Washington, DC

(Washington, DC) Mayor Vincent C. Gray and District Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Rob Mancini today announced that the District government’s DC.Gov website won first place for city portals in e.Republic’s Center for Digital Government’s 2014 Best of the Web and Digital Government Achievement Awards.

The District finished first among a group of finalists that included Los Angeles and Sacramento, Calif.; Denver and Boulder, Colo.; and Raleigh, N.C., among others.

“I am proud that the District government was recognized for making municipal information and services more accessible and efficient online for all residents, businesses and visitors,” said Mayor Gray. “This award is a culmination of a lot of hard work by not only our Chief Technology Officer and his world-class Web team, but also all of our agencies and programs.”

Now in its 19th year, the annual Best of the Web (BOW) awards recognize city, county and state governments for outstanding portals and websites based on innovation, functionality, productivity and performance.

“I am grateful to the Center for Digital Government for recognizing the smart design and innovative delivery of our Web services by Michael Black, Web Maintenance Manager, and his team at the Office of the Chief Technology Officer (OCTO),” Mancini said. “Our staff always strives to deliver a seamless and contemporary online experience for the public to enjoy with their government, and we want the public to have it their way and on their own terms with whatever device they wish to use.”

Mancini continued: “The District government has come a long way with our Web technology, including the platform, systems design and a wealth of content management. This is merely a down payment on more great things to come from OCTO.”

Mancini highlighted several recent upgrades to DC.gov:

• The introduction of the portal’s new responsive design, which automatically adjusts to fit the screens of any tablet or mobile device, positioning DC.Gov for the explosive growth and use of mobile devices;
• Migration of almost all agency sites to the open-source Drupal platform;
• Significant improvement in resident- and business-centric navigation to make information and services easier to find;
• A clean, simple design to improve visitor experience; and
• New help pages for non-English-speaking residents.

“I am thankful to Mayor Gray for the stellar support that he provides to OCTO,” Mancini said. “When OCTO delivers technology and wins awards, it is not entirely through just one team; it is an agency-wide accomplishment shared by all.”

The DC.Gov portal’s 100-plus agency and program sites generate annual traffic higher than many municipalities and counties with comparable populations (e.g. Boston and Montgomery County, Md.), with more than 14 million visitors making 29 million visits in 2013 (a 7 percent increase in visitors over 2012). DC.Gov was a Top 10 finalist in 2013, and previously won Best of the Web in 2005.

District government agencies will be hosting a live Twitter Town Hall event on Thursday, October 9, 2014 from 11:00 am – 12:00 pm to discuss highlights and enhancements on DC.Gov and answer questions about agency information and services. To follow the discussion, visit Twitter and search the hashtag #dcgovwebchat.