Arkansas Government Offices Honored with Digital Government Transformation Awards

The Information Network of Arkansas (INA) today announced the winners of the inaugural Arkansas Digital Government Transformation Awards.

The awards recognize the achievements of Arkansas government offices at the state and local levels that have used technology to drive innovation and make positive, measurable changes in the state.

INA opened the awards program for nominations in June from all state and local government offices in the state. More than 20 government offices entered 31 nominations, which were evaluated by the INA Board, the Secretary of State, the Chief Technology Officer, the Department of Information Systems director, the Chief Transformation Officer, and Governor Asa Hutchinson. These individuals chose the winners and finalists in each category and presented them at the Arkansas Digital Government Transformation Awards event on Sept. 14 in Little Rock.

More than 175 Arkansas government leaders and employees attended the event to accept honors and celebrate the state’s collective digital government achievements.

“We’re here tonight to honor the work that you all have done in moving our state forward to bring the best possible service to our citizens and make the best possible use of their valuable tax dollars,” Secretary of State and INA Board Chair Mark Martin said at the awards event. “The work you have done has saved the state millions of dollars, eliminated countless sheets of paper, and multiplied the capacity of our workforce—all while providing better and faster service to citizens.”

The 2017 Arkansas Digital Government Transformation Award winners and finalists in each category include:

Citizen Service Award
Recognizes agencies that have used technology to provide improved service to citizens.

• Winner - Arkansas Department of Higher Education: The YOUniversal Financial Aid System
• Finalist - Department of Finance & Administration: Vehicle Registration Renewal iPad Kiosks
• Finalist - Arkansas Crime Information Center: Never Forgotten / Missing Person Search
• Finalist - Arkansas State Board of Public Accountancy: Website Applications
• Finalist - Arkansas Department of Transportation: IDriveArkansas.com

Business Service Award
Recognizes agencies who have used technology to provide improved service to businesses.

• Winner - Auditor of State: Unclaimed Property Filing System
• Finalist - Arkansas State Police: Online Criminal Background Check
• Finalist - Arkansas Secretary of State: Electronic Notarization in Arkansas
• Finalist - Arkansas Department of Labor: Automation of Wage Claim Submission

Digital Pioneer Award
Recognizes agencies that have used the latest technologies to drive innovation and positive change.

• Winner - City of Little Rock: Open Data Portal
• Finalist - Department of Human Services: Division of Child Services Text Messaging Project
• Finalist - Arkansas Crime Information Center: Targeted Interstate Photo Sharing (TIPS)
• Finalist - Arkansas State Board of Public Accountancy: Licensee Records Digital File System

Efficiency Award
Recognizes agencies that have used technology to drive down costs or make more efficient use of agency resources.

• Winner - Arkansas State Police: Online Criminal Background Check System
• Finalist - Department of Finance & Administration: Vehicle Registration Renewal iPad Kiosks
• Finalist - Arkansas Department of Transportation: NetworkFleet

Lawmaker Award
Recognizes legislators who have paved the way for government transformation.

• Winner - Senator Irvin: Act 269, 270, 271
• Winner - Representative Davis: Act 269, 270, 271
• Winner - Senator Eddie Joe Williams: Act 781 HB1880
• Winner - Representative Dotson: Act 781 HB1880

Governor’s Digital Transformation Award
Recognizes agencies that have used technology to make the greatest impact on Arkansans, whether through improved service, lowered costs, or new service channels.

• Winner - Department of Information Systems: Arkansas Public School Computer Network Upgrade
• Winner - Arkansas Department of Education: Arkansas Public School Computer Network Upgrade
• Finalist - Washington County Assessor’s Office: Overall Digital Transformation Efforts
• Finalist - Administrative Office of the Courts: SAVRY - Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth

In addition to these winners, Governor Hutchinson was presented with the final award of the evening, a surprise Arkansas Transformation Award, for his vision, leadership, and dedication to the computer science initiative. Haley Clemmons and Anna Corbitt, students at Pottsville Middle School and South Arkansas University, presented the award to Hutchinson after their teachers told the stories of how their lives had been positively changed by the computer science classes that were possible through the Governor’s initiative.

The Arkansas Digital Government Transformation Awards program was sponsored by the Arkansas Information Consortium (AIC) in partnership with the Information Network of Arkansas Board, the Arkansas Secretary of State’s Office, the Department of Information Systems, the Office of Transformation, and the Governor’s Office.

About Information Network of Arkansas

The Information Network of Arkansas (INA) is a public-private partnership between the state of Arkansas and the Arkansas Information Consortium (AIC) that helps state government entities Web-enable their information and services. Little Rock-based AIC is celebrating its 20th year as the state’s official digital government services partner, and is part of digital government firm NIC's (EGOV) family of companies. AIC was recently named to the 2017 “Best Places to Work in Arkansas.” INA operates Arkansas.gov, the official website of the state of Arkansas, which offers more than 850 state and local online services. More information is available at www.ina.arkansas.gov.

About NIC

Founded in 1992, NIC Inc. (NASDAQ: EGOV) is celebrating 25 years as the nation’s premier provider of innovative digital government solutions and secure payment processing, which help make government interactions more accessible for everyone through technology. The family of NIC companies has developed a library of more than 13,000 digital government services for more than 5,500 federal, state, and local government agencies. Among these solutions is the ground-breaking digital government personal assistant, Gov2Go, delivering citizens personalized reminders and a single access point for government interactions. More information is available at www.egov.com.

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