Innovation and excellence in information technology continue to thrive within state government, despite the economic challenges states are facing, according to the National Association of State Chief Information Officers.

NASCIO has selected 33 state IT initiatives in 10 categories as finalists for its 2010 Recognition Awards for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Information Technology in State Government.

Finalists in NASCIO’s prestigious awards program, which is celebrating its 22nd consecutive year, were announced recently and one initiative in each category will be honored at NASCIO’s upcoming Annual Conference.

Projects and initiatives from NASCIO member states, territories, and the District of Columbia were eligible for nomination, and finalists were selected by NASCIO’s Awards Committee from a field of more than 130 nominees.

“State information technology best practices should be promoted and shared,” said Brenda Decker, chief information officer for the state of Nebraska and co-chair of the NASCIO Awards Committee. “This award program provides a showcase of innovative initiatives from across the nation and encourages state governments to continue to focus on efficiency, excellence and quality service to citizens.”

Decker and co-chair Jerry Fralick, North Carolina chief information officer, indicated that the nominations demonstrate that states strive to support the public policy goals of state leaders, provide cost-effective service to citizens, and make available solutions that are transferable to other agencies or units of government.

 “NASCIO’s Recognition Awards program highlights leadership, innovation and collaboration,” Fralick said. “Learning from the successes of our colleagues around the country, we can all reap the benefit of efficient business practices, quality information management, and sound technology policy.”

Awards finalists in the 2010 program are as follows:

Cross Boundary Collaboration & Partnerships

State of Arkansas - Universal Financial Aid Management System

State of Michigan - Public Safety Communications System

State of New York - The Psychiatric Services & Clinical Knowledge Enhancement System (PSYCKES)

 Data, Information & Knowledge Management

State of Michigan - K-20 Improvement Project

State of New York - Smart 2010

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania - PA Child Support Portal

 Digital Government: Government to Business

State of California - Leafy Green Inspection Tracking System

State of Colorado - Oil and Gas Permitting eForm

State of Nevada - Department of Motor Vehicles' Vehicle Information Database

State of West Virginia - Division of Motor Vehicles Electronic Skills Testing Commercial Driver's Licensing Testing

 Digital Government: Government to Citizen

State of California - C-IV: Providing Californians Accurate and Efficient Access to Health and Social Service Benefits

Commonwealth of Massachusetts - Health Connector - MAHealthconnector.org

State of Michigan - Helping Hand Portal

 Digital Government: Government to Government

State of California - Water Information System (WINS): Improving the Efficiency and Transparency of Water Billing

State of North Carolina - Window of Information on Student Education: Wave Three

Commonwealth of Virginia - Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS)

 Enterprise IT Management Initiatives

State of Michigan - Business One-Stop

State of Tennessee - The Virtual State of Tennessee

State of Utah - Creating Utah's Cloud Infrastructure

 Improving State Operations

State of Florida - MyFloridaMarketPlace

State of Illinois - Data Center Server Consolidation and Virtualization Project

State of Michigan - Michigan Bridges

 Information Communications Technology Innovations

State of Colorado - Ahead of Its Time: The Colorado Statewide Digital Trunked Radio System

State of New York - 511NY

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania - StarNET

Commonwealth of Virginia - Virginia Interoperability Picture for Emergency Response (VIPER)

 Open Government Initiatives

State of Colorado - Online Transparency Initiatives

Commonwealth of Kentucky - Open Door Website

State of Minnesota - "What's in My Neighborhood?" Website Redesign Project

State of North Carolina - State Board of Elections Voter Portal

 Risk Management Initiatives

State of Michigan - The Government Cloud Protection Program: Disaster Recovery Services Transformed for the Perfect Storm

State of North Carolina - Protecting, Securing and Making NC Voter Data Available

State of West Virginia - Cyber Security Program