StateScoop highlights 2018 State IT Innovation of the Year winners

Alexa Louisiana Driving Test

Office of Motor Vehicles
State of Louisiana

The Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles released an Amazon Alexa skill to allow to take practice driving tests. The service can be used by those individuals applying for a drivers license or anyone looking to challenge their memory of Louisianas driving rules. Available for download now, the Amazon Alexa skill Louisiana Driving Test can be used on any Alexa or Echo device. Once prompted, Alexa will provide instructions to answer 10 multiple choice questions and keep score as randomly selected questions from an extensive question bank are read aloud. Are you ready to begin?

Michigan CISO as a Service

Department of Technology, Management & Budget
State of Michigan

The State of Michigan, in partnership with select local governments, created a CISO as a Service program to assist local governments improve their security posture. There are often constraints which prohibit these local entities from operating a fully functional in-house CISO position. This CISO as a Service will complete the following for the 9 participating local governments: -Conduct a risk assessment -Generate overall assessment report -Consultation on risk assessment findings -Develop initial remediation plan(s) -Plan, product selection & procurement. This program has received a lot of national recognition, and several states have contacted Michigan directly to start a similar program of their own.

Colorado DRIVES

Governor’s Office of Information Technology
State of Colorado

Colorado DRIVES is the integrated solution to replace the back-end systems that manage driver license and vehicle-related transactions performed in Colorado. More than 5.1 million transactions are processed annually for things like obtaining driver licenses and identification cards. In less than 18 months, the driver license system (phase 1) was implemented, enabling Coloradans to conduct transactions online, saving more than 50,000 visits to the DMV; automated validation and error handling; and provides law enforcement with real-time data.

Georgia Gateway

Department of Human Services
State of Georgia

Georgia Gateway, the states integrated eligibility system, provides a single point of entry for programs including Medicaid, PeachCare, TANF, SNAP, P4HB, WIC, and CAPS. Gateway is a result of successful collaboration between the Departments of Community Health, Early Care and Learning, Public Health and Human Services. Apart from being more user-friendly and efficient for customers, Gateway also allows government agencies to work more effectively. Its features allow caseworkers to see constituents active/pending cases with other agencies, strengthening their ability to better refer families for other services. Additionally, Gateway reduces duplicative filings and the chances of fraud or error.

Gov2Go National Rollout

NIC Inc.

Remembering deadlines and navigating the levels of government and agencies often leaves citizens feeling stressed and confused. In 2017, NIC Inc. launched the nationwide version of Gov2Go, bringing together all citizen interactions with all levels of government on one platform. With national services available in all 50 states, more than 500,000 Americans received important notifications last year via Gov2Go about their government responsibilities. NIC partnered with Microsoft to bring innovative functionality to the Azure-cloud-powered Gov2Go platform. In addition to the national services, seven states now offer custom solutions to their constituents using the platform, with several more joining Gov2Go in 2018.

Hawaii Annual Code Challenge Program

Office of Enterprise Technology Services
State of Hawaii

It was standing room only as the Hawaii Annual Code Challenge (the HACC) kicked off on Aug. 26, 2017, to a room of 300 participants. The HACC breaks the mold of traditional hackathons, providing an expanded month-long timeframe to encourage interaction between community teams and state personnel – ultimately resulting in sustainable solutions matched to technologies and platforms in use or being considered by the state. With participation exceeding its inaugural year in 2016, last year’s event was successful in engaging the tech community in government modernization and exposing individuals to state IT careers. This success ensures the program will continue.

Maryland Business Express Portal

Department of Assessments and Taxation
State of Maryland

The next-generation Maryland Business Express portal is the central location for existing business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs to locate information and services to plan, start, manage, and grow their business. The site was created by the combined efforts of eight state agencies and embodies Governor Larry Hogan’s customer service promise to make government more accessible to its citizens. The new Maryland Business Express offers multiple ways for citizens to access the business information they need most, and hosts Maryland’s first chatbot for business. Business chatbot is a digital assistant designed to efficiently communicate and deliver real-time information to visitors and is available 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.

MISSI Official Chatbot for the State of Mississippi

Information Technology Services
State of Mississippi

As citizens needs grow, ms.gov is armed with the technology to exceed the level of support our users are accustomed to receiving. Ms.gov responded to these needs by launching MISSI, the ms.gov chatbot, designed to efficiently communicate and deliver real-time information to citizens online. Questions including how do I renew my hunting license; where can I purchase a driver’s license; and I need help with my taxes; are just a few of the hundreds of iterations MISSI supports. As more and more users interact with the chatbot, machine learning will analyze the input data and apply deep learning to analyze the natural human language and provide the correct response.

Nebraska State Patrol

State Patrol
State of Nebraska

The Nebraska State Patrol (NSP) Concealed Handgun Permit (CHP) application allows users to renew, update, or replace a permit online. Calculations in savings for the agency are approximated at 35 minutes per application, equaling 610 hours of savings in 2017, and an estimated 4,700 hours for 2018. Permit holders also save time, because theyre no longer required to travel to an NSP office to complete these tasks. In the first three months an impressive 72 percent of renewals used the online system. To ensure security protocols, CHP uses cross-agency license/permit validation between the Dept. of Motor Vehicles and NSP.

NJ Outdoors Campground Reservations

Division of Parks and Forestry
State of New Jersey

In an ongoing effort by the NJ DEP Division of Parks and Forestry to improve services through modern technologies, the NJ Outdoors Campground Reservation system allows flexible search capabilities for finding and reserving sites. It provides updated maps and park information filters that enable users to more easily check site availability and plan visits around amenities and recreational opportunities available at each park. Highlighted features of NJ Outdoors include: a document upload feature for pet licenses and other documents, a real-time notification system that alerts campers of events regarding reservations, and a robust self-service administrative interface for the parks.

Oregon Government Ethics Commission

State of Oregon

For the first time, the public can submit an ethics complaint online, view current case status, and look up advice and case reports published by the Government Ethics Commission online. The system enables agency staff to receive complaints, convert them to cases, manage cases throughout their lifecycle online, and provide accurate metrics about case volumes and statuses. This system dramatically simplifies staff workflow, improves accuracy and security of case files, and expedites public records request delivery. Overall this system represents unprecedented transparency and accountability to the public related to government ethics complaints, cases and reports.

Utah Practice Driver License Program

Department of Technology Services
State of Utah

The Utah Dept. of Public Safety provides multiple innovative ways to help educate young drivers and enhance public safety. The Utah Government Practice Driver License test is provided across several platforms to target student drivers; these platforms include Amazon Alexa, Google Home Assistant, iOS mobile application, Android mobile application online. Utahs omni-channel approach to communicating with the user and the digital experience helps drivers practice for the Utah driver license exam by reviewing questions either online or using the voice activated smart speaker. It is the first state government voice activated review test of its kind.

Return to the 2018StateScoop 50 Awards announcement pagehere.