For the second consecutive year, the Center for Digital Government, a national research and advisory institute on information technology in state and local government, has ranked the City of Charlottesville third in its population category in a competition for the top digital cities in America.
The City received the award last week, and the ranking is based on the 2005 Digital Cities Survey that examined how city governments utilized digital technologies to better service their citizens and streamline operations, according to a City press release.
Charlottesville Interim Communication Director Ric Barrick said the main reason Charlottesville received the award is for the design of its Web site.
"One of the things we've done with our Web site is make it really user-friendly," Barrick said.
He said the Web site is "all inclusive," meaning it provides citizens with many government services electronically, such as paying bills online.
"If you want to pay the utility bill, you don't have to come to City Hall anymore," Barrick said, but added that the new electronic services do not completely eliminate the need to come to City Hall.
"If you have to argue a parking ticket, then you have to come to City Hall," he said.
Because there were more participants this year, the contest was more competitive than last year's contest. In 2004, Charlottesville came in fifth, Barrick said.
"We don't really compete," City Council member Blake Caravati said. "We just try to be the best we can be."
Caravati said the City has recently embarked on a new technology program called "City Link" that will allow citizens to access more government services from their homes.
According to Barrick, a new Web site will be launched at the end of January, retaining the same URL of the current Charlottesville home page.
The Web site "enables citizens to deal with government as a one-stop shop," Caravati said.
The new technology will allow citizens to pay taxes, buy building permits and utilize other government services from their home, Caravati said.
He also said the City invested financial and building resources to ensure that young citizens are able to function in a digital world.
"We contributed to a program called 'Computers for Kids' that takes students and puts them through a training course on how to use computers and how to make and fix computers, and then we give them a computer," Caravati said. "Most of these kids are children who can't afford a computer."
The City also is planning to expand wireless connectivity at the Downtown Mall, he said.
According to Barrick, another reason for Charlottesville's third-place ranking was City Hall's advanced communication infrastructure.
The intranet network provides "a way for us to ask questions to a whole group of people to get better input," he said. "It allows us to communicate better within City Hall so we can get a better pool of information."
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