New York State leapt to fifth place among all 50 states in The 2010 Digital States Survey. The Survey, conducted biannually is in its 11th year of a comprehensive study that examines best practices, policies and progress made by state governments in their use of digital technologies to better serve their citizens and streamline operations. Two years ago the state was muddled in the pack at number 18, but has since added services such as:

OneNetNYS, which provides faster, more secure and robust connectivity to state data center resources and other state agency applications. 511NY delivers automated traffic and travel feeds via e-alerts and social media tools such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr. The information is real time, available in one location and provides volumes of information to the public. New York's Straight Talk From the Taxpayer is an interactive website where citizens can submit, vote and comment on ideas for state spending. The site has more than 4,000 users, who have submitted 1,100 ideas and 3,700 comments. Empire 2.0, a New York state government social media networking initiative designed to promote government participation, increase collaboration and expand the state¿s ability to share information with social media users.

Anecdotally, we can report that in recent months, New York has welcomed Yahoo as a partner in Western New York, provided seed money to clean up an historic General Electric building for advanced Nano technology research, and is emerging as a home for start-ups. The states survey is conducted approximately April - June (2010, 2012, etc.). The awards are presented during the National Association of State CIOs (NASCIO) annual conference each September. --Dino Londis