Pinellas County Acknowledgements
Public Technology 2011 Web 2.0 State and Local Government Award
On May 25, 2011 the Pinellas County web portal was one of four Counties in the United States to win the Public Technology 2011 Web 2.0 State and Local Government Award for Harnessing the Power of Civic Media.
The winners represent diverse communities and a range of Web 2.0 applications, including excellent uses, cross-coordination and functionality for Facebook, Twitter, eTown Halls, Mashups and Mapping, Citizen Service Request Portals, Mobile Applications, Live Web Chats, Multi-media Sharing, News and Media Portals and Subscriptions and Alerts, targeted to residents, visitors, businesses and employees.
Winners will also be spotlighted in a book that addresses current trends and best practices in emerging social media technologies as they relate to improved government services and communications.
Information on the program and the winners can now be found on the Public Technology Institute (PTI) website.
2010 Best of the Web
Pinellas County government earned the second place award in the 2010 Best of the Web and Digital Government Achievement Awards, in the County Portal category. The announcement was made Sept. 1 by e.Republic’s Center for Digital Government.
In its 15th year, the Best of the Web award recognizes outstanding government portals and Websites based on their innovations, functionality and efficiencies. The five top Web portals of states, cities and counties were chosen and ranked.
“Pinellas County is proud of this achievement because it represents how we are striving to meet our citizens’ needs while reducing our spending,” said Bob LaSala, county administrator. “There is a need for efficiency, transparency and convenience. By progressively tapping into the technology available to us, we can provide opportunities on our Website to offer our citizens quick and easy access to pay bills, find public records, and learn about our county government and the community, as well as to interact with the elected officials throughout county government.”
In January, Pinellas County launched an ambitious redesign of its Website, focusing on providing on-line services and making the site more easily navigable. An ongoing project, the site’s functional capabilities have been enhanced and on-line services that include payment for services and public record searches have increased the value of the site to citizens who use the Web for a variety of services such as paying bills, making park shelter reservations and applying for social services.
Cathilea Robinett, executive director of the Center for Digital Government, said: “The winners’ innovative use of the Internet to continue delivering citizen services despite tight fiscal constraints is inspiring. This skilled use of the Web embodies the spirit of the Best of the Web awards and provides examples to state and local government leaders around the country on how to bring quality services to their citizens while containing costs. We applaud all of you for your creativity and your dedication.”
The top five winners of the Best of the Web award, in the County Portal category, are: Chesterfield County, Va. (first); Pinellas County, Fla. (second); Oakland County, Mich. (third); County of Maui, Hawaii (fourth); and Park County, Colo. (fifth).
For more information on the award, visit the Center of Digital Government.
A+ from the Sunshine Review for 2010
Pinellas County recently received an A+ transparency grade from the Sunshine Review for best local government websites in America. Pinellas County is one of only eight out of more than 3,000 counties in the entire United States to receive this designation. The designation was announced June 9, 2010.
The newly redesigned website, created through the successful partnership between the Pinellas County Business Technology Services and the Pinellas County Communications Department, was launched in May, 2010. The county was able to achieve this prestigious designation after revamping the entire website’s “look,” upgrading its navigation, fine-tuning the public records content and including the lobbying aspect of the transparency criteria.
The A+ designation now qualifies Pinellas County for the Sunshine Review’s Sunny Award which recognizes state and local government websites for the information provided to its citizens. The stringent transparency checklist measures what content is available on government websites against what content should be provided. The checklist includes ten specific transparency criteria: budget, meetings, elected officials, administrative officials, permits and zoning, audits, contracts, lobbying, public records and local taxes.
“Recently we’ve been working with the county administrator on a Gov 2.0 initiative, focusing on maximizing public usability of the website, enhanced citizen engagement and open government, leveraging the latest technology for cost efficiency,” said Michael Roiland, eGov/Web manager of Business Technology Services. “The purpose is to maximize transparency of government operations for effective Sunshine compliance and for optimum usability for the citizenry via the Web portal.”
Since its inception in 2008, Sunshine Review has analyzed the websites of all 50 states, more than 3,140 counties, 805 cities and 1,560 school districts.
For more information, visit PinellasCounty’s report card.
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