Oakland ranked among most digitally advanced counties by national association

The Center for Digital Government and the National Association of Counties has recognized Oakland County as one of the most technologically advanced county governments in America for the seventh consecutive year. Oakland County was ranked fourth among all U.S. counties with populations of 500,000 or more in the 2011 Digital Counties Survey. "Our IT team has an ongoing commitment to deliver high-quality, cost-effective services," said Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson. "Our new cloud computing initiative will expand the number of technology solutions that we share with other governments in the region and around Michigan." Oakland County was recognized as a leader in the use of innovative technology to save taxpayers money and enhance customer service in a difficult economy. This year's rankings focused on county governments' success in consolidating and sharing services to cut costs, and leveraging technology such as virtualization to capture critical savings. Oakland County's recent technology achievements include: * Implementation of cloud computing services (http://www.oakgov.com/cloud/) that position the county's IT applications out in cyber space so that local governments can use them on an as-needed basis. * Launch of the Oakland County Dashboard (http://www.oakgov.com/dashboard/), a public financial transparency and accountability portal that enables residents to monitor the progress of their county government in areas such as its three-year budget, support of small businesses, and community and home improvement. * Creation of an online public forum (http://oakgov.ideascale.com/) to engage residents in local government decision making, thanks to a successful partnership between the county's eGovernment team and Information Technology Management students from Michigan State University. * Use of green technology solutions to help achieve $4 million in energy efficiency savings and cost avoidance (http://www.oakgov.com/dashboard/scorecard_green_infra.html, http://www.oakgov.com/fm/utilities). "Oakland County has a long track record of successful technology collaborations with local communities, the State of Michigan, and other government agencies in the Southeastern Michigan region," said Oakland County Deputy Executive/CIO Phil Bertolini. "Being recognized as one of the most technologically advanced counties in America validates our approach to shared enterprise technology and collaborative services." The Digital Counties Survey is an annual ranking of more than 3,000 U.S. county governments that focuses on the technology innovations of the best governments. All county governments in the nation were invited to participate. Counties were ranked on more than 100 measurements and data points covering such areas as web-based service delivery, technology infrastructure and architecture, and governance models. Learn more about Oakland County's online services and eGovernment programs at www.oakgov.com. Published: Wed, Aug 10, 2011

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