August 2, 2021 – Roanoke County was recently recognized by the Center for Digital Government (CDG) and the National Association of Counties (NACo) as a top winner in the 19th annual Digital Counties Survey. The survey identifies the best technology practices among U.S. counties, including initiatives that streamline delivery of government services; encourage open data, collaboration, and shared services; enhance cybersecurity; and contribute to disaster response and recovery efforts.
“We are proud to be recognized once again by these organizations for the hard work and dedication of our technology staff,” said Roanoke County Assistant Director of Information Technology Maria Ward. “The pandemic created many challenges for us but we leveraged our expertise to ensure continuity of services for our citizens.”
A top priority for which the County’s Information Technology (IT) department was recognized included efforts made during the COVID-19 pandemic. Examples of the many achievements include increasing broadband availability, use of new online tools for permitting, a new COVID-19 dashboard, and facility changes to allow drive-through payment services, all in response to the needs of our citizens and employees. Internally, the IT department created a daily health assessment application for employees, enabled videoconferencing and network needs to accommodate teleworking by nearly 30% of the County’s workforce, and increased cybersecurity efforts.
The Center for Digital Government has recognized Roanoke County numerous times in the last 15 years as a leader in technology practices.