Center for Digital Government names 2026 GovX Award winners

The Center for Digital Government has announced 2026 Government Experience Award winners, recognizing 68 jurisdictions for improving digital services for residents. The annual survey also points to wider shifts in government, including more centralized portals, broader use of AI assistants, and stronger tracking of digital adoption.

Why it matters: - The GovX Awards highlight which state and local governments are making public services easier to use, more connected, and more responsive. - The 2026 survey findings show digital government is moving toward shared platforms, practical AI use, and more measurable service delivery. - The awards signal where public agencies are setting the pace for resident-facing digital experience.

What happened: - The Center for Digital Government announced the winners of its 2026 Government Experience Awards on Oct. 14, 2026. - The program recognized states, cities, counties, and agencies for making services more inclusive and engaging. - The awards are now in their 10th year. - The 2026 winners will be celebrated during a virtual event on Oct. 15. - CDG said 68 jurisdictions were recognized in total.

The details: - Massachusetts won 1st place for overall state government experience. - Texas placed 2nd among states, followed by Iowa in 3rd. - Pennsylvania and Utah tied for 4th, and Missouri placed 5th. - Colorado, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey and Vermont received Outstanding Achievement recognition in the state category. - Santa Clara County, Calif. won 1st place for overall county government experience. - Cumberland County, N.C. placed 2nd, followed by Montgomery County, Md. in 3rd. - Chesterfield County, Va. and Albemarle County, Va. placed 4th and 5th. - Charlotte County, Fla., DuPage County, Ill., Orange County, N.Y., San Diego County, Calif. and Union County, N.C. received Outstanding Achievement recognition in the county category. - Corona, Calif. won 1st place for overall city government experience. - Scottsdale, Ariz. placed 2nd. - Kansas City, Mo. and Racine, Wis. tied for 3rd. - Wichita, Kan. placed 4th, and Bellevue, Wash. placed 5th. - Alexandria, Va., Carson, Calif., Mesa, Ariz., Rancho Cordova, Calif. and Riverside, Calif. received Outstanding Achievement recognition in the city category. - CDG also presents Project Experience Awards for specific service improvements. - Governments and agencies submit project nominations for work that makes interacting with government easier and more effective. - CDG said the awards are based in part on quantitative scoring that uses ScanGov, an open-source tool that tracks the performance and health of government websites, mobile apps and social media accounts. - CDG said corporate members underwrote the 2026 GovX Awards, including Accela, Amazon Web Services, Armis by ServiceNow, CGI, Cisco, Fortinet, Global Solutions Group, Google Public Sector, HP/AMD, JetStream, Lumen, Oracle, Portage CyberTech, Red Hat, SAP, SHI Public Sector, Socure, Tanium, T-Mobile for Government, Tyler Technologies, UiPath, Verizon Enterprise Solutions, Wiz and Zscaler Public Sector. - CDG identifies itself as a national benchmarking and advisory institute focused on technology policy and best practices in state and local government. - CDG is a trusted brand of e.Republic. - CDG’s website is More information.

Between the lines: - Sixty percent of responding governments said their strategies promote an integrated, unified digital service ecosystem. - Eighty percent of governments said they have a centralized portal. - Fifty-four percent of governments said they now use AI assistants. - Eighty-nine percent of governments said they track digital adoption. - Those figures suggest agencies are moving from isolated digital projects to broader service platforms that can be measured and improved. - The shift also shows AI is becoming part of everyday government workflows rather than a pilot-only experiment. - Rob Lloyd, executive director of the Center for Digital Government, said the awards reflect governments’ commitment, creativity and hard work in becoming more responsive and accessible. - Lloyd said Massachusetts, Santa Clara County, Corona and other winners show how public-sector teams are adopting new tools and improving service delivery.

What's next: - The virtual awards event on Oct. 15 will formally celebrate the 2026 winners. - The 2026 results will likely serve as a benchmark for how governments use shared infrastructure, AI and analytics to improve resident experience. - Agencies will continue using digital performance data to compare progress and shape future service redesigns.

The bottom line: - The 2026 GovX Awards show digital government is becoming more centralized, more data-driven and more focused on the resident experience.