1st Scottsdale, Ariz.
Scottsdale maintained its first-place finish again this year with a focus on using technology to improve services for both constituents and employees. The city introduced new platforms for engaging with residents like Speak Up Scottsdale, an online community engagement portal where residents can learn about and provide feedback on city issues and initiatives. And the new website that went live in July enhances the online experience for constituents through a mobile-responsive design, enhanced search functionality, action- and topic-oriented organization, an intent-based user interface and improved accessibility. In fact, the new site received a score of 97.6 percent for meeting accessibility standards from an independent analysis.
As organizations everywhere look to implement AI technologies to improve services, Scottsdale recognizes the need to make sure new tools are used both effectively and responsibly. That’s why the city is implementing the Truyo AI Governance Platform, which scans city systems for use of AI, surveys employees and vendors on their AI practices, and aligns identified risks with the AI Risk Management Framework from the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The city is also piloting the AI solution Amazon Connect, in partnership with Amazon Web Services, in its citizen services call center. With features like natural language processing, predictive analytics and sentiment analysis, this system has improved response times, overall operational efficiency and citizen satisfaction. And city software architects developed a large language model exploration tool with Scottsdale-specific data to educate internal technologists and stakeholders on the dynamics, prompt engineering and data security of these AI models.
Scottsdale also recognizes the importance of investing in its IT workforce. The city established an Enterprise Project Management Office to align IT governance and decision-making, which will ensure workforce planning optimization and align IT staffing levels and abilities with the city’s strategic objectives. The city also collaborates with local schools, industry partners and professional associations to attract talented IT professionals.
2nd Columbia, Mo.
Columbia has climbed from fourth to second place in its population category this year as the IT department continues to follow the strategic plan it rolled out in 2023. In line with this plan, IT staff have notched numerous victories, from increased efficiency to a revitalized workforce.
Another major IT improvement has been the implementation of a new work order system, which now comprises all the city’s IT divisions for better workload management, information sharing and insight. For example, the system surfaced the high IT support cost associated with password resets, leading the department to purchase a tool that allows employees to reset their own passwords.
Efforts to improve the resident experience and engagement with city services have flourished as well, thanks to a series of IT initiatives. Use of a portal created last year to collect resident input on city projects has doubled in the past 12 months, and the city acquired Hootsuite to enhance its social media capabilities. Columbia also expanded its existing AI chatbot to generate answers to common constituent questions at any time, with oversight from city staff.
In the critical area of protection for government systems and facilities, the city now has a fully staffed cybersecurity team, including an analyst dedicated to industrial control systems, as well as a newly centralized, single-dashboard security operations center.
3rd Baton Rouge, La.
Baton Rouge stands out in this year’s survey for its focus on promoting civic engagement and access to essential services through technology. One such initiative, the Red Stick 311 platform, allows residents to report issues like potholes and broken streetlights in real time via phone call or a smartphone app. Residents can file a report, track its progress and get live updates. Outside of 311 services, the MyBR app, launched in 2023, serves as a one-stop portal for information and services, including crime statistics, online bill payments and road closures.
And to ensure residents can access the city’s increasingly digital landscape in the first place, the city has taken steps to address the digital divide, especially for marginalized groups. The city added free Wi-Fi to eight city libraries and established a hot spot lending program with 775 hot spots available for rent. The city also offers in-person events and online resources to help residents understand the tech resources available to them. The city posts information on social media every Tuesday and offers video guides on a platform called the Citizen Data Academy.
Baton Rouge has streamlined procurement through data collection and analysis, decreasing processing times for contracts by 81 percent and 46 percent for purchase orders. Looking to the future, Baton Rouge is focused on further integrating data-driven decision-making into its operations. The city’s data management team is expanding its capacity to analyze information and prioritize initiatives. In one example, the ongoing blight survey project combines property data, crime statistics and other metrics to direct city resources where they are most needed.
And while IT workforce needs remain acute, the information services team is assessing data on attrition to predict retirements and shape mentorships and retention strategies.
4th Olathe, Kan.
Olathe, Kan., took fourth place in its population category due to technology investments aimed at addressing funding limitations, meeting evolving public health responsibilities, and supporting a growing and diverse population.
A standout component of Olathe’s digital strategy is the OlatheConnect portal, which serves as a virtual city hall. Launched in 2022 and expanded in 2024, it allows residents around-the-clock access to city services, enabling a real-time method for users to share feedback.
Olathe’s collaboration with digital solutions partner Granicus has further advanced the city’s digital engagement capabilities, creating a unified login system for various city services. This partnership has enhanced online communication, with more than 69,000 residents subscribing to updates.
In data management, Olathe’s new IT Data Division focuses on decision-making driven by data. This division aligns its work with the Olathe 2040 Strategic Plan, which works as a guide to drive policy and operations.
