The Center for Digital Government (CDG) has announced the winners of the 2019 Government Experience Awards. The recently redesigned Kansas.gov site, the official website for the State of Kansas, was recognized with a fifth-place finish in the category of “Overall State Government Experience.” The award category recognizes the top 10 state websites in the nation, placing strong emphasis on improving the citizen experience and innovations in how citizens interact with government.

In a news release issued Sep 18, 2019, Dustin Haisler, chief innovation officer for the CDG, states:

“This year’s results are evidence that state and local government agencies are continuing to grow the sophistication of their digital experiences. The Government Experience Award winners from this year are not just leveraging innovative tools like chatbots to amplify their reach, they are also going the extra mile to build a proper foundation to support the future and ensure citizens get the right information at the right time.”

The 2019 redesign of Kansas.gov was delivered as a service by the Information Network of Kansas, Inc. (INK). The new user experience focuses heavily on providing information via search, which lessens the burden on citizens to navigate through various pages and categories to find the information they need. Other key highlights include the integration of INK’s award-winning artificial intelligence chatbot, “Agent Kay” into government services. Agent Kay, the official chatbot of the State of Kansas, provides 24/7 user support on a variety of topics, including taxes, business information, filing information, and other frequently asked questions.

“The Information Network of Kansas serves as the gateway to public information in Kansas and I am happy to see the fruits of our public-private collaboration recognized for improving efficiency and service delivery to our citizens. This recognition belongs to everyone involved in these ongoing efforts to make Kansas government more accessible and user-friendly, and I look forward to more innovations to come.” Aaron Kite, Chairman, Information Network of Kansas Board of Directors

The winners of this and other categories will be honored at an awards event Sept. 27 in Denver, Colo.

The Center for Digital Government (CDG) has announced the winners of the 2019 Government Experience Awards. The recently redesigned Kansas.gov site, the official website for the State of Kansas, was recognized with a fifth-place finish in the category of “Overall State Government Experience.” The award category recognizes the top 10 state websites in the nation, placing strong emphasis on improving the citizen experience and innovations in how citizens interact with government.

 In a news release issued Sep 18, 2019, Dustin Haisler, chief innovation officer for the CDG, states:

“This year’s results are evidence that state and local government agencies are continuing to grow the sophistication of their digital experiences. The Government Experience Award winners from this year are not just leveraging innovative tools like chatbots to amplify their reach, they are also going the extra mile to build a proper foundation to support the future and ensure citizens get the right information at the right time.”

The 2019 redesign of Kansas.gov was delivered as a service by the Information Network of Kansas, Inc. (INK). The new user experience focuses heavily on providing information via search, which lessens the burden on citizens to navigate through various pages and categories to find the information they need. Other key highlights include the integration of INK’s award-winning artificial intelligence chatbot, “Agent Kay” into government services. Agent Kay, the official chatbot of the State of Kansas, provides 24/7 user support on a variety of topics, including taxes, business information, filing information, and other frequently asked questions.

“The Information Network of Kansas serves as the gateway to public information in Kansas and I am happy to see the fruits of our public-private collaboration recognized for improving efficiency and service delivery to our citizens. This recognition belongs to everyone involved in these ongoing efforts to make Kansas government more accessible and user-friendly, and I look forward to more innovations to come.” Aaron Kite, Chairman, Information Network of Kansas Board of Directors

The winners of this and other categories will be honored at an awards event Sept. 27 in Denver, Colo.

The Kansas Law Enforcement Memorial Foundation (KLEM) website was recently recognized as an AVA Digital Award “Gold” winner in the category of government web-based production. The AVA Digital Awards is an international competition recognizing all aspects of digital communication.

The KLEM website was publicly unveiled on Nov 19, 2018, at a joint-press conference of the Kansas Attorney General, the Kansas Law Enforcement Memorial Advisory Committee, and the Kansas Law Enforcement Foundation. The site was created as part of an initiative to help build awareness of the Kansas Law Enforcement Memorial.

“Congratulations to the Kansas Information Consortium on this well-deserved award for the Kansas Law Enforcement Memorial Foundation website,” Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt said. “The finished product is user friendly and expertly designed to show off the state memorial honoring Kansas’ fallen heroes. I commend KIC for the hard work on this project at no expense to taxpayers.”

The Kansas Law Enforcement Memorial is located on the northeastern corner of the state capitol grounds. The memorial honors law enforcement officers, who by virtue of their commitment to uphold the law and protect the citizens of Kansas, gave their lives in service to the people of this state. A fundraising initiative is currently underway to expand the memorial and the grounds.

The development and maintenance of the KLEM website, tour, and donations page are performed by KIC as a service of the Information Network of Kansas, Inc. (INK). Under INK’s and KIC’s public-private partnership, eGovernment services are delivered through a self-funded model, which does not utilize taxpayer funds.

​New enhancements to Kansas WebFile, the Kansas Individual Income Tax Filing application, have once again secured bragging rights for the State of Kansas. On Jan 14, Kansas Information Consortium, LLC (KIC) announced the integration of Agent Kay, the state’s official chatbot, into Kansas WebFile, marking the first instance of an artificial intelligence chatbot supporting a state tax filing system.

Kansas WebFile users can message ‘Agent Kay’ with conversational questions and receive answers to tax-related questions, allowing users to quickly get the help they need. Agent Kay also guides citizens through a series of questions, aimed at quickly and easily providing the information they need.

Launched on June 21, 2018, Agent Kay is the official chatbot of the State of Kansas. Chatbots are computer programs that mimic human conversation by using artificial intelligence and machine learning. Incorporating chatbots into government technology provides exciting new avenues for modernizing the delivery of digital services to the citizens of Kansas.

“From the launch in 2018, Agent Kay has dramatically enhanced our ability to assist the citizens of Kansas,” said Nolan Jones, General Manager of KIC. “Now, Agent Kay will help citizens complete their simple tax filings faster than ever.”

WebFile was originally launched in 2002 as a partnership between the Information Network of Kansas and the Kansas Department of Revenue. In addition to incorporating Agent Kay, significant enhancements were made to Kansas WebFile for the 2018 tax year, the most significant being the ability to file taxes from a mobile device. A streamlined workflow allows most users to complete a simple filing in 10 minutes.

The development and maintenance of Agent Kay and Kansas WebFile are performed by KIC as a service of the Information Network of Kansas, Inc. (INK). Under INK’s and KIC’s public-private partnership, eGovernment services are delivered through a self-funded model, which does not utilize taxpayer funds.