The City of Chandler recently secured the second spot for the coveted Government Experience award for a city presented by the Center for Digital Government (CDG), which highlights outstanding government services and their impact on enhancing constituent engagement and improving government responsiveness.
As reported by the city's official website, Chandler's Mayor Kevin Hartke expressed pride in the city's innovative edge, saying, "It is an honor for Chandler, the Community of Innovation, to be recognized for our efforts to advance digital services." The city prides itself on smart, sustainable solutions that aim to boost efficiency, productivity, and connectivity; this recognition is a testament to those efforts, the staff’s dedication comes through in their tireless enhancements of technology and processes benefitting both residents and businesses.
Among the initiatives leading to this high rank is the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Division's successful pilot of instant translation devices across multiple city departments, catering to a more inclusive interaction with all residents despite any language or disability barriers that they previously struggled with, this aims to foster direct and immediate engagement between city staff and the public.
The city’s engagement with the populace is further exemplified in the increased participation seen in their annual budget process through a digital campaign for the FY 2024-25 Budget Input Survey, the campaign reached a broad audience with impressive digital ad click-through rates and significant average engagement time on the survey webpage Chandler has also implemented the Public Stuff mobile app, enabling citizens to report various civic issues, from potholes to graffiti, and access essential city links, the Municipal Court has also stepped up with an AI chatbot providing a more effortless way for litigants to obtain information and services online, as detailed by the City of Chandler.
The efforts in digitalization in Chandler have clearly set a benchmark for a robust, user-friendly digital environment that not only simplifies processes but also encourages interaction and feedback from the community, all these improvements are solid steps in the direction of transparency and inclusiveness and make for a digital strategy that truly places service to the community at the forefront of its objectives.
