At the regularly scheduled Board of Commissioners meeting today, the Board congratulated Cobb County's Information Technology Services Department for ranking 4th this year in the annual Digital Counties Survey Award, which judges counties of similar populations. After coming in 10th place last year, Cobb County jumped to 4th this year, despite facing new challenges and shifting priorities among the county’s leadership. The past year saw a number of new faces in elected positions, all of whom brought new priorities for their office with implications for the county’s IT infrastructure. This is in addition to the county’s shift toward a hybrid work model, requiring new methods of managing the county’s more than 20,000 technology assets. The Survey Award is sponsored by the Center for Digital Government and NACo (National Association of Counties).

The Information Technology Services Department reports that it was able to meet its priorities head-on. Its number one goal: improve the county's cybersecurity. In 2021, the county faced a wide-ranging phishing attempt. In response, the Board of Commissioners funded four new positions, allowing IT to form a dedicated cybersecurity team. The county has also implemented a countywide multifactor authentication system.

The county has also collaborated across departments, including building new recruitment websites for the police and fire forces, a new application to help citizens file homestead exemptions for their property taxes and expanding a pandemic-era online appointment scheduling system to the county’s court system.

Congratulations!

Read the announcement from The Center for Digital Government (CDG) and the National Association of Counties (NACo) here.