Granicus Digital Government Awards logo 15TH ANNUAL AWARDS

The 2025 Digital Government Awards are now open

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Representation of a dedicated government employee
Representation of a dedicated government employee
Representation of a dedicated government employee
Representation of a dedicated government employee
Representation of a dedicated government employee
Representation of a dedicated government employee

Celebrating Excellence in the Public Sector

You deserve recognition. Every day at Granicus we see the hard work happening behind the scenes in clerk offices, school districts, and local, state, and federal government agencies across North America. From state CIOs to city clerks, county PIOs to superintendents, public safety officers to community engagement specialists — your incredible efforts do not go unnoticed.

The Digital Government Awards are an opportunity to shine a spotlight on the impact public servants are making in their communities and in their organizations. By recognizing excellence, we not only give credit where it is due, but we can also inspire others.

Submit your nomination now. Nominate yourself, a colleague, and/or your organization for the 2025 Digital Government Awards. Nominations close November 16.

Nominate now

The awards are open to all Granicus customers. Submissions should focus on innovation in digital government through the use or inclusion of Granicus solutions.

For organizations outside North America, please visit the award pages on the Australia and New Zealand or UK and Europe sites.

See last year’s winners.

Award categories

Click on a category to learn more. You may submit multiple nominations per category, and you may enter multiple award categories.

Changemaker Icon
Changemaker For an individual, team, or project leading the charge for innovation Learn more
Changemaker

For an individual, team, or project leading the charge for innovation.

This award recognises an individual, team, or project that is solving problems in a unique way and delivering results that make a difference in a community or organisation. This category recognises the leadership, vision, creativity, and dedication of a changemaking individual or team, or the impact of a project that is achieving critical success toward an organisation’s mission.

What to highlight

  • Challenges or barriers the individual/team/project faced and how those challenges were solved by thinking differently or doing the unexpected.
  • How this effort stands apart from the status quo.
  • Specific results/outcomes/metrics demonstrating the impact of this person, team, or project on the community, constituents, or organisation.
Community engagement icon
Community engagement For an organisation's creative use of digital tools to inform and engage Learn more
Community engagement

For an organisation’s creative use of digital tools to inform and engage.

This award recognises organisations that use innovative tools to expand community engagement and remove barriers to participation, finding creative ways to encourage community involvement, inform and engage underrepresented groups, and/or turn community input into useful insights, better decision making, and measurable impact.

What to highlight

  • Describe the campaign or overall approach to community engagement and how it differs from previous (or typical) approaches.
  • Innovative ideas that helped to distribute messages or foster engagement through digital channels.
  • Metrics of success (budgetary goals, engagement rates, increased community satisfaction/trust, increased reach, reduced cost, reduced time to outcome, etc.).
  • Outcomes of outreach/engagement efforts and impact on the community.
operational excellence icon
Operational excellence For organisational efforts to increase efficiency, save costs, retain employees, and support a modern workforce Learn more
Operational excellence

For organisational efforts to increase efficiency, save costs, retain employees, and support a modern workforce.

This award is for organisations serving as models in public sector efficiency. Whether it’s reducing customer service enquiries, streamlining labour-intensive processes, improving compliance, recovering revenue, or saving resources, these organisations are using technology to operate better, faster, and leaner.

What to highlight

  • Background on the previous, less-efficient process or method.
  • The improvements that were made.
  • How and why the solutions were selected and implemented.
  • Metrics of success demonstrating how the improvements have transformed efficiency.
digital service delivery icon
Service delivery For organizations delivering better, more relevant government experiences for the public through the strategic use of digital tools and tactics. Learn more
Service delivery

For organisations delivering better, more relevant government experiences for the public through the strategic use of digital tools and tactics.

This award recognises organisations leading a profound digital shift in how the public is served by transitioning from outdated tech or in-person interaction to modern digital technologies. These organisations use human-centred design and community engagement to develop the digital services people want with the exceptional user experience they expect.

What to highlight

  • A snapshot of how things operated before the digital improvements were made.
  • The new solutions that were implemented and what inefficiencies they solved.
  • How the organisation included end users (residents, constituents, etc.) in the development process.
  • Interesting, important, or inventive aspects of improvements.
  • Metrics of success demonstrating how the digital improvements directly impacted the organisation’s mission and constituents.
trust and transparency icon
Trust & transparency For organisations using digital solutions to improve access, transparency, and trust in their communities. Learn more
Trust & transparency

For organisations using digital solutions to improve access, transparency, and trust in their communities.

This award recognises organisations using technology to increase visibility into the public service process and foster trust among constituents and stakeholders. This could include efforts to increase access to and engagement in public meetings and the decision-making process, providing better access to public records, being a good steward of taxpayer dollars, or improving accountability and compliance in areas of importance to the community.

What to highlight

  • Describe the digital solutions and initiatives implemented.
  • How and why these solutions were implemented.
  • Why these efforts matter and how they benefit your community.
  • Metrics of success demonstrating how these solutions are improving trust and transparency between the organisation and the community.
customer experience icon
Total government experience For organisations improving the end-to-end experience for constituents Learn more
Total government experience

For organisations improving the end-to-end experience for constituents.

This award recognizes organizations that enhanced the user experience for their community by taking a holistic approach to improving government services. This could include moving key services online, providing greater transparency into requests and their status, and/or adopting a new and innovative approach to communicating services to residents. The key to success for these organizations is an integrated approach that improved multiple parts of the government experience in tandem.

What to highlight

  • Describe the new or enhanced digital services/experiences, why they were launched, and what went into their development.
  • Explanation of the interconnected services/experiences and the process by which the organisation chose, mapped, and improved each service/experience for this project.
  • How customers were involved in this process, including any promotion done to drive awareness and adoption of the improved services/experiences.
  • Metrics of success demonstrating how those outcomes help to meet high-level objectives and organisational goals.
website design icon
Website of the year For organizations that enhanced their website to meet the needs of modern residents. Learn more
Website of the year

For organizations that enhanced their website to meet the needs of modern residents.

This award goes to organizations that used a data-driven approach to strengthen the relationship between their organization and their constituents through a modern, mobile-friendly website with enhancements such as greater accessibility, better website navigation, improved content, or increased self-service to eliminate the need for phone calls or in-office visits.

What to highlight

  • Overview constituent needs, backed by website data.
  • How the new website was designed to meet those needs.
  • Metrics of success demonstrating the impact of the enhancements.

Note: The winners in this category will be selected by popular vote from a group of finalists.
ON-DEMAND RESOURCES

Award-winning insights

Learn proven strategies from last year’s award winners.

SUCCESS STORIES

Award-winning case studies

Inspiring stories from award-winning peers.

Success stories

Frequently Asked Questions

The awards are open to all Granicus customers in North America. This includes federal, state, county, city and regional governments, K-12 and higher education organizations, special districts, and other public sector organizations. Submissions should focus on innovation in digital government through the use of Granicus solutions.

Organizations must nominate themselves (or their teams/projects/individuals) to ensure the submission is accurate.

There is no specific timeframe requirement for nominations. However, recent work (past 1-2 years) is preferred.

There is no fee to enter the Granicus Digital Government Awards.

Nominations are reviewed by a judging panel and evaluated based on the category’s criteria.

For additional questions about the awards, email awards@granicus.com.

Upon accepting the award, winners agree to Granicus’ use of the organization or individual’s name in promotional communications. Additionally, winners agree to share their successes with other government communicators in partnership with Granicus within a year of accepting the award. This may take the form of participating in a live event, speaking on a webinar, or interviewing for a video or written success story.