PLANO, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Tyler Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: TYL) today announced the launch and general availability of the Socrata Connected Government Cloud, a revolutionary approach to internal data sharing that empowers government workers to access a single-source of trusted data and securely share analysis, visualizations and performance measurements across multiple departments and programs, in order to inform decision-making and improve program outcomes with actionable insights. Socrata was recently acquired by Tyler Technologies.
Designed to put data at the heart of every government program, the Socrata Connected Government Cloud solution helps move government organizations into a secure, cloud-based, self-service environment that breaks down data silos, promotes collaboration and reuse of data, and gives the government employee a modern toolset to transform data into information and insights they can use to improve financial, operational and strategic outcomes. In this environment, the flow and quality of open data is greatly enhanced as it becomes a natural byproduct of internal data sharing rather than a standalone program.
The Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) served as a design partner alongside the Socrata team, offering input during the development phase and throughout the pilot program. Deputy Director Shane Marshall credits the Socrata Connected Government Cloud solution with transforming how the department tracks, measures and funds work on its strategic initiatives.
“When we moved our 300-page annual report to the legislature from a stack of paper to a live, interactive, accurate, near real-time source of truth on our performance, we developed a different relationship with legislators. Their questions and our answers are now much more specific and accurate,” says Marshall.
An additional benefit of sharing data across programs within UDOT, says Marshall, is that staffers’ work is showcased and celebrated. “When great results sit on a desktop computer in a PDF, fewer people get to say, ‘Great job on that.’ Now employees are motivated to share their achievements with a wider audience.”
Tyler expects four groups of government employees to benefit most from greater data access, insight, and collaboration capabilities: government executives, program managers, analysts, and any knowledge worker in an agency. Following the successful pilot program with UDOT and early adoption by Hawaii Department of Transportation (HiDOT), the State of Pennsylvania, and the City of Henderson, Nevada, the Socrata Connected Government Cloud solution is now available to all federal, state, and local government agencies, including Tyler’s broad base of current clients.
Kevin Merritt, founder of Socrata and now president of Tyler’s newly formed Data & Insights Division, said, “This is a fundamental transformation of how knowledge work gets done in government. Our ten years of open data leadership, working with the most innovative and forward-thinking government innovators around the world, helped us understand what’s at stake for our customers in turning siloed data into a productive asset. We worked in lockstep with our clients on every aspect of it, from balancing self-service discovery with data governance, to the visualization experience to API design. The entire data-as-a-service platform and product suite was built from the ground up around the needs of the modern government worker.”
The Socrata Connected Government Cloud solution brings five essential functions together for optimal data use by governments:
1. Connecting data silos into a single access point for authoritative and up-to-date data
2. Providing secure, auditable self-service access to that trusted data for authorized employees
3. Making data useful and actionable by transforming it into information that employees can use to manage their programs, including connecting program performance to outcomes, sharing operational insights with colleagues, and enabling more intelligent resource allocation
4. Facilitating open data as a byproduct by sharing aspects of this internal information with external constituents
5. Enabling infinite reuse of data to drive down costs and complexity for IT leaders with a data-as-a-service platform that allows for data reuse to power integrations, open analytics, and app development without ever replicating that data
Jeff Green, Tyler’s chief technology officer, added, “The Socrata Connected Government Cloud is the fundamental building block and enabler of our Connected Communities vision. The data-as-a-service platform allows us to streamline the internal flow of data and insights across systems, departments and even jurisdictions in a secure and contextually-relevant way for our users and their constituents. That is a very exciting development for Tyler’s 15,000 clients.”
About Tyler Technologies, Inc.
Tyler Technologies (NYSE: TYL) is a leading provider of end-to-end information management solutions and services for local governments. Tyler partners with clients to empower the public sector - cities, counties, schools and other government entities - to become more efficient, more accessible and more responsive to the needs of their constituents. Tyler's client base includes more than 15,000 local government offices in all 50 states, Canada, the Caribbean, Australia, and other international locations. In 2017, Forbes ranked Tyler on its "Most Innovative Growth Companies" list, and Fortune included Tyler on its "100 Fastest-Growing Companies" list. More information about Tyler Technologies, headquartered in Plano, Texas, can be found at www.tylertech.com.
