Celebrating Barnstable County’s Achievement in the 2024 Digital Counties Survey
Barnstable County proudly announces its prestigious recognition in the 2024 Digital Counties Survey, conducted by the Center for Digital Government (CDG) in partnership with the National Association of Counties (NACo). Our county secured 4th place in the population category of 150,000 to 249,999. This achievement highlights our dedication to innovative technologies, enhanced data governance, strengthened cybersecurity, and equitable government operations.
Highlights from the Digital Counties Survey
4th Barnstable County, Mass. – On Cape Cod, Barnstable County, Mass., uses technology to promote unity, which in turn is helping officials better secure their digital properties. The county, after acquiring the capecod.gov domain, launched a website that combined a half-dozen departmental sites while also bringing fresh harmony to the county’s communication work. Branding guidelines and streamlined management of social media accounts were other rewards of the effort. So was cybersecurity. By adopting that top-level domain, reserved for government entities, county officials said they reinforced the security of Barnstable’s digital communications.
That wasn’t the county’s only streamlining work. Barnstable’s IT professionals recently turned their attention to public meetings, and introduced what they call consistent graphics for different meetings, along with more scheduling information and scrolling agenda items, which amount to better customer service for constituents. The payoff? More public engagement, according to the county.
Social media engagement stands as another area that has benefited from unification. The county about two years ago moved its social media communications to the Loomly platform, bringing central management to 12 accounts. Since then, public engagement has increased, with more than 4,500 posts made.
Acknowledging Our Team
This accolade is a testament to the hard work and dedication of key individuals and teams within our county government. We extend heartfelt thanks to Bill Traverse, our Director of IT, and Chris Burt, our Deputy Director of IT, whose leadership has been instrumental in driving our technological advancements. We also congratulate the entire IT department for their relentless efforts and commitment to excellence.
Additionally, we commend our Communications Team for their work in transitioning to a new website in June 2022, now using the domain name capecod.gov, with most county departments under this domain. Their efforts in enhancing our social media presence and implementing new branding guidelines have been significant. Special thanks to Tomo360, our web development team, for their assistance in building the new website.
The Digital Counties Survey
The Digital Counties Survey highlights the best technology practices among U.S. counties, focusing on initiatives that streamline the delivery of government services, provide data analytics for performance-based decision-making, enhance cybersecurity, and apply innovative and emerging technologies to address county priorities. This year’s survey emphasized the responsible adoption of technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other digital tools to meet the top priorities of constituents and elected officials.
What This Means for Barnstable County
Barnstable County’s recognition in this survey demonstrates our commitment to using technology to make government more responsive and effective. It acknowledges our efforts in modernizing our systems, improving our cybersecurity measures, and ensuring that our digital transformation benefits all residents. Our focus on innovative approaches has led to significant improvements in how we engage with our community and deliver essential services.
As we celebrate this achievement, we remain committed to advancing our digital initiatives. We will continue to explore new technologies and strategies to enhance our services, ensure data security, and promote equitable access to government resources. Our goal is to build on this success and keep Barnstable County at the forefront of digital innovation in local government.
