PRESS RELEASE

Long Beach, CA – For the second consecutive year, the City of Long Beach has been recognized as the first place Top Digital City in the Center for Digital Government (CDG)’s 2022 Digital Cities Survey. The survey is conducted annually and evaluates how cities across the nation use technology to advance city goals, operations and services to the community. This is the second year the City has won first place as the Top Digital City in its population size nationwide and it’s twelfth year recognized as a Top 10 Digital City.

“We are proud to be recognized as a top digital city for two consecutive years,” said Mayor Robert Garcia. “We have made significant progress in advancing the use of data and technology throughout critical City initiatives, and we remain committed to advancing equity and erasing the digital divide in Long Beach.”

Now in its 22nd year, the annual survey recognizes cities across the nation that utilize technology to tackle social challenges, enhance services and strengthen cybersecurity, among other initiatives. It honors cities in five population classifications, with Long Beach assigned to the 250,000 to 499,999 population category where it was awarded the first-place honor for the second year in a row.

“Constituents expect more from modern governments. Our Digital Cities survey winners have worked hard to keep the focus on the needs of the communities they serve while implementing technology to improve delivery and execution,” said CDG Vice President Brian Cohen. “We congratulate them for leading the way towards a smarter and more responsive government.”

Long Beach was recognized for its distinct theme “Long Beach Rising,” which recounted how Long Beach leveraged creative technology approaches to promote community resiliency as the City continues to face impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and progresses its work in promoting equitable outcomes for its community. The City continues to rely on its organizational and community resilience to provide new technology services and make services accessible to more neighborhoods and residents in the community. Long Beach ultimately strives to earn public trust through equitable civic engagement and transparency to ensure that everyone is in, heard and participating in available engagement opportunities with the City.

This year’s designation was based on the City’s progress through the following key initiatives:

• Supported Long Beach Recovery Act (LB Recovery) efforts, which includes managing 80 economic wellbeing, healthy living, youth development and financial resilience programs comprising more than $255 million anchored by American Rescue Plan Act funding. The eight-person technology team within the LB Recovery Data Team created and sustains a performance dashboard to ensure a results-driven, equitable and transparent approach to Recovery funding.
• Launched the City’s new procurement software, Long Beach Buys, to more effectively engage with local, diverse and disadvantaged businesses and facilitate the lowering of barriers for prospective businesses to contract with the City with easy-to-use technology, instructions available in multiple languages and an expeditious vendor onboarding process.
• Recipient of the What Works Cities Silver Certification, the national standard of excellence in data-driven city governance.
• Developed the Long Beach Equitable Data Collection Toolkit to guide City employees as they design, distribute and share insights from demographic surveys. The Equitable Data Collection Toolkit holds City staff accountable to using public information in an ethical manner that serves the public good.
• Released the Long Beach Community Survey as an ongoing representative survey intended to help the City measure resident satisfaction around key local government-provided services—over time and against a cohort of similar communities.
• Leveraged the necessary technology infrastructure and resources to successfully rollout a Citywide Hybrid Policy allowing City employees to work in a hybrid or fully remote environment while sustaining enhanced performance of City services. 
• Instituted mandatory annual cybersecurity training for the City’s 6,000+ employees. 
• Awarded inaugural grant funding from the 2021 Urban Areas Security Initiative by the Department of Homeland Security for critical cybersecurity initiatives.
• Completed a joint evaluation with the Office of the City Auditor to assess strategies to improve protection of resident and confidential City data.

“We are delighted to be recognized as a top digital city for the second year in a row.  This award speaks to Long Beach’s creative and committed spirit to put the needs of its community first through our technology efforts,” said Chief Information Officer and Technology and Innovation Department Director Lea Eriksen. “Thank you to our hardworking and engaged employees for all their efforts in serving the community through the equitable use of data and technology.”

The top 10-ranking cities in each of the five population categories, among other awardees, will be honored during the Digital Cities Awards and Workshop in December. The full list of this year’s winners is available on the CDG website.

The CDG is a national research and advisory institute focused on information technology policies and best practices in state and local government. The CDG is a division of e.Republic, a national publishing, event and research company focused on smart media for public sector innovation. 

About the City of Long Beach
Home to approximately 470,000 people, the multiple award-winning and innovative City of Long Beach offers all the world-class amenities of a large metropolitan city while maintaining a strong sense of individual and diverse neighborhoods nestled together along the California coast. As a full-service charter city, Long Beach is home to the Queen Mary, Aquarium of the Pacific, several museums and theaters, a highly-rated school district, Long Beach Airport, the Port of Long Beach, as well as many award-winning City departments such as Health and Human Services; Parks, Recreation and Marine; Development Services; Public Works and more. The City also has a highly respected university and city college, two historic ranchos, five hospitals, 12 libraries, five golf courses, 169 parks, miles of beaches, marinas, bike paths and a Bike Share program.

For more information about the City of Long Beach, visit longbeach.gov/. Follow us on social to keep up with the latest news: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

About Technology and Innovation 
The Technology and Innovation Department provides a centralized resource for technology deployment and support throughout the City. It is our mission to provide a customer-focused environment that integrates people, processes, and technology to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of City services. To learn more about Technology and Innovation, visit: longbeach.gov/ti.

About the Center for Digital Government
The Center for Digital Government is a national research and advisory institute focused on technology policy and best practices in state and local government. CDG is a division of e.Republic, the nation’s only media and research company focused exclusively on state and local government and education.