DTS and Utah.Gov Recognized with GovMark Award Excellence in Government Information Technology Marketing

July 12, 2012 - Have you ever heard of Utah.gov?  If so, it is not by coincidence.  The state of Utah wants citizens to be aware of its official state website, Utah.gov, and the hundreds of government transactions that can be completed online.  In an effort to get the word out, but spend very little money, Utah.gov deploys several inexpensive marketing tactics utilizing social media. 

"State government serves the people of Utah best when it's accessible and responsive, and our social media efforts are one more way we ensure outstanding customer service," said Utah Governor Gary R. Herbert.

Because of Utah's innovative and effective social media campaign, Utah.Gov was selected as a 2012 GovMark Council Award winner.  The GovMark Council Award focuses on government technology and information innovation recognizing those that, "facilitate advanced education, and provide a cohesive, representative voice to focus interaction with associated communities of interest."  Utah.Gov was recognized as a leader in the Best Digital Program category.

"As Utah.Gov continually innovates to better serve Utah citizens and businesses, it's a top priority to communicate enhancements using effective Online and Social Media Elements," said Mark VanOrden, Utah Chief Information Officer.  "With hundreds of services available, and new services added monthly, it's important as a State to promote citizen interaction with their government."
 
Utah.gov uses Social Media outlets such as, Facebook, Twitter, Google +, and YouTube in addition to local and national media coverage to educate citizens and encourage them to discover new information while interacting with state and local government agencies.
 
To find out more information about Utah.gov visit:
 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UtahGov
 
Facebook: http://www.utah.gov/facebook/
 
RSS feeds: http://www.utah.gov/connect/feeds.html
 
Utah blogs: http://www.utah.gov/blogs/


Read the Govmark Council Announcement of 2012 Award Winners

2012 Utah Digital Government Summit

If you influence or participate in technology decisions or implementations at any level, you will find benefit in attending.

Don't miss this opportunity to see the latest in digital government solutions, keep abreast of current policy issues and network with key government executives, technologists and industry specialists.


The Utah Digital Government Summit will be held on June 14, 2012 at the Downtown Marriott in Salt Lake City.


For full information, the agenda, and registration services, please visit http://events.govtech.com/events/utahdgs2012


This year's summit will cover the latest topics, including cybersecurity, mobile, and social media.


Don't miss it!

New iPad User Guide Published

The Department of Technology Services has created new iPad User Guidelines for state government users of Apple's tablet device.  Over the past two years, interest in the use of tablets and the iPad in particular has grown as users have found numerous ways to increase job efficiency and stay connected using the popular device.

The new guidelines are available as of March 8, 2012.

Utah.gov Launches Responsive Web Design

SALT LAKE CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Within minutes of launching the redesigned Utah.Gov, tweets began posting from around the world. Users were commenting, blogging, and critiquing the new design. The response was overwhelming; the world loved the new design. More importantly, they were providing instant feedback regarding navigation and accessibility. For the first time, users are able to instantly respond and Utah.Gov listened. While over four years of analytics were utilized to shape the redesign, continual feedback from citizens and users is an important part of the process. Since launched several aspects of the site have been modified. While they may seem minimal to the average user, the changes illustrate Utah’s commitment to not only listening to user feedback, but also utilizing it. Modifications based on user feedback gathered from social media outlets include:

• Several enhancements were made to Utah.Gov within the first week of launch to improve accessibility.
• Per citizen recommendation, the Near You section was expanded to allow citizens to add their own local schools, libraries and parks in their area, in addition to the current display of existing locations of record.
• Additional language and instructions were added to Collaborate.Utah.Gov to clarify any confusion citizens might have once they submit material to Utah.Gov.
• Website components were adjusted, and within an hour of being notified, page load speed increased by 75%.
• Customer support was integrated to identify what citizens are really looking for. The 24/7 Support page was updated to include the most requested business and citizen agencies based on user feedback.
• Search results were modified to be even more precise. Analytics were used to determine what searches didn’t yield results and tailored accordingly.

“It is always exciting to launch a re-designed Utah.Gov to Utah citizens, as well as our international audience,” said David Fletcher, Utah Chief Technology Officer. “With the internet always available at their fingertips, citizens now are able to instantly provide feedback and suggestions. Citizen involvement play an integral role in our improvement process, continually enhancing Utah.Gov as we incorporate valuable citizen response.”

