Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Accenture Announce 2003 Digital Government Award Winners

WASHINGTON; June 10, 2003 – The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) School of Architecture and Planning and Accenture today presented the 4th annual Digital Government Awards in six categories during the E-Gov Conference in Washington, D.C.

This year’s award recipients include:

• Military Traffic Management Command Transportation Engineering Agency, Intelligent Road/Rail Information Server™, in the Federal Government Innovator category;
• Virginia Department of General Services, eVA Electronic Procurement Solution, in the State Government Innovator category;
• Alameda County Children and Families Commission, Every Child Counts ECChange, in the Local Government Innovator category;
• California State University, Long Beach, Virtual Oral/Aural History Archive, in the Higher Education Innovator category;
• Delaware Department of Technology and Information, Access Delaware Project, in the Pilot/Prototype Innovator category; and,
• Gary Grippo, Chief Architect of E-Commerce, U.S. Department of the Treasury, Financial Management Service, for the Agent of Change Award.

The MIT-Accenture awards recognize best practices in digital government and higher education in the United States. This year’s recipients were selected from nearly 200 nominations – an increase of 60 percent over the number of submissions last year – and honored at a luncheon attended by nearly 1,000 government and industry executives.

"E-Government passed the threshold from a ’convenience’ to a ’necessity’ in the public sector in 2003,” said Daniel J. Greenwood, director of the MIT E-Commerce Architecture Program and lecturer at the Media Lab of MIT. “This year’s award winners exemplify excellence in the areas of innovation and pragmatism necessary to make E-Government successful. The quality of all the nominations was higher this year than ever, with the winners demonstrating creativity in the delivery of efficient, effective and responsive services."

“This year’s winners are to be congratulated for truly distinguishing themselves in the toughest competition to date since the inception of this awards program,” said Stanley J. Gutkowski, managing partner of Accenture’s USA Government practice. “We were overwhelmed by the dramatic increase in participation this year, which we believe is a strong indicator that leadership and innovation in digital government is alive and well.”

The award winners were recognized in the following categories:

Some of the expected benefits of the new Accenture Platform Accelerator for WebLogic include:

• Federal: The Military Traffic Management Command Transportation Engineering Agency (MTMCTEA) was recognized for launching the world’s first Web-based geographic information system. This first-of-its-kind portal gives military and transportation engineers immediate access to critical infrastructure and cargo data from around the world. By combining a global scope with highly detailed local information, the Intelligent Road/Rail Information Server™ is an essential tool in analyzing infrastructure readiness, enhancing decision-making and improving the efficiency of deploying troops and cargo.
• State: For years, Virginia’s disparate procurement systems and manual purchasing processes hindered the commonwealth’s ability to get the best value for its money. Recognizing the need for a more efficient approach, the commonwealth is rolling out eVA, a hosted Web-based procurement solution that supports Virginia’s decentralized purchasing environment. By allowing state entities to share information and open bidding to a broader spectrum of vendors, eVA is increasing competition and fostering more effective negotiations. Virginia procurement officials are now able to obtain goods and services easier, faster and at the best value. The site is located at www.eVA.state.va.us.
• Local: In response to the California Children and Families First Act, First Five Alameda County launched Every Child Counts, a program aimed at improving resources for pregnant women and families with children up to five years. At the heart of this initiative is ECChange, an innovative Web-based system linking various health, early education and human service providers. ECChange generates cross-agency outcome data, monitors service delivery and is a mobile case management tool that can be used in the field or office. Today, Alameda County’s agencies have a more holistic view of young children and families and a reliable tool for tracking and coordinating the services they receive. The site is located at www.ackids.org/ecchange.shtml.
• Higher Education: The benefit of oral history is the ability to hear individuals tell their stories in their own words. Yet for researchers at California State University, Long Beach, working with recorded analog tapes meant long, tiresome hours attempting to find and listen to the relevant sections. Overcoming this challenge, the new Virtual Oral/Aural History Archive delivers oral interviews over the Internet in a form that is easy to navigate for both seasoned scholars and K-12 students alike. Because the material is accessed through the Web, it can be used for classroom instruction and for independent discovery. The site is located at www.csulb.edu/voaha.
• Prototype: By some estimates, as much as 40 percent of Delaware’s population faces challenges in accessing the Internet. To help bridge this digital divide, Delaware launched a “voice portal” prototype to provide phone-based access to content previously available only on the Web. Using VoiceXML technology, citizens can now use their phones to locate facilities with free public Internet access as well as their local polling place. In the year since its inception, the prototype is proving that VoiceXML technology can turn any telephone into an Internet device. The Access Delaware-VoiceXML Resource Center site is located at www.state.de.us/dti/access\_de.htm The voice portal is available toll-free at 866-276-2353
• Agent of Change: Gary Grippo, chief architect of eCommerce at the Department of Treasury’s Financial Management Service (FMS), is being lauded for his creative implementation of commercial best practices within federal financial operations. His innovative applications of new payment and collection technologies-leveraging the Internet, payment cards and authentication techniques-are helping federal agencies modernize their payment and collection activities. Mr. Grippo’s work is a significant contribution to the advancement of eCommerce and citizen-focused government.

Accenture and MIT invited government organizations, public corporations, and higher education institutions to submit nominations for existing, Web-enabled, digital solutions or services. The nominations were viewed and judged on-line by a panel of leaders in academia, government and other organizations. Awards for each category were based on the degree of creative thinking and innovative use of Web-enabled technology used to create or enhance service delivery; the extent to which the nomination successfully addressed a significant problem faced by the users or the organization; and, the level of transformation and demonstrated effectiveness and tangible results achieved in the delivery of the program or service.

About Accenture
Accenture is the world’s leading management consulting and technology services company. Committed to delivering innovation, Accenture collaborates with its clients to help them realize their visions and create tangible value. With deep industry expertise, broad global resources and proven experience in consulting and outsourcing, Accenture can mobilize the right people, skills, alliances and technologies. With more than 75,000 people in 47 countries, the company generated net revenues of $11.6 billion for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2002. Its home page is www.accenture.com.

###