Cities of Boston and Lowell win national technology awards

The Center for Digital Government on Nov. 7 named Boston as the most technologically sophisticated large city in the nation.

Boston, in the category of cities with at least 250,000 residents, was honored for a number of innovations, including its “Open Government” platform, which is making a wide swath of city data and analysis available online.

The magazine also cited the Office of New Urban Mechanics, which has developed innovative approaches to city problems and, in the past year, established a sister office in Philadelphia.

Also mentioned were “Tech Goes Home,” a broadband-adoption program for residents and small-business owners; and City Hall to Go, a converted police van that visits neighborhoods so that residents can take care of city business that would otherwise require a trip to city hall.

Several of the programs cited – including the Office of New Urban Mechanics and City Hall to Go – have been showcased in The Beacon. The articles can be retrieved by clicking on “Community Corner” on our home page and entering “Boston” in the search field.

The Center for Digital Government is a division of e.Republic, which publishes Government Technology magazine. “Digital Cities” winners in other population categories were Irving, Texas; Avondale, Ariz.; and Palo Alto, Calif.

Criteria included progress on information and communication technology over the past year and return on investment.

Since 2012, Boston has been honored by several other technology organizations, including the IBM Smarter Cities Challenge and CIO magazine.

The city of Lowell also received recognition in November for information technology excellence. The Center for Digital Government and the National League of Cities ranked Lowell’s website (www.lowellma.gov) as the fifth-best in the nation among cities with populations between 75,000 and 150,000 residents.