Neel Mehta
The American Council for Technology and Industry Advisory Council unveiled the winning government IT solutions at its 9th Annual Excellence.Gov Awards luncheon in Washington, D.C., last week.
The event honors innovated computer initiatives that increase the quality and efficiency of government management, improve customer services, improve government operations and encourages open and transparent government.
A 35-judge panel considered about 100 programs in deciding the winners of the seven awards.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture“™s U.S. Forest Service took home the award for excellence in enhanced customer service. The Forest Service developed the Electronic Permitting and Remote Wireless Project in the Four Rivers Recreation Area of the Salmon-Challis National Forest, Idaho, to ease the white water rafting permit application process. It reduces paper applications up to 60 percent and is expected to save the agency more than $2.5 million in five years.
The Defense Department Defense Centers for Excellence won accolades in use of social media for its Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury Social Media Program. The program offers service members, veterans and families information on programs and resources for psychological health and traumatic brain injury.
The Defense Department Pacific Command will no doubt happily share its award for excellence in intergovernmental collaboration. The All Partners Access Network uses social media and file sharing to create online communities accessible outside the military firewall, opening up access for nongovernment partners.
The Treasury Department Financial Management Service cashed in an award for excellent in improving the operations of government for its Direct Express Debit MasterCard for Recurring Benefit Payments. The program replaces paper checks with refillable debit cards. The Treasury Department expects to see a savings of 93 cents per transaction.
The Defense Department Business Transformation Agency sought reform and apparently succeeded, winning for excellence in improving the workforce with its Case Adjudication Tracking System.
The U.S. Department of State Bureau of Consular Affair“™s Green IT Initiative won for excellence in going green. The program reduced the number of servers to 17 from 185, and replaced the legacy interface and data controllers with visa and passport IT systems. The changes greatly reduced hardware expenditures and energy costs.
MyTSA won the Transportation Security Administration an award for best mobile app, which notifies passengers of delays and security wait times at all U.S. airports, regional weather alerts, alternate flight routes and security alerts.
