NYC WINS CITY OF THE YEAR AND BEST USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN 2011 GOVFRESH AWARDS

“As a city, New York came at civic innovation from both sides,” Fretwell said. “There was high citizen engagement through app contests, as well as helping redesign the New York website with the Reinvent NYC.”

"We know that New Yorkers who engage with their government through these digital channels will feel empowered and want to get involved even further – that’s the most satisfying part about all of our efforts, and it really speaks to Mayor Bloomberg’s commitment to the power of technology and innovation within government,” said Chief Digital Officer Rachel Sterne.

2011 has been a groundbreaking year for the City’s efforts at improving citizen engagement through social media and technology. The Road Map for the Digital City gathered information about the state of the City’s technology initiatives and outlined plans to realize New York City’s potential as the leading Digital City in the world. Shortly afterwards, the City hosted its first-ever hackathon, Reinvent NYC.GOV, and through the Engage NYC initiative workshops and training sessions were developed for communications staffs across City government. The City also unveiled NYC Open Data, a repository of over 850 government datasets, and expanded its digital portfolio to include over 200 social media channels with more than 1.5 million followers across City government.