Utah.gov Awarded Best of State in 2008

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah-May 26, 2008-Utah Governor Jon Huntsman will present Utah.gov (www.utah.gov), the official website of the State of Utah, the 2008 Best of State award for Web-based Community Resource in the category of Community Development. The award will be presented at a gala to be held May 31th in the Salt Palace Convention Center Ballroom.

Utah Best of State Awards recognize and promote outstanding individuals, businesses and organizations throughout Utah. Winners of the awards are judged on innovation, originality, excellence in their field and their impact on the community.

The Utah.gov website will be honored for its effectiveness in delivering over 1,000 services to Utah citizens. Each month, Utah.gov receives nearly 2 million visits. In addition, Utah is the number one most visited state government site per capita. And Utah has the most reach of any of the 50 states per capita.

"Utah.gov provides both businesses and citizens easy access to hundreds of services and its one of the most citizen-friendly sites in the nation," said Steven Fletcher, State of Utah Chief Information Officer and Executive Director of the Department of Technology Services. "This award recognizes Utah.gov's robust functionality and its appealing design."

This year's contest marks the second time that Utah.gov has received this recognition, the first time in 2007.

"I want to congratulate the staff at the Department of Technology Services and all of the agencies who are responsible for creating and maintaining what is recognized as the best state Web site in the nation," said Governor Jon Huntsman. "This recognition shows our commitment to providing innovative and cutting-edge resources to businesses and citizens alike."

Winners of the 2008 Best of State Awards are rated and judged by more than 100 judges. Each nomination is judged on its own merits and is not ranked against each other by the judges. The independent certified public accounting firm Gilbert & Stewart, P.C. who collect and tabulate the scores for accuracy, carefully oversees the process.

For more information about the Best of State Awards visit www.bestofstate.org.

About Utah.gov Utah.gov is the state of Utah's official Web portal (www.Utah.gov) and won first place in the Center for Digital Government's 2007 Best of the Web competition. The portal is a collaborative effort between the state of Utah and Utah Interactive, a Salt Lake City-based wholly owned subsidiary of eGovernment firm NIC (Nasdaq: EGOV).