It provides so many services on line for its citizens.
Frederick, Md (KM) Some national recognition has come to Frederick County for the way it uses high tech. The Center for Digital Government and the National Association of Counties have released the 14th annual Digital Counties Survey which recognizes the technological capabilities and innovation in local government. It ranks Frederick County as third among counties of similar size, those with populations between 150,000 and 249,999.
“And that’s a great accomplishment,” says County Executive Jan Gardner, who announced that news during her Thursday morning public information briefing.
She says counties, parishes and boroughs whcih receive this honor are “open, mobile, engaged, collaborative, secure, supporting–meaning there’s staff out there supporting the functions that are out there–connected, efficient, resilient and innovative. We’re really proud to be described in that way in our county.”
Gardner noted that every division of county government uses technology to provide services and information to citizens. In addition, residents can pay bills on line, track the status of permits and development projects, along with register for parks and recreation programs, find an animal to adopt, search for a lost pet, view crime statistics and find out which roads are closed during a major storm.
“Technology really has made a difference in how we deliver services in Frederick County,” she says. “And technology really works for our citizens.”
Also at her public information briefing, Gardner announced that the county will have a new app late in August for riders of TransIT buses. “Route-Shout automatically checks where a bus is located so you can tell when the bus will arrive at your stop in real time,” she says. “A rider will be able to text their stop I.D. and get an estimated arrival time in response. They also can send alerts when the bus is a certain number of minutes away.” Gardner says this will be especially helpful when the weather is cold and a passenger doesn’t want to stand outside in the frigid temperatures.
“We strive to be customer friendly,” says Gardner. “And having all of these technological options really adds to the fact that we’re customer friendly.”