Courtesy photo.
Coconino County is pleased to share the exciting news that we have again been recognized as one of the top counties in the United States for deploying digital technology practices for better government …
… in the 2023 National Association of Counties (NACo) Digital Counties Survey, conducted by the Center for Digital Government.
This is the fourth consecutive year Coconino County has placed in the Top 10 counties in the up to 150,000 population category. The County is being recognized for Aligned Leadership, Cybersecurity, Constituent Centric, Data Driven Government, IT Investments, Resilience, Workforce Planning, Continuous Innovation, Connected Infrastructure, and Business Process Alignment.
Some of the projects highlighted are the creation of interactive emergency evacuation zone maps, the Equitable Economic Recovery Dashboard, and the implementation of the IonWave online procurement platform.
“This accomplishment would not have been possible without the ongoing commitment our amazing staff provides as public servants,” commented Matt Fowler, Coconino County Chief Information Officer. “We have an amazing team and to place in the Top 10, four years in a row, demonstrates the passion and dedication we have for our communities.”
The creation of the interactive evacuation zone maps for the County and select municipalities was a collaborative project between the County’s IT Department, Sheriff’s Office, Graphic Information Systems (GIS) and Emergency Management (CCEM) departments resulted in a publicly accessible, interactive map of evacuation zones. Users can view each of the county’s evacuation zones and their status, as well as search for a specific address. The maps can also be downloaded, and the whole system feeds into the Arizona Department of Emergency and Military Affairs (ADEMA) to provide data on evacuation zones statewide.
A division of the County’s IT department, the Business Applications team, used grant funding from the National Association of Counties to create a dashboard that displays the economic conditions of county residents. The Equitable Economic Recovery Dashboard, which went live in February of this year, uses Microsoft Power BI to input and process data on changes in economic indicators within the county and displays it all on a publicly accessible dashboard.
Coconino County also looked to emerging technology to streamline internal services. County IT teamed up with the Finance Department to implement IonWave, an online procurement tool designed to improve not only the procurement process itself, but also transparency to the public. The entire procurement process can now be tracked electronically, and registered vendors can view all open, closed and awarded bids. They can also receive notifications when insurance policies need to be renewed, and the system can even build a contract directly from an RFP response. It also allows the public to view all current, closed and awarded bids, as well as active contracts, without needing a login.
“We are honored to have ranked Number 2 for our population category in this year’s Digital Counties Survey. We are extraordinarily proud to have placed alongside so many highly respected County agencies,” added Helen Costello, Deputy Chief Information Officer. “Thank you to our Information Technology team and Coconino County leadership for all the hard work and support in providing innovative solutions to our customers and constituents.”
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.