Google Data

Posted by Scott McIntyre, Director of State and Local Government, Google Enterprise

Around the world, public servants are advancing the way government operates: building more transparent systems, bringing down costs and improving services. They’re doing this with ideas, technology, and passion for their work. When they see problems, they find solutions. They work together to build, fix, create. They imagine how things could be different. They transform their agency, their community, their country.

With Google Apps for Government, we’re pleased to provide some of the tools that help these “Government Transformers.” We are happy to recognize three of these transformers today:

Joe Fiumara, Lake Havasu Police Department, Arizona
Joe realized that officers are out on patrol 24x7 while supervisors and commanders work more regular business hours, making two-way communication a challenge. Joe used Google Sites to build a virtual “Watercooler” that lets officers ask questions, share information and generate ideas. Patrol officers now communicate directly with command, which fosters transparency and openness, even when they’re out on patrol.

Jason Kirkland, City of Lewisville, Texas
Playing golf or pool with Jason can be annoying since after every shot he tries to figure out a better strategy. When Jason realized city employees didn’t have easy access to the mounds of geospatial data the city of Lewisville had, he started thinking about ways to put it all to better use. The result: a layered map of Lewisville that uses Google Spreadsheets and Google Maps to let anyone find local schools, trash pick up days and other useful city information.

Jillian Ballow, State of Wyoming
Upon joining the Governor’s office, Jillian realized that the Governor’s staff lacked easy access to the most current data on a number of important policy issues. She used Google Apps to create a single site to track legislative issues, committee meeting schedules, policy staff participation, and the status of policies. Having all this data in one place makes it easy to keep the Governor and his staff informed and up to date.

Google Apps for Government is a full suite of email and collaboration applications designed for teams and built for the web. We’re proud that our tools are helping people like Joe, Jason and Jillian make a difference in their offices and their communities. We’re looking for more of these Government Transformers in the hopes that examples of their creativity can help other public servants who face similar challenges, in the U.S. and around the world.

So if you’re one of them (or know one of them), we invite you to share your story. What kind of problem did you fix? How did you come up with the idea? And exactly how did you make it happen? Submit your story in 300 words or a short video to www.govtransformers.com by January 16, 2012. We’ll feature the best stories on www.govtransformers.com and invite the very best to present at “Innovation for the Nation” 2012 in Washington, DC.

We can’t wait to see what you and your colleagues are doing for the world!