Skagit County, WA, has been named one of America’s top digital counties by the Center for Digital Government and the National Association of Counties. The survey identifies best technology practices among counties nationwide.

A leader in collaborative open government, Skagit County provides government data to help its citizens. For example, county residents have had access to continuously updated crime maps since 2005, helping them make lifestyle decisions such as where to buy a house and where to start a business.

Last year, the county leveraged Laserfiche in developing a GPS location-based mapping application that allows citizens to pull up information about the properties around them on their smartphones. After selecting a property of interest, people can look up the cost and tax values of the property, as well as geocoded photos and documents (such as permits) recorded against the property.

The application—which gets more than 7,000 hits a day—is used by real estate agents, banks and even pizza delivery services.

“Transparency is extremely important in public service,” said Michael Almvig, Manager of Information Services at Skagit County. “We use technology to deliver increasing levels of transparency, public safety and reliability, while also ensuring the confidentiality, integrity and accessibility of the information we’re entrusted to protect.”

“When governments provide data as a service to the public, it allows businesses and citizens to be more effective,” said Katie Burke, Government Program Strategist at Laserfiche. “Skagit County leverages leading-edge technology to transparently and cost-effectively deliver data to its citizens—without compromising privacy.”

Other Laserfiche users that were named top digital counties include: Albemarle County, CA; Cabarrus County, NC; Catawba County, NC; Charles County, MD; Chesterfield County, VA; Davidson County, NC; Durham County, NC; Fairfax County, VA; Gloucester County, VA; Hennepin County, MN; Jefferson Parish, LA; Leon County, FL; Loudoun County, VA; Mohave County, AZ; Nevada County, CA; Oneida County, NY; Roanoke County, VA; San Bernardino, CA; Tammany Parish, LA; Tompkins County, NY; and Ventura County, CA.

For the full list of winners, visit: http://www.govtech.com/dc/digital-counties/13th-Annual-Digital-Counties-Survey-2015.html