Survey data cited by the city reveals that city communication with the public is 42 percent more effective than the national average. The city's external communication success is rooted in strong internal alignment. The city reached a 75 percent engagement rate among more than 1,000 employees following the implementation of the Meta platform, Workplace.
4th Roseville, Calif.
Roseville continues to make progress in IT, moving up a few spots to fourth place in this year’s survey. Launched last year, it’s MyRSVL CRM continues to grow and expand as a central part of its resident engagement strategy. Integrated with several key systems across the city, the tool automates aspects of customer service for peak efficiency. Roseville recently added a chatbot, “Rosie,” to the system – an award-winning GenAI tool that enables multilingual, 24/7 support. The city reports that for every dollar it has invested in MyRSVL, there is a corresponding $8 in benefit. Results like that likely stem from the city’s move to much more closely integrate financial review and assessment into the review process for technology projects.
Next up for Roseville is a new content management system (CMS) for external-facing and internal-facing city websites. The new CMS will usher Roseville into the “ca.gov” domain as required by law and will also incorporate new accessibility features. A newly launched capital projects explorer will undoubtedly carry over to the new site. Launched in August 2023, the interactive tool lets residents stay up to date on construction in and around their neighborhoods.
Turning to cybersecurity, Roseville deployed a new security solution for email and collaboration tools. The city also continues to innovate in cybersecurity awareness training and phishing exercises for staff. Network upgrades to software-defined networking represent a leap forward in infrastructure, positioning the city to advance toward practices like microsegmentation and a zero-trust posture.
5th Bellevue, Wash.
The past 12 months for Bellevue, Wash., have been a time of major improvements as well as modernizations on various fronts, from artificial intelligence to enterprise systems to public services. It was first and foremost a year of progress with AI, as the city adopted responsible-use guidelines, formed an AI working group and piloted two tools: an AI-enabled chatbot on its website that answers about 40 visitors per week, and a tool to help development services staff answer questions about permits. The city also started training business and technical staff with an internal AI hackathon, challenging them to develop prototypes around various use cases, and adopted a modern data architecture platform based on Microsoft Azure that supports AI development tools.
Beyond making strides with AI, Bellevue officials deployed several updates to existing systems. These included teaming with Microsoft to create a data lakehouse for internal and external data and analytics, phasing in a new enterprise performance management reporting system, launching a new enterprise service management platform with a portal for City Council requests and other digital forms, setting up a new business intelligence service in the Azure government cloud and migrating over 150 on-premises reports, expanding language translations on the city website and adding a new process to request more. Planning for the future, the city also approved a six-year modernization program for its ERP, HRIS and data analytics systems.
Other major projects involved private-public partnerships. The city contracted with Iteris Inc. for technology that uses cellular probe data to study traffic, which officials used to inform the city’s first arterial speed management plan in January. Bellevue helped diversify its local selection of Internet providers by adding various points of entry and tunnels for them to access city facilities, and it received a $500,000 federal grant to expand 5G connectivity to affordable housing properties, which led to other private-public partnerships. Bellevue’s digital outreach efforts have also been effective, engaging more than 1,800 people through the website to weigh in on the city’s comprehensive 20-year plan.
5th Norfolk, Va.
Despite financial and infrastructure challenges, Norfolk, Va., has made substantial strides in IT innovations over the past few years — improving services for residents and strengthening digital engagement.
Norfolk’s IT priorities focus on nurturing collaboration across departments, closing the digital divide and enhancing citizen engagement. To work toward these goals, the city launched the "MyNorfolk" Citizen Services Portal and Let's Talk Norfolk, a resident engagement tool, to simplify access to city services and collect public feedback.
CIO Fraser Picard also led the recent modernization of the E-911 Center, establishing a Real Time Crime Center (RTCC) to strengthen public safety efforts. As part of the RTCC, police are now equipped with advanced video technology and data analytics to aid investigations, in addition to upgraded consoles, software, and improved connectivity.
Norfolk’s commitment to emerging technologies is evident through the city’s creation of a comprehensive AI initiative, which established an AI task force in 2023 to promote the ethical and transparent use of AI. AI pilot applications in public safety and infrastructure have already demonstrated effectiveness in simplifying processes for residents and city staff.
6th Grand Prairie, Tex.
Cybersecurity upgrades and disaster recovery planning are two reasons that Grand Prairie, Texas, ranked high as a digital city this year. The IT department implemented Barracuda Email Protection Premium Plus, thus decreasing time spent addressing email vulnerabilities while also increasing account security and providing statutory cyber awareness training. The software has blocked as many as 104,825 emails a month, so the team can address deep work. The city also updated firewalls that include threat intelligence feeds, blocking more than 2 million malicious URLs and IP connections in a week.
IT has been working on a disaster recovery plan for close to two years, testing and integrating a pilot VMware Cloud Disaster Recovery environment. Continuity of operations is top of mind too, with the city prioritizing a restoration should it be needed, with public-facing and payment systems listed as mission critical.
