Kentucky Commonwealth Office of Technology

A biennial survey that measures digital technology use by state governments gave Kentucky a grade of B+ for 2010.
The Digital States Survey is heralded by e.Republic’s Center for Digital Government as a benchmark for states’ use of digital technologies that improve service delivery, increase capacity, change cost structures, and reach policy goals in state government, according to a statement by the organization. It provides a common reference for all 50 states in finding better ways to do the public’s business, according to the center’s Web site.
Read more

Each year the opportunity is taken to recognize people and projects that represent and exemplify the best IT work taking place throughout the Commonwealth.  Many excellent nominations were received from Commonwealth agencies and local governments throughout the state.  A committee of peers and IT practitioners reviewed nominations in each category and selected those most deserving of recognition and award.

More than 5,000 20-minute phone cards have been distributed to soldiers at home and abroad as a result of Commonwealth Office of Technology’s participation in Cell Phones for Soldiers.

Joyce Brewer, branch manager of Asset Management at COT, said the agency began collecting old cell phones and BlackBerrys more than two years ago.

The phones are sent to ReCellular, who in turn pays Cell Phones for Soldiers one hour of talk time for each donated phone.

Kentucky Ranked as the 7th most tech-savvy state in the nation as a result of the The Center for Digital Government's 2008 Digital States Survey, a comprehensive biannual review of digital solutions and best practices among state governments. The 2008 survey measured states' progress on an array of self-service technologies for citizens -- including Internet portals, applications and Web 2.0 features like blogs, wikis, social networks and mash-ups. The survey also evaluated state IT programs overall, with measures of the alignment of architecture, infrastructure, policy, planning, methodologies and organizational maturity.

Kentucky ranked as the 7th best state for e-government and effective use of Web-based technology, according to the ninth annual e-government analysis conducted for the first time in 2008 by researchers at the Brookings Institution. In previous years, this annual e-Gov survey was published by Brown University, beginning in 2000. During June and July 2008, a team of researchers analyzed 1,537 state and federal Web sites (an average of 30 sites per state). Web sites were evaluated for the presence of numerous electronic features, such as online services, databases, audio clips, video clips, foreign language content, user fees, disability access, digital signatures and credit card payments.

Kentucky's official Web portal, kentucky.gov, was selected as the fifth best in the nation in 2007 by a panel of national judges. The winners of the 2007 Best of the Web (BOW) Awards were announced by the Center For Digital Government at its 11th Anniversary Awards Gala in Las Vegas, Nevada, on September 21, 2007. The Best of the Web is an annual awards program that recognizes the most innovative, user-friendly state and local government Web portals.

Kentucky ranked as the 4th best state for e-government and effective use of Web-based technology, according to the eighth annual e-government analysis conducted by researchers at Brown University. A team of researchers analyzed 1,487 state Web sites (an average of 30 sites per state) during June and July 2007. Web sites are evaluated for the presence of numerous electronic features, such as online services, databases, audio clips, video clips, foreign language content, user fees, disability access, digital signatures and credit card payments. The Brown University e-Government study has been released annually since 2000.

The winners of the second annual Best of Kentucky Awards were presented at the 2007 Kentucky Digital Summit, April 23-24, at the Embassy Suites in Lexington. The awards recognize outstanding individuals and programs that have made information technology contributions to the public sector in Kentucky. Each of the peer-nominated award winners was picked from a total of over 50 nominees.

The Center for Digital Government's 2006 Digital States Survey is a comprehensive study on best practices, policies and progress made by state governments in their use of digital technologies to better serve their citizens and streamline operations.

The National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) recently selected Kentucky's Mutual Aid and Interoperability initiative as a winner in its 2006 Recognition Awards for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Information Technology in State Government.

The Best of Kentucky Technology Awards were presented for the first time at the 2006 Kentucky Digital Government Summit in Lexington on April 25, 2006. The peer-nominated awards were given by the Commonwealth Office of Technology (COT) and Government Technology magazine in recognition of the work, vision and drive of the state's brightest public officials and IT professionals.

The most recent initiative of the Government Performance Project (GPP), Grading the States 2005,  is an assessment of the quality of management performance in the 50 states. It provides insights into the way the states have weathered the recent fiscal crisis and the promising innovations they have crafted to cope with an uncertain future.

In November 2005, Governor Ernie Fletcher accepted an award from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) in recognition of the commonwealth’s Geographic Information Services (GIS) achievements. In particular, Kentucky was recognized by the USGS for its achievements in connecting to the National Map, a federal, state and local government partnership that provides public access to high-quality, geospatial data and information that is accessible by both resource managers and the general public.