Microsoft CityNext is searching for this year's UK Digital City!

Is your use of digital technology helping your city, town or city region to be a safer, healthier, cleaner place to live and prosper? Is your city or town delivering citizen-centric, personalised services, as well as economic and social opportunity for residents? Are you using digital technology to transform your organisation?

 

If it is, then you should enter the UK Digital City category at The Municipal Journal Awards. This category recognises those local authorities which are embracing digital delivery and transforming services. 

 

As sponsor of this category, Microsoft CityNext is looking for outstanding examples of how city, towns and city region authorities, in partnership with other local agencies and SMEs, are using cutting-edge digital technology to overcome the growing challenges of budget constraint whilst meeting rising demand and changing citizen needs. 

 

Microsoft CityNext focuses on accelerating innovation and opportunity, engaging citizens and businesses, and transforming operations and infrastructure.  It delivers a people-first approach through a combination of its partner solutions, its entrepreneur and skills citizenship programmes, and an integrated platform of cloud, big data, mobile, and social technology.

Judges will want to see how authorities are using digital technology to: 

• Improve the lives and life chances of their citizens.
• Support economic growth.
• Find ways to meet the changing needs of their citizens, communities and businesses for integrated, digital public services.
• Transform service delivery. 

Entries will need to be supplied from the chief executive and/or leader of city and/or city region authorities, and show a corporate approach to making their community a digital leader. The judges are particularly keen to encourage joint submissions where technology has accelerated collaboration.

 

Cities are defined for the purpose of this category as a Primary Urban Area as specified by the Centre for Cities. However we welcome entries from other urban areas which meet the spirit of this category. The closing date for submissions isFriday 6th February 2015.  Learn more about the entry process. 

 Looking for inspiration? Discover why Sunderland City Council's digital transformation earned them the title of UK Digital City for 2014. 

 

For more information on Microsoft CityNext, please e-mail ukcitynext@microsoft.com

 

A version of this post originally appeared on The Municipal Journal's Awards site .