As the federal deadline for inventorying lead pipes is at hand, Grand Prairie is using GIS maps to make that work more seamless and transparent. Internally, the city government upgraded phones from analog to fiber, started supporting education reimbursement for IT employees and established a new IT project management system.
Grand Prairie is part of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex and is no stranger to traffic challenges. With 81 square miles, the city uses cloud-based traffic technology featuring AI enhancement, smart lighting and IoT devices throughout. Top priorities for the coming year include cybersecurity and AI implementation while at the same time maintaining infrastructure to support a digitally connected public.
7th Augusta, Ga.
Seventh-place Augusta, Ga., beefed up its cybersecurity after a 2023 ransomware attack disrupted operations. Now the city has an AI-supported extended detection and response tool, improved backup system, and a new endpoint detection and response system. The IT team also has been following its 2023-2025 IT strategic plan and engages city leadership in discussions on technology priorities. This kind of planning can be particularly helpful because the city has lacked an overall strategic plan.
The IT department had to rethink its workforce strategy after a significant portion of employees left or retired. It chose to reorganize, including eliminating some unfilled positions to free up funds for giving retention increases to current employees and offering higher salaries for new recruits. This helped attract better-quality candidates. After completing this reorganization in March 2023, the department had closed all vacancies by January 2024.
Augusta has also moved away from siloed, paper-based approaches to asset management and service requests, instead adopting a new system that offers a centralized, authoritative data repository. Mapping features help show where to send teams, and employees in the field can view new requests.
Augusta has also been using tools to help regularly collect survey responses from residents who are homeless, to inform the kinds of resources the city provides. Mapping tools help add further context and enable new insights.
8th Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.
The Southern California suburban city, Rancho Cucamonga, finished eighth in its population category this year, doing so with a focus on IT governance as well as user input. The city has taken a targeted approach to serving residents, staying in communication with them through its award-winning lifestyle magazine, The Grapevine, which has a digital flipbook that features QR codes and embedded links. The Grapevine also has a monthly newsletter – titled Off the Vine – that goes out to 58,000 subscribers, boasting a 50 percent open rate.
The commitment to constituent feedback goes deeper still in Rancho Cucamonga. The city uses targeted quality-of-life digital surveys to collect resident feedback. With data mapping, they can focus outreach for these surveys in low participation areas. They also created a dedicated web page and email address for related questions. All told, this year that work netted 2,417 survey participants and 132,712 responses. Rancho Cucamonga has used data from this effort to inform all manner of work, ranging from urban forestry to digital equity.
Internally, this year the city went live with a new financial system, a move that had been coming for nearly two years. They also worked to automate more tasks where it made sense, including for cybersecurity. The city was able to automate updates to user accounts, which combined with an education campaign for multifactor authentication, bolstered Rancho Cucamonga’s cybersecurity. Finally, in workforce matters, the IT department has seven retirements on the horizon within the next three years, a number that constitutes 25 percent of its workforce. As such, succession planning is underway to help soften the impact of those departures.
9th Frisco, Tex.
The city of Frisco has gone all in on its Situational Awareness for Emergency Response (SAFER) project, which has resulted in significant improvements in response times, data accuracy and video surveillance coverage. A multi-agency collaboration between Frisco’s Police Department, Fire Department, Independent School District, IT/GIS staff and city management, the SAFER project has resulted in the development of a comprehensive emergency management system that is unique to the city. Since its development in 2008, SAFER has expanded from its initial scope of schools and city facilities to include commercial properties while integrating advanced dispatch systems and modernized user interfaces. Within the past year, Frisco has further enhanced emergency response capabilities with predictive ETAs, real-time traffic data and a native SAFER app, resulting in a 15 percent improvement in response efficiency.
Additionally, Frisco successfully piloted an artificial intelligence-driven solution that rerouted nonemergency 911 calls to a dedicated service line based on call data collected in a closed test environment. The pilot resulted in a 10 percent reduction in emergency response times. The city intends to deploy AI-driven predictive policing solutions to further increase public safety efficiencies.
10th Hampton, Va.
Tenth-place Hampton, Va., has prioritized resident engagement with a number of recent initiatives. The city has implemented a virtual city hall through a collaboration with the 311 system, powered by a virtual assistant known as CHAMP — short for Choose Hampton. Residents can choose their preferred method of communication, ranging from chat, text messaging or the system’s mobile app. Generative AI also assists users with service requests. A new upgraded website improves communication with residents with timely information related to community events, services and other initiatives.
As far as internal efficiency, projects in the city are getting a new internal tracking system with a centralized dashboard that includes real-time updates, which also enhances transparency and collaboration. Departments will also have more visibility into and control over how projects move through the city organization.
To improve the city’s resiliency, Hampton has implemented an Incident Response Plan, Business Impact Analysis and Data Classification and Risk Assessment. The Emergency Operations Center has also established a COLO site to improve redundancy and data recovery. City backups are now stored offsite with a third-party vendor more than 90 miles from the data center.
