IRVINE, Calif. (November 30, 2023): The City of Irvine received a 2023 Digital Cities Survey award from the Center for Digital Government, a national research and advisory institute focused on technology policy and best practices in state and local government.

Irvine ranked eighth in the 250,000–499,999 population category for utilizing technology to strengthen cybersecurity, enhance transparency, digital privacy rights, and digital equity, and those finding innovative ways to support solutions for social challenges facing cities today. 

A consistent winner in its population category, Irvine was specifically recognized this year for:

• A focus on information technology (IT) must-haves such as technology investment, strong cybersecurity, and innovation. City IT officials utilize National Institute of Standards and Technology frameworks on cybersecurity and risk management and have deployed endpoint detection and response, as well as a disk encryption policy on all City endpoints. Unsecure protocols and basic authentication have been decommissioned, legacy addresses have been migrated to https, and multifactor authentication is mandatory. Additionally, Irvine’s chief information security officer is active in Orange County Intelligence Assessment Center events and in biweekly county-level cybersecurity discussions.
• A culture of perpetual advancement. The Information Technology division works with City departments to map strategic priorities and with vendors on the emerging technologies that align with set goals. The Strategic Technology Plan — a five-year technical and financial plan adopted by the City Council — forecasts IT investments, supports Irvine’s tech needs, and defines its strategic priorities. Recent work includes leveraging lidar on iPad Pros to create a 3D model of Irvine City Hall wall and floor plans, driving better asset management. Modeling of other facilities is also now underway.
• The City of Irvine’s Transparency Portal, which features financial data that lets visitors see how funds are invested and uses rich GIS data to enable visualizations and interpretations. In place for less than a year, the Mobile Tech Team of support staff delivers IT aid to more than 30 City sites a week. Irvine prioritizes a seamless user experience for residents and businesses through consistent navigation, design, and user interface principles. Additionally, implementing ServiceNow — a cloud-based platform that provides a range of IT service management (ITSM) and digital workflow automation solutions — has helped Irvine improve service request management and track incidents via a dynamic dashboard.

“This prestigious award honors our continued commitment to excellence in technology for our residents, community, businesses, and City staff,” said Mayor Farrah N. Khan. “We are proud of our Information Technology division and the hard work they put in daily to provide reliable, innovative cybersecurity and technology resources to our entire City.”

“The Digital Cities survey winners continue to push the envelope of how government agencies deliver modern services during a period of rapid technological change,” said Todd Sander, Vice President of the Center for Digital Government and Governing Institute. “Today, we recognize and congratulate these trailblazers who are helping to build a government that works for everyone.”

The City of Irvine joined all top-10 ranking cities with a population of 250,000–499,999 at the Digital Cities Awards and Workshop event November 16 in Atlanta.

Learn more about Irvine’s 2023 Digital Cities Survey award and view a complete list of winners here.