The Department of FI$Cal’s integrated budget system received a Project Experience — Government to Government Award for its integrated budget system. That system replaces hundreds of decentralized and antiquated budget tools formerly used by California’s state government departments, according to a news release from Amy Norris, strategic communications manager for FI$Cal.
“We are honored to receive recognition from the Center for Digital Government for our successes in improving budgeting tools and methods for state government,” said FI$Cal CIO Subbarao Mupparaju. “Integration of the state’s business processes through the FI$Cal system means Californians will have greater insight into how government manages taxpayer dollars.”
The budget system is used by 154 state entities, totaling more than 1,200 system users. The state’s budgetary information is accessible to the public via the Department of Finance website.
Dustin Haisler, chief innovation officer for the Center for Digital Government, explained the impetus for the awards:
“Citizen expectations are increasingly being reshaped by their experiences with consumer technologies. The website is no longer the only experience they use — it’s now one of many channels in their overall experience,” he said. “The Government Experience Awards were developed to recognize government agencies that are focusing on designing and delivering services across the overall experience and not necessarily just one channel.”
The Financial Information System for California was developed as a joint project of the Department of Finance, Department of General Services, State Controller’s Office and State Treasurer’s Office. The system was implemented statewide in July 2016.
Other California awards include:
- San Diego and Sacramento counties won second and fourth place, respectively, for Overall County Government Experience.
- San Francisco and Los Angeles won fourth and fifth place, respectively, for Overall City Government Experience.
- San Diego County won the Government Experience Innovation Award for a Digital Rights Management entry.
- CalSTRS, the state teachers’ retirement system, won the State Government Experience award for its redesign of a website, 403bCompare.com.
- In the Government-to-Business category, Alameda County and the cities of Long Beach and Los Angeles were recognized for business and permit portals.
The Center for Digital Government is a national research and advisory institute on information technology policies and best practices in state and local government.
The Center is a division of Techwire's parent company e.Republic, the nation’s only media and research company focused exclusively on state and local government and education.
For more information about the awards, contact Janet Grenslitt, director of surveys and awards, at jgrenslitt@centerdigitalgov.com.
A longer version of this story, listing awards winners nationwide, appears in Government Technology, a sister publication of Techwire.
