single department supports buy-in for technology investments. The city also redefined the scope of Capital Improvement Projects to include IT infrastructure and under that umbrella has successfully executed a cybersecurity partnership and a project focused on IT infrastructure monitoring.
Part of the city’s infrastructure is its fiber network, and an expansion project helped lay an additional 27,000 feet of fiber to support operational continuity, especially in the case of a natural disaster. And in terms of resilience, Independence officials are using the Laserfiche platform to digitize physical records and moving data from existing legacy systems. This also reduces long-term data retention costs for the city.
Security has also been a priority for Independence. Shifting to a Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) architecture helps improve security, and a Governance, Risk and Compliance tool is centralizing risk management. The city has improved digital engagement by using a data-informed approach to social media that now offers department-specific profiles, Spanish translations on social media posts and web content, and alt text. These changes have led the city’s Instagram reach to increase by more than 370 percent. Officials credit the city’s social media strategy and related engagement in part for passing a general obligation bond for street improvements.
6th Westminster, Co.
Local government so often is about getting the seemingly small things right. That’s the story from Westminster, located near Denver. One example comes from law enforcement. Trying to free emergency call takers for more urgent tasks, the city’s police department and tech professionals crafted an online reporting website for citizens who need to report petty crimes such as damaged property, graffiti and fraud.
Another digital portal — this one two years in the making — enables residents to review water metrics, pay bills and learn about how to reduce their utility costs in one place, and via a variety of devices. City officials say the level of transparency offered by this portal is unprecedented in the history of Westminster.
With those projects completed, the city now is focused on using tech to bring more conveniences to residents. That includes a redesign of its IT portal, scheduled to be completed by the end of the year, and boosting of cybersecurity, an effort that requires a serious look at technology and infrastructure priorities.
7th Lynchburg, Va.
Lynchburg, Va., has made a number of upgrades since last year’s survey, furthering its goals in transparency, cybersecurity and accessible government. Lynchburg introduced a new cloud-based dynamic website, optimized for any device, built on the CivicPlus municipal website platform. Users can now stream meetings and other events directly from the website, as well as access documents, water quality reports and other information. City applications can also be filed online, from any device.
The Lynchburg Police Department introduced the Fusus platform, which serves as the foundation for their Real-Time Crime Center, which unites information from multiple sources for use by detectives and analysts. The project has led to more cross-department collaboration. Fusus also allows residents to share video footage collected by their privately owned cameras, enabling community members to play a role in advancing public safety in their neighborhoods, promoting trust and transparency.
A new data team has completed more than 20 projects, such as an interactive dashboard for capital improvement projects, which allows users to pinpoint the location of city projects using mapping technology.
To improve the city’s cyber defenses, multifactor authentication is used for email, VPN access and other areas, leading to up to 70 percent fewer alerts. The city’s information technology department now reviews and vets all technology purchases by the city to ensure they comply with cybersecurity standards and applicable regulations, as well as Lynchburg’s long-term technology strategy.
7th Roanoke, Va.
Earning seventh place in this year’s survey, Roanoke has advanced a slate of tech initiatives focused on transparency, accessibility and modernization.
The city launched Virtual Assistant Virginia, an AI-powered chatbot designed to help residents quickly find information sourced directly from the city’s website. To further accessibility, Roanoke implemented AudioEye, a web tool that aligns with WCAG 2.2 standards and allows users to customize how they interact with the city’s online services.
Internally, Roanoke completed a major financial system transformation with the launch of Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP, replacing four legacy platforms with an AI-enabled suite that automates core functions and enhances accountability. The city also strengthened cybersecurity training using the NeoGov Learn platform, achieving a 90 percent completion rate within three months.
Infrastructure improvements included expanding the city’s fiber network to fire stations and recreation sites, adding public Wi-Fi at libraries and pools and reinforcing resilience with redundant fiber crossover points.
8th Schaumburg, Ill.
The village of Schaumburg, Ill., is prioritizing and piloting artificial intelligence — whether in the form of generative bots or machine learning — to enhance both resident and employee experience. Leaders have multiple applications in mind for the coming months and have beefed up data warehousing to support new tools for internal use and a planned deployment of the public-facing Citibot chatbot.
Data enhancements include a read-only SQL replica of its OpenGov permitting data which allows for real-time insight for the Community Development Department. The replica has reduced manual reporting, improved tracking of key performance indicators, streamlined the review process and enhanced transparency. An internal build, the project saved money and enabled data ownership.
In another internal build, Schaumburg’s innovation strategist led a paper-to-digital transformation of the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners’ hiring and promotion process. The new system replaced outdated workflows with automation built on Power Platform tools and SQL. It streamlined applicant tracking, scheduling and communication, cutting administrative time and improving accuracy.
As to cybersecurity, the IT shop has been building its portfolio and planning for several years, recently adding new tools to secure internal connections and comply with insurance audits. Cost reduction efforts include a move to RingCentral for cloud telephone services, saving $90,000 and allowing full functionality while employees work from its temporary village hall.
9th Thousand Oaks, Calif.
Thousand Oaks, Calif., updated its infrastructure and organizational structure to make digital services easier to navigate for the city’s 122,000 residents and better protect assets from growing cybersecurity threats.
On the digital infrastructure side, the city launched a redesigned website built for accessibility and intuitive navigation, especially on mobile. The new site also integrates analytics tools to track demand for services and identify opportunities for improvement.
To strengthen system resilience, Thousand Oaks invested in a new Security Operations Center and Managed Detection and Response (SOC/MDR) service, enhanced backup systems and implemented redundant Internet routing to boost network reliability.
The city also launched a structured rollout of artificial intelligence tools, starting with an AI use policy focused on ethical and secure adoption. With the policy in place, the city ran a pilot program with some staff integrating Microsoft Copilot. Staff reported saving time on routine tasks like drafting documents and summarizing meetings, and the city is expanding the AI program citywide.
Organizationally, Thousand Oaks established an independent IT department with new leadership positions and a five-year strategic plan. The reorganization added key roles, including IT director and project manager, and brought a new focus on workplace mobility, prompting the city to transition from desktop computers to laptops. Twenty percent of staff are now mobile enabled as a result, with the city hoping to reach 70 percent in the coming year.
10th Carlsbad, Calif.
In the last year, Carlsbad initiated a significant undertaking to track and report economic data. The result was an interactive dashboard, developed by the city’s Innovation and Economic Development Department, that presents citywide economic data in a user-friendly format. The dashboard provides key data on a range of topics including population and workforce demographics, income and housing statistics, business activity, and more. This information provides valuable insights into the city’s economy not just for city staff and officials, but for business owners and residents as well.
In the realm of cybersecurity, Carlsbad is revising its disaster response and continuity of operations plans, as well as establishing a standard plan for auditing and monthly backup validations. The city also migrated to G5 licensing, which has enhanced security practices, consolidated tools and prevented silos, allowing for better tracking of threats and vulnerabilities. And in the interest of improving services for residents, the city expanded its municipal fiber network and brought wireless Internet access to the Alga Norte Aquatic Center and park complex.
