Information Technology Division Wins Prestigious National Award

Update: In December of 2006, the City of Delray Beach was again awarded First Place in the prestigious Digital Cities Survey, and in 2007 the city took Third Place.  The following article was published subsequent to receipt of the 2005 award.


Mayors, chief information officers, and city managers from more than three hundred cities throughout the nation were invited to participate in a survey assessing the use of information technology to deliver quality services to their communities. The Digital Cities Survey is the nation's most demanding measure of a municipality's ability to apply technology to the benefit of their citizens. Survey questions focus on implementation and adoption of online service delivery, planning and governance, and the infrastructure and architecture that make the transformation to digital government possible.

The City of Delray Beach was awarded 1st Place in the category of cities with populations of 30,000 to 75,000. On December 8th City Manager David Harden and Chief Information Officer Guy Buzzelli, Project Manager Ed Del Portillo, and Senior Programmer Analyst Paul Fleetwood, of the Information Technology (IT) Division, were presented with this prestigious award at a reception held in conjunction with the 82nd Annual National League of Cities Congress and Exposition in Charlotte, NC.

Contributing to Delray Beach's top ranking were the linking of city facilities through a fiber optic network; advanced planning and adherence to standards in network infrastructure; the Enterprise Technology Plan, which has been featured on the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) site; a restructuring of license agreements that resulted in impressive cost savings; and the large volume of information available on the city's website, MyDelrayBeach.com.

MyDelrayBeach.com contains information regarding City activities, Commission and Advisory Board meetings and minutes, official documents and records dating back to 1946 with resolutions back to 1928, upcoming agendas, monthly newsletters, news releases, special events, job listings, building permits, emergency information and weather forecasts, a live "beach-cam" image showing conditions on the municipal beach, and much more.

The site continues to expand for Delray's residents with a free e-mail subscription service. In the near future, more features will be added, such as online surveys and streaming video vignettes for out of state visitors to view various aspects of life and business in Delray Beach.

The Center for Digital Government is a national research and advisory institute on information technology policies and practices in state and local government.

For more information, please contact Guy Buzzelli, CIO, at (561) 243-7149.

 

Award