Virginia Secretary of Technology Announces Tech Award Winners

Virginia's Secretary of Technology Aneesh P. Chopra today announced the winners of the Seventh Annual Governor's Technology Awards during the Commonwealth of Virginia Innovative Technology Symposium (COVITS) 2006. The awards program honors outstanding achievements and recognizes innovative technology initiatives in the public sector throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia.

"I am honored to have the opportunity to present these awards on behalf of Governor Kaine at COVITS," said Chopra. "Virginia is a national leader in the innovative use of information technology to meet citizen needs and promote the public's agenda. The exceptional work for which these winners are being honored inspires us all to challenge ourselves to drive even greater success within government, in service to the citizens of Virginia."

The Governor's Technology Awards program recognized winners in seven areas of service.
The first four categories align with goals outlined in the Commonwealth of Virginia Strategic Plan for Information Technology for 2007-2011:

• Increased Accessibility to Government. This award recognizes use of innovative technologies to improve citizen access to and service from governmental entities of any type. Award Winner: The Supreme Court of Virginia -- for its videoconferencing solution to provide real time access to magistrates, others in the legal system and citizens. Honorable Mention: The Library of Virginia -- for its ArchiveIt system to collect, manage and provide easy access to dynamic Web content.
• Collaboration & Partnerships. This award recognizes the innovative use of technology to promote shared efficiencies and maximize resources. Award Winner: Centra Health -- for its implementation of electronic health records for physician access in the greater Lynchburg area. Honorable Mention: Virginia Department of Social Services -- for its Systems Partnering in a Demographic Repository (SPiDER) project providing real time data sharing between localities, state and federal agencies across disparate systems, greatly improving citizen service.
• Creation of the Trusted Environment. This award recognizes the innovative use of technology to ensure consistent, anywhere, anytime service levels. Award Winner: George Mason University -- for its seven-step approach to safely securing the IT assets of the university while fostering an open environment for teaching, learning and research.
• Workforce Productivity. This award recognizes the innovative use of technology to increase workforce productivity, including strategies such as telework, a mobile workforce, and/or knowledge and skill development. Award Winner: Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy -- for its mobile inspection and enforcement system featuring real-time data synchronization via employee laptops in the field. Honorable Mention: City of Danville, Virginia -- for its in-car wireless incident-based reporting and accident field reporting network utilized by the Danville Police Dept.

The remaining three categories recognized important information technology initiatives being undertaken in the fields of local government, K-12 schools and institutions of higher education.

• Innovation in Local Government. This award recognizes the innovative use of technology to solve a business problem at the local level, where both budgets and staff are often small but the citizen or business needs are just as significant. Award Winner: Prince William County -- for its "Government Without Walls" program, which radically improves services to residents and enhances staff productivity via more than a dozen eServices applications that enable the community to do business with the county "anytime, anywhere." Honorable Mention: City of Chesapeake -- for its "The City That Cares" campaign utilizing a single point of contact Customer Relationship Management system to improve

• citizen services and government accountability.
• Innovation in K-12 Education. -- recognizes the innovative use of technology to provide improved service delivery to Virginia's schoolchildren. Award Winner: The Online Academy, a joint initiative of Frederick County Public Schools, Loudoun County Public Schools, Stafford County Public Schools and George Mason University's College of Education -- for a collaborative and innovative technology initiative to design and deliver comprehensive online courses for Virginia's high school students. Honorable Mention: Virginia Beach City Schools -- for their Web-based secure file access and storage system for middle and high school students and their teachers.
• Innovation in Higher Education. -- recognizes the innovative use of technology to support the unique missions of Virginia's colleges and universities. The award resulted in a tie between the following two innovative initiatives: Blue Ridge Community College -- for its video-based Veterinary distance education program, which allows students in multiple locations to take classes from an accredited program, take the licensing exam and ease the veterinary technician shortage at minimal cost to the commonwealth. Institute for Advanced Learning & Research -- for its robust series of online graduate-level courses, developed in partnership with several Virginia institutions of higher education and designed to greatly enhance educational opportunities in Southside Virginia through maximum flexibility in student access.

Award submissions were evaluated on innovation, access, technological merit, metrics, and success by the members of Virginia's Council on Technology Services. The council includes representatives of local government, state agencies, the legislature, courts, and education.