Cabarrus County's IT department has secured a high-ranking spot in a nationwide survey, underlining its continuing commitment to leveraging technology for efficient government service delivery. The 22nd annual Digital Counties Survey, a collaborative initiative of the Center for Digital Government (CDG) and the National Association of Counties (NACo), has awarded the county's Information Technology Systems (ITS) Department second place among counties with populations ranging from 150,000 to 249,999. This recognition comes as a nod to the county's continued excellence in the digital sphere, as Cabarrus County has consistently placed in the top 10 of this category for a dozen years, maintaining a track record that includes first-place wins in 2021 and 2019.
Innovative approaches to overhauling IT infrastructure have been key to the department's success. The ITS team embarked on the creation of a new 12,000-square-foot department dwelling focused on fostering greater staff interaction, and collaboration. In a move towards better resident engagement, they’ve intensified the use of video conferencing and Yealink phones to facilitate the needs of the community, especially within the social services sphere. As reported by Cabarrus County, since October 2023, social welfare staff have conducted more than 2,000 video visits using Microsoft Teams and video-enabled phones – curtailing unnecessary travel and improving efficiency.
The creation of a standalone website for the Cabarrus County Sheriff's Office (CCSO) was another feather in the ITS department's cap, designed to streamline the process by which residents locate essential services. The department's embracing of automation through bots also deserves mention; these bots tirelessly upload geographic information system (GIS) data to bolster the next-generation 911 system. This automated process is said to save approximately 10 staff hours each week, a small victory in the grand scheme but a victory nonetheless.
Further contributing to their ecological and economic footprint, automation implemented for document printing and scanning processes has slashed the county's annual printing by over 10,000 pages. "I am proud of our ITS team and the work we do to consistently rank high among government technology departments across the nation," Cabarrus County Chief Information Officer Todd Shanley said, according to Cabarrus County. Shanley’s team's dedication to service quality underscores a deeper commitment to efficiency and departmental synergy in serving the populace.
The Digital Counties Survey doesn't just rank counties on their technological prowess, it sheds a spotlight on the best practices in the application of technology within the U.S. counties. It applauds those that push the envelope in initiatives aiming to streamline government service delivery, employ data analytics for informed decision-making, bolster cybersecurity, and adopt cutting-edge, innovative technologies to meet county goals and address community priorities.
