Kirkland Earns Digital Cities Recognition
Published on November 17, 2021
Media Contact:
David Wolbrecht
Communications Program Manager
dwolbrecht@kirklandwa.gov
425-587-3021
KIRKLAND, Wash. – Kirkland has been named one of the top-ranking cities for digital innovation by the Center for Digital Government (CDG). The CDG recently announced the winners of its 2021 Digital Cities Survey that recognizes cities that use technology to tackle social challenges, enhance services, strengthen cybersecurity, and more. Kirkland ranked eighth in the category of cities with 75,000 to 124,999 population nationally.
“Kirkland took center stage last year as the epicenter for COVID-19 in the United States nearly a month before other parts of the country felt the impacts,” said Councilmember Amy Falcone. “Our Information Technology staff immediately leapt into action to help transition much of our workforce to remote work while maintaining an accessible and open government for our community. They quickly stood up the technological infrastructure to begin holding virtual City Council meetings, allowing both City officials and the public to participate remotely, at a time when this wasn’t standard practice. These were both major undertakings without precedent, and our intrepid staff continued to create innovative solutions to better serve our community despite this intense pressure.”
The CDG identified several City projects in its recognition, including:
“This recognition would not be possible without our phenomenal IT team,” said Chief Information Officer Smitha Krishnan. “I’m grateful that their hard work, creativity, and dedication to serving our community is being honored.”
The Center for Digital Government is a national research and advisory institute focused on technology policy and best practices in state and local government. All U.S. cities are invited to take part in the annual Digital Cities Survey.
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