Innovative projects honored
- By Eric Kulisch
- Feb 04, 2001
Public Technology Inc. rewarded 11 local governments Friday for applying
technology in innovative ways to serve the public.
PTI is the technology arm of the National League
of Cities, the National Association of Counties and the International City/County
Management Association.
The honorees stood out from more than 120 entries by showing a willingness
to change traditional practices to accommodate technological solutions,
according to a PTI news release.
"There are so many best-practices strategies that sometimes we get lost
in the forest. Clearly, the winners were able to see their way out of the
forest," PTI president Costis Toregas said in the statement.
The 2000 Solutions Award winners are:
* Small jurisdiction: A Gaithersburg, Md., system enables employees
to merge vendor, city or other government databases to generate maps and
reports.
* Mid-size jurisdiction: Portland, Ore., used a methane byproduct in
place of natural gas for fuel cells that help operate its wastewater treatment
plant.
* Large jurisdiction: A Los Angeles system gives express buses priority
at traffic signals to keep them on schedule. Loop detectors in the road
detect when a bus nears an intersection and centralized software controls
whether to extend a green light a few extra seconds.
The winners will receive their awards at PTI's annual conference April
18 to 21 in Atlanta.