In the first 48 hours of launching, over 800 tweets were posted about the new Utah.Gov design reaching an estimated 2.2 million people. Open dialogue that networks such as Twitterprovide allow for continual discussion as well as an opportunity to listens and act on user feedback. Utah.Gov practices responsive web design and it is important that citizen feedback is a key component of that process.

2010 Utah Egov Awards

The 2010 Utah E-government Awards were presented today at the Utah Product Management Council. This is the first year of what is expected to become an annual awards presentation. In 2010, awards were presented in five categories: best online video, best new website, best new online service, social media, and most improved.

Best Online Video

UDOT - Mountain View Corridor


USTAR - USTAR 2010/2011


Best New Website
Lt. Governor / Elections Office - Vote.Utah.gov

The Vote.Utah.gov website was the centerpiece of a successful initiative by the Lt. Governor's Office to encourage voters to register and vote in the 2010 election. The site also featured personalized information for individual voters within their geographic area, such as finding their poll locations and the platforms and information packets that corresponded to their individual precinct.

Social Media

UDOT - UDOT Blog, Twitter, and Youtube

UDOT's social media campaign was designed to provide better information to citizens about transportation issues. @UtahDOT provides regular Twitter updates on road construction, traffic conditions, and travel-related weather, while UDOT's new blog gives citizens an inside look at the Department and the issues it is dealing with.

Best New Service

Commerce - Licensing Continuing Education Service

This new service provides an administrative console to providers of continuing education services so that they can manage information about the courses they provide as well as information they provide to the Department of Commerce. Licensees are able to easily locate potential courses that will help them maintain their valid license status.

Public Safety - Driver License Appointment Scheduler

When faced with the requirement to physically verify information on every driver license renewal for the next five years, the Driver License Division was faced with a huge challenge of keep lines down in its offices and customers satisfied. The implementation of the online scheduler provided a way to maintain a more manageable flow of citizens through the renewal process.

Most Improved

DAS State Archives - Public Notice Website

The newly designed site, unveiled in October 2010, provides a more useable interface for thousands of public meetings for all state and local government entities. The advanced browse and search capabilities make it very easy to find any public meeting in the state.

Census Data Delivered to Utah

The U.S. Census Bureau today released more detailed 2010 Census population totals and demographic characteristics to the governor and leadership of the state legislature in Utah. These data provide the first look at population counts for small areas and race, Hispanic origin, voting age and housing unit data released from the 2010 Census.

The official 2010 Census Redistricting Data Summary File can be used to redraw federal, state and local legislative districts under Public Law 94-171. The census data are used by state officials to realign congressional and state legislative districts in their states, taking into account population shifts since the 2000 Census.

Data for Utah show that the five most populous incorporated places and their 2010 Census counts are Salt Lake City, 186,440; West Valley City, 129,480; Provo, 112,488; West Jordan, 103,712; and Orem, 88,328. Salt Lake City grew by 2.6 percent since the 2000 Census. West Valley City grew by 18.9 percent, Provo grew by 7.0 percent, West Jordan grew by 51.8 percent, and Orem grew by 4.7 percent.

The largest county is Salt Lake, with a population of 1,029,655. Its population grew by 14.6 percent since 2000. The other counties in the top five include Utah, with a population of 516,564 (increase of 40.2 percent); Davis, 306,479 (increase of 28.2 percent); Weber, 231,236 (increase of 17.7 percent); and Washington, 138,115 (increase of 52.9 percent).

The redistricting file consists of five detailed tables: the first shows the population by race, including six single race groups and 57 multiple race groups (63 total race categories); the second shows the Hispanic or Latino population as well as the non-Hispanic or Latino population cross-tabulated by the 63 race categories. These tabulations are repeated in the third and fourth tables for the population 18 years and over and are for the resident population of the United States. The fifth table provides counts of housing units and their occupancy status.

Visitors to Utah.gov

DTS carefully tracks visitors to Utah.gov to identify trends and develop strategies for improving the utility of Utah web resources for Utah government and its citizens. In 2010, over 1 million unique visitors visited the domain every month except July and the overal tracking is in line with the state's digital government goals.