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Executive congratulates Information Technology staff for recognition of innovative programs that are making County government more efficient
Summary
King County Executive Dow Constantine today congratulated the staff of his Department of Information Technology for winning three prestigious Achievement Awards from the National Association of Counties at a conference last Sunday.
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King County Executive Dow Constantine today congratulated the staff of his Department of Information Technology for winning three prestigious Achievement Awards from the National Association of Counties at a conference last Sunday.
“This recognition from our peers at other counties shows we’re on the right track with our reforms to create taxpayer efficiencies and seamlessly meet the technology needs of our customers,” said King County Executive Dow Constantine. “My congratulations to Chief Information Officer Bill Kehoe and his staff.”
King County Information Technology (KCIT) received Achievement Awards for its Data Center Consolidation, its updated Online Vendor Registration system, and for its IT Service Center Consolidation.
“This conference highlighted the many positive changes in business practices and technology that King County is doing,” said Metropolitan King County Councilmember Kathy Lambert, who attended the awards ceremony in Pittsburgh. “Being recognized as a county leading the way in reforms for more efficiency and customer service is something we can all be proud of. Many of the other ideas we heard about are other areas we are working on or have completed. In addition it was great to see other solutions that counties have developed and share ideas. I look forward to sharing more of our successes in technology next year!”
E.Republic’s Center for Digital Government and Digital Communities program, in partnership with NACo, also congratulated King County for being a 2012 Digital Counties Survey Winner, tied for 5th place with Bexar County, TX.
The three awards mark the sixth and seventh NACo Achievement Awards won by staff at KCIT since 2003. Now in its 43rd year, NACo’s Achievement Award Program recognizes effective and creative programs and raises awareness of successful county activities across the nation.
Consolidation of many King County data center locations resulted in a highly efficient, scalable, and green data center, using innovative architecture to conserve taxpayer dollars while increasing government service effectiveness. Project leadership was committed to creating a more energy efficient, environment friendly IT footprint, which resulted in a data center and revised IT infrastructure that considered industry standards and guidelines like EPA EnergyStar, LEEDS, and other data center energy-reduction best practices.
The Achievement Award for the Online Vendor Registration extended the county’s in-house web application for online vendor accounts and contract solicitation. Key business innovations that were achieved by this system enhancement include the incorporation of new processes to create expanded, targeted opportunities for Small Contractors and Suppliers, a reduction of cycle-time for soliciting roster contracts from 180 days to 45 days, implemented components for accepting electronic bids and proposals, and a single sign-on, unified user experience for participating in all King County contracting opportunities.
In 2010, King County undertook an initiative to create one IT Service Center, with the goal to align all the help desks across the Executive Branch departments into a single service entity. This program implemented a new, easy to use self-service portal for accessing IT help online and provides a single point of access for assistance with questions and problems, adding attachments to a ticket, viewing a history of previously reported issues, adding notes to existing tickets to provide additional information. With this program, users can now complete tasks much more efficiently than before, and support goals of accountability and visibility.
"I am very proud of our progress towards standardization and consolidation in key areas such as the data center and service center”, said King County CIO Bill Kehoe. “This demonstrates a commitment in the County towards efficient, cost effective, and high quality IT services."
More information on these awards is available at https://www.kingcounty.gov/operations/it/awards.aspx
