Scoop News Group, StateScoop’s parent company announced the winners of the 2021 StateScoop 50 Awards. Among them is the New York State GIO, Frank Winters. Congratulations, Frank!

The StateScoop 50 Awards honor the most innovative and influential projects in state government and the people with the passion and drive to advance the use of digital technology inside state agencies. The 2021 edition of the awards were presented virtually, as the government IT community continues to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

After nominations opened in February, members of the state and local IT community nominated thousands of leaders and projects for the awards. StateScoop narrowed the list to the 180 finalists who received the most nominations, and readers cast more than 3 million votes to select the winners.

“For the eighth year, my team and I are honored and excited to recognize these top leaders in our community,” said Goldy Kamali, Scoop News Group’s founder and CEO. “This year more than ever before, each of these leaders went above and beyond. StateScoop’s readers chose well. These awards honor the best leaders from across the state government community who are continuing to make government better.”

This year’s winners span 20 states and eight private sector companies. Colorado, Illinois, Michigan and North Carolina claimed the most winners, with four each. Winners include C-level information technology leaders, as well as up-and-coming leaders in the state government community.

“As we begin to emerge from one of the most challenging times for government — and specifically government IT — the resilience and strength of these leaders is especially poignant this year,” said Jake Williams, vice present for content and community at StateScoop and EdScoop. “This year’s StateScoop 50 Awards honor the people and projects responsible for getting residents through the crisis and put a spotlight on how those efforts set up an expansive future for digital government.”

As part of the virtual announcement, winners will be featured in a series of Q&A interviews that will be released on StateScoop in the coming days.