Bostonians are riding high today. Not only was Boston cited in the Huffington Post as a prime example for living well but social media mammoth Facebook is setting up shop across the Charles in Cambridge’s Kendall Square. Oh, and Massachusetts was named the most energy-efficient state in the country. Adding to today’s list of accolades, Boston has been named the nation’s number 1 digital city in terms of public-sector information and communication technology.
The survey was compiled by the Center for Digital Government (CDG) – underwritten by Accela, AT&T and NIC – and considers factors like “progress on information and communication technology practices made over the past year, return on investment, and a city’s demonstrated ability to innovate and leverage creative practices.”
Cities were arranged into four categories based on population – “cities with residents of 250,000 or more; cities with between 125,000 and 249,999 residents; cities with populations from 75,000 to 124,999; and cities of less than 75,000” – and Boston took the top spot in the 250K-plus category where as the others were filled out by Irving, Texas; Avondale, Ariz.; and Palo Alto, California.
For The Hub, it’s all about the City’s Open Government platform which acts as the interactive epicenter for “the ability to see city data through interactive maps, digital databases and user-friendly financial city performance records.”
But for newly-anointed Mayor-elect of Boston Marty Walsh, it isn’t quite enough.
Throughout his entire campaign the state Representative made it a point to convey to the general public that Boston’s internationally acclaimed tech-scene has shaky foundations. City Hall strikingly lacks a reliable internet connection and has yet to adopt a voicemail system. His native neighborhood of Dorchester is the only Boston locale with fiber optic hookups without a single optical fiber to show for it.
Still, Boston’s made strides to accommodate its burgeoning tech needs with the likes of City Hall to Go, “a site that provides residents the ability to interact with city officials, receive direct services and get questions answered,” and its Office of Urban Mechanics, “an organization dedicated as an innovation incubator, building partnerships between city agencies, outside institutions and entrepreneurs to pilot digital projects that support resident and business needs.”
Boston runner-ups include Louisville, KY and Philadelphia, PA tied for 2nd; Jacksonville, FL and Riverside, CA tied for 3rd; Henderson, NV and Seattle, WA tied for 4th; and a three-way tie for fifth between Corpus Christi, TX; Las Vegas, NV; and Virginia Beach, VA. North of Boston, Lowell was named 5th in the 75,000 – 124,999 range.
