Georgia's 2025 IT Success Stories

GovTalks promotes digital accessibility

This year's GovTalks in May was partly about rules. The DOJ ADA final rule and accessibility standards to be complied with on government websites and digital offerings, but it was also about why accessibility is always the sensible priority, required or not. GTA's Office of Digital Services and Solutions (DS&S) team hosted the seminar and discussed accessibility capabilities built into GovHub, Georgia's official web publishing platform. They encouraged the agency website managers in attendance to capitalize on those tools to follow the rules, and they reinforced the "why" behind it all.

Two GTA leaders among Top 25 Doers, Dreamers, and Drivers

GTA is honored to have two leaders named to Government Technology's Top 25 Doers, Dreamers, and Drivers for 2025. The distinction honors public sector IT leaders whose innovative technology efforts reshape how government serves constituents. State CIO and GTA executive director Shawnzia Thomas and chief digital and AI officer Nikhil Deshpande earned recognition among this year's Top 25.

GTA co-hosts AI hackathon with Microsoft

GTA was thrilled to partner with Microsoft for AI Hackathon 2025 for Public Service on March 24 - 26. The Hackathon, a one-of-a-kind event and the first initiative of the Georgia Innovation Lab gave participants from the state and local governments an opportunity to collaborate cross-agency, explore capabilities, innovate, and push the boundaries of generative AI technology.

BEYA award for state CIO

State CIO and GTA executive director Shawnzia Thomas was recognized in February as recipient of the prestigious 2025 BEYA Modern Day Technology Leader Award. With more than 12,000 in attendance, she was honored at the 39th Annual Becoming Everything You Are (BEYA) Conference and celebrated as a leader shaping the future of STEM. Shawnzia's work, spanning 17 years in Georgia state government and capitalizing on technology to improve citizen services, was highlighted.

Georgia earns StateScoop 50 awards

Georgia's Orchard web design system has won a StateScoop 50 Award, reinforcing the value of this system that promotes a uniform look and experience across state agency websites. It's one of 11 technology-powered projects nationwide honored this year in the StateScoop 50 State IT Innovation of the Year category. GTA's Digital Services and Solutions team manages Orchard and helps earn site visitors' trust by building a consistent appearance across 90-plus agencies' websites. It also incorporates accessibility considerations into the site layout. Georgia also boasts a winner in the StateScoop 50 State Leadership of the Year category. Jonathan Reich, CIO of the Georgia Secretary of State's Office.