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Long Beach earned sixth place for large cities nationally in the Digital Cities Award, moving up one ranking since last year, city officials announced today.

The award is based on a national survey that measures performance and use of technology by cities to enhance service to residents and businesses.

Long Beach ranked 7th last year, and ninth in 2010 and 2011.

According to a statement from the city, Long Beach was recognized for the following uses of technology:

    • Offering access to a variety of high-tech tools, including 3-D printers, graphic design programs and video editing software at the Long Beach Public Library.
    • Replacing the City’s 35 year-old Utility Billing System with a modern, state-of-the-art, Customer Information System and Mobile Workforce Management systems. These systems allow the Long Beach Water, Gas & Oil, and Refuse to provide better customer service to their 180,000 customers, streamline work activities, and provide more customer friendly web self-service.
    • Migrating from Lotus Notes to Office 365 to better equip City staff to be more productive and meet the growing demands of their jobs.
    • Implementing new smart phone apps, including the LGB Airport App; PulsePoint, which alerts users when a sudden cardiac arrest occurs in a public place in their immediate vicinity; and an internal app developed by Code for America to help people who make a high volume of emergency medical calls to instead access resources better suited to their needs;
    • Expanding Wi-Fi access at City parks and other facilities.
    • More modernization is on tap for next year; the Long Beach City Council allocated $10 million for technology upgrades in the Fiscal Year 2015 budget and created a Technology & Civic Innovation Commission to engage the community in the innovation process.

“Being a Top-10 Digital City for four consecutive years demonstrates how we are moving forward as a city, delivering better and more efficient services, while reaching out and engaging with our residents to build stronger civic bonds throughout Long Beach,” said Mayor Robert Garcia in a statement.