King County Information Technology (KCIT) took first place in the 15th annual National Association of Counties (NACo) Digital Counties Survey. King County was recognized for its vision, strategy, innovation, and collaboration.

“This is an important award,” said Bill Kehoe, Chief Information Officer and IT Director. “It validates the real, day-to-day work that our employees do. They are the reason King County is known as one of the Best Run Governments in the country.”

The Digital Counties Survey comes from the Center for Digital Government and the National Association of Counties. The national award recognizes best practices and innovation for IT plans and programs.

KCIT is a business solutions partner that collaborates with the 18 King County departments to develop products and services that benefit King County residents and King County employees. Among the notable services and products called out in the award:

• Increased mobile applications for King County residents
• Improved mobility through increased wireless capacity, speed, and access
• A cloud strategy that saves money and reduces the carbon footprint
• A focus on the Internet of Things (IoT) and all aspects of data, including analytics for faster and better strategic and operational business decisions.

“Judges were impressed with our regional collaborative approach to problem solving. They specifically called out our modernization strategy which includes standardizing on platforms and our cloud strategy,” said Kehoe. “Of course, cybersecurity is foundational to everything we do from elections to managing privacy in the justice system.”

Kehoe added, “In the last few years, the organization and the county have gone mainly from operational and transactional to more of a strategic and innovative approach. I think we are always looking to improve and really understand where our customers’ pain points are and new ways to engage with them as well.”

“Digital counties are leveraging technology to improve the ways they conduct business and engage with citizens in increasingly innovative and exciting ways,” said Todd Sander, executive director of the Center for Digital Government. “The Center for Digital Government congratulates this year’s winners for their work to reduce costs, encourage citizen engagement, increase efficiencies and proactively address citizen expectations.”

In November 2016, Governing Magazine named Dow Constantine Public Executive of the Year. “Executive Constantine has high expectations for himself and for us. I’m pleased we are able to deliver,” said Kehoe.

KCIT is a consolidated executive branch IT organization that provides IT consulting and services to the 18 executive and separately elected departments.

The Center for Digital Government is a national research and advisory institute focused on technology policy and best practices in state and local government. CDG is a division of e.Republic, the nation’s only media and research company focused exclusively on state and local government and education.

The National Association of Counties (NACo) unites America’s 3,069 county governments. Founded in 1935, NACo brings county officials together to advocate with a collective voice on national policy, exchange ideas and build new leadership skills, pursue transformational county solutions, enrich the public’s understanding of county government and exercise exemplary leadership in public service.

The Digital Counties Survey awards will be given out July 22 in Columbus, Ohio.