Join us on this exciting journey as we embark on a special blog series celebrating the outstanding achievements of counties that have earned the National Association of Counties (NACo) 2024 Achievement Awards. Each week, we will shine the spotlight on a few noteworthy counties and take a deeper look at their accomplishments, innovative initiatives, and the incredible impact they have made on their communities.
Technology Services
Howard County received 17 awards in this category.
IT contribution to the financial and tax platform
The Department of Technology and Communications (DTCS) development team created a scalable and supportable financial taxation platform that not only fulfills an immediate need, but has the potential to be used nationwide. The team converted their aging tool into the ServiceNow platform and overcame many challenges, including identifying the data needed to calculate, track, and validate tax credits, how to get this data from external systems into the team’s ServiceNow instance, and integrating the calculation and application process for new tax credits. The tool simplified how the county’s seniors filed, tracked, and managed their tax credits. It also allowed more applications to be processed during tax season, helping residents take advantage of these credits. The platform manages two tax credits, the Senior Residence Credit and the Senior Citizen Tax Credit, but the platform allows the team to easily incorporate the remaining 30+ credits in a standardized way. Another notable success is its broad potential. All states and localities issue tax credits. Therefore, this kind of platform could prove beneficial on a national scale.
IT Contributes to Fire Department Hybrid and Remote Learning Initiatives
Howard County Fire and Rescue Department (HCDFRS) sought the expertise of the Department of Technical and Communications Services (DTCS) to provide hybrid and remote instruction. HCDFRS needed a stable wireless solution, bandwidth capable of sending and receiving terabits of data, and the ability to broadcast video. In upgrading and replacing the county’s wireless, the team suggested moving the outdoor access points (APs) in the fire station building to an outdoor storage building so the wireless signal could reach the back end in the fire simulation building. The team also suggested creating a new virtual local area network (VLAN) on the switch dedicated to video recording. This VLAN would be shared across the Public Safety Training Center (PSTC) complex so the video equipment could be monitored. Throughout the process, DTCS continually shared the results of network testing and monitoring with the fire department. DTCS enabled HDCFRS to install and operate the video recording system, allowing firefighters to update their skills without having to take the time to come to PSTC for instruction. The new wireless access points will enable DTCS to better monitor and track wireless activity and take advantage of new wireless technologies.
IT’s contribution to new housing systems
The County Finance Department recognized the need to transform its housing database for several reasons, including security, accessibility, efficiency, and manageability. They needed a modern interface to store and track mortgage loans that was easier to manage and use. The Department of Technology and Communications Services (DTCS) developed a centralized repository of loan information using modern web application development techniques. The system also features search, reporting, auto-calculation, and web accessibility, making it a significant improvement over the previous housing database. The project successfully met the Finance Department’s requirement to improve the user experience by addressing previous issues of confusion and inefficiency. This included implementing features that made the system more intuitive, efficient, and user-friendly. It also streamlined report generation and auto-calculation, greatly improving efficiency and accuracy.
Contributing IT to Public Information Act (PIA) Applications
Howard County Commissioners were actively seeking a streamlined solution to track and respond to the numerous public information requests they received and reached out to the Department of Technology and Communications Services (DTCS) for a digital solution. The department quickly developed a PIA (Public Information Act) application that does just that. DTCS developed an application that tracks all requests in a database where administrators can view the history of requests. The application also programmatically creates email templates based on the user’s request, eliminating the need for administrators to create a new email for each response. This innovative new application streamlines the PIA request tracking process, saving the Commissioners hundreds of hours per year.
IT rebuilds council applications
Under a very tight deadline, the Digital Experience team at the Department of Technology and Communications Services (DTCS) modernized the County Council’s internal applications to launch simultaneously with a revamped website. With assistance from UI/UX designers, engineers rebuilt the Online Legislative Information System (OLIS) using modern web application development techniques. New requirements included a testimony application and a legislative search tool. The search tool was better integrated with the Council’s website by including links that provide direct information, sorting based on constituent feedback, and the ability to easily export searches to common formats such as Microsoft Excel. The tool successfully met the County Council’s requirements. The new ability to view all budget-related legislation made it easier to find information and compare it to previously proposed and approved legislation without having to search through all proposed legislation. The testimony application has been used successfully to register testimony for each public hearing since it was released.
Police Crime Dashboard
Howard County Police Department (HCPD) sought to improve public access to crime data within the county and increase data transparency. By working with the Department of Technology and Communications, HCPD accomplished this with an innovative dashboard. This interactive, map-based tool improves visibility of crime data and summarizes the data for general geographic boundaries. The dashboard was developed using Microsoft PowerBi using existing county licenses, county crime data, and county Geographic Information System spatial data. The dashboard database is not only accessible to the public, but can also be easily updated internally by automatically pulling crime data directly from the Computer Aided Dispatch database. This innovative tool was rapidly developed in-house by the county’s Department of Technology and Communications and police under the direction of the Chief of Police and represents a simplification and modernization of crime data.
Record keeping “Spring cleaning campaign”
To instill sound records management processes within the County and help departments manage their paper and digital content, the Department of Technology and Communications Records Management Team conducted a comprehensive “Spring Cleaning Campaign” on May 17, 2023. The four-pronged program consisted of reviewing records retention schedules, deleting unnecessary documents, digitizing paper documents, and storing documents in recommended repositories. These tips were communicated via email to all departments. The campaign raised awareness of strong records management practices, increased the department’s visibility and value when partnering with other departments on digitizing records, raised awareness of retention schedules, and increased awareness of records management’s role in risk mitigation for digital content and public records requests.
Advanced Leadership Tabletop Exercise
In October 2023, the Department of Technology and Communications Services (DTCS) conducted an internal ransomware tabletop exercise with senior management. Ransomware is a type of malicious software that can be used to block access to county data unless a ransom is paid. The tabletop exercise is a discussion-based scenario in which county personnel role-play a response to a crisis situation based on the county’s actual resources. The exercise took place after months of preparation using internal resources and expertise. Leveraging existing knowledge and resources to develop the program allowed for efficient utilization and optimization of available funds. This not only reduced costs but also allowed resources to be reallocated to other areas. This innovative event helped establish technical and operational goals and expectations across various departments. The Cybersecurity Ransomware Tabletop Exercise enhanced incident response plans, improved communication strategies, increased employee awareness, and addressed weak spots in the cybersecurity infrastructure.
Join us as we explore the incredible stories behind these winning counties and be inspired by their passion, creativity, and efforts to create positive change. View all 2024 NACo Achievement Award recipients through our interactive, searchable map.
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