Virginia Beach Named Among Top Governments for Elevating Service Delivery and Citizen Experience

The City of Virginia Beach has won two awards from the Center for Digital Government (CDG) as part of its sixth annual Government Experience Awards program, which recognizes how states, cities and counties are using technology to deliver exceptional citizen experiences. CDG presented Virginia Beach with an Overall City Government Experience Award for its service delivery efforts across multiple channels including web, mobile, social media and more. The City's Accelerating Climate Resilience with Data Science initiative earned a Future Ready Award for harnessing emerging technologies to confront an uncertain future and proactively address issues. The initiative relies on an array of sensors to integrate data from local, state and federal sources; monitor and broadcast water levels around storm surge and hurricane evacuations; and support real-time resilience.

"The government experience continues to be a major priority for state and local government agencies as they seek to rapidly meet new citizen and employee expectations," said Chief Innovation Officer Dustin Haisler for the Center of Digital Government. "This past year we have seen agencies embrace new emerging technologies to adapt their constituent experiences to new behaviors and shifts with underlying technology trends. It's very inspiring to see agencies taking a human-centric approach to service delivery as leading agencies incorporate digital equity, accessibility and inclusion into the experiences they enable."

The City was lauded for designing an omnichannel experience where citizens can seek information and receive services on their preferred platform or device. From installing smart poles in underserved communities to outfitting the new City Hall building with interactive kiosks and launching an updated website (virginiabeach.gov), the City demonstrated an evolving commitment to modernizing digital services this year and beyond.

"We are excited to accept these awards from the Center of Digital Government who empowers local and state governments with a platform to showcase public-sector innovation," said Peter Wallace, the City's chief information officer. "With each channel introduced, Virginia Beach is building a digital bridge between our departments and residents making it easier and more convenient to access City information and services. The way we leverage technology while balancing agility and humanity is key to our success."

The City will be honored during the Government Experience Awards at the virtual GovX Summit on Sept 15. This event is only open to the public-sector. More information is available here.