July 26, 2016 - For the fourth consecutive year, Westchester County has been named one of the top 10 digital counties in the United States by the Center for Digital Government (CDG) and the National Association of Counties (NACO).
“This award recognizes how the hardworking employees in our IT department are leveraging technology every day to deliver critical services and improve the lives of our residents,” Astorino said. “It is nice to know that Westchester County is a leader in its field, from cybersecurity to social media.”
Westchester has been named a top 10 digital county for 11 of the past 14 years thanks to the county’s focus on cost-saving initiatives, efficiencies, and shared services.
“The programs and achievements of the Department of Information Technology would never have been possible without the vision of county leaders who understand that innovation is central to running an effective 21st century local government,” said John McCaffrey, Westchester’s Chief Information Officer. “For Westchester, this means strategic investments in a world-class telecommunications network, advanced applications and solutions to streamline the delivery of government services, and collaboration with local municipalities.”
Successful initiatives over the last year include:
- Improving Cybersecurity. One of Westchester’s highest priorities is to ensure the privacy, integrity and availability of information and assets by protecting them from unauthorized access, modification, destruction or disclosure. New data loss prevention (DLP) modules detect, alert and train users who are suspected of emailing sensitive data outside the county’s closed network. Additionally, the county began providing municipalities with no-cost licenses to several cybersecurity software products designed to protect their sensitive data.
- Increasing Accessibility. The county’s website was redesigned to be mobile-responsive for optimal use on smart phones and other devices. Paired with social media campaigns that reach a growing number of residents, the majority of visitors are now accessing the county’s website from a mobile device, expanding the popularity of westchestergov.com to over 1 million page views each month.
- Consolidating Resources. Westchester more than doubled its virtual servers, to 1,075 hosted on 50 physical servers, producing significant energy savings.
- Expanding Web-Based Services. The county’s Contract Reform Working Group implemented new web-based modules focused on reducing duplication when contracts are processed by various departments, paying particular attention to streamlining requests for non-profits that enter into contracts with the county. The IT department also improved customer service for trade licensing and taxi and limousine licensing by automating communication regarding upcoming renewals, violations notices, and other issues.
Additionally, Westchester is leading discussions with other counties in consideration of a ‘software as a service’ (SaaS) repository that will warehouse applications developed in-house—such as the Department of Community Mental Health’s single point-of-access application to help adults with serious mental illness successfully live in the community—so they can be efficiently and securely shared throughout New York State.
CDG is a national research and advisory institute focused on technology policies and best practices in state and local government. Along with NACO, they invited thousands of counties to participate in the 2016 Digital Counties Survey, which considered initiatives that save taxpayer dollars through newfound efficiencies, boost transparency, cyber security and engagement, or innovate through unique and exciting projects.
Earlier this year, Westchester County’s IT department was also honored with the CIO 100 award.