Delaware County has returned to a Top 10 national ranking for its digital services and is the only county in Ohio to earn the honor this year, according to county officials.

The Center for Digital Government, a national research and advisory institute for information technology (IT) policies and practices, has named Delaware County one of the top county governments nationally in its annual Digital Counties Survey competition.

The competition, in existence since 2003, polls county governments across the U.S. and assesses how they apply technology to better serve their constituents. Some of the factors considered include: transparency of operations; social media; cybersecurity; disaster recovery; and budget, cost control and performance measures.

Delaware County competed in the 150,000 to 249,999 population category, one of four categories. The other categories are based on populations of up to 150,000; 250,000-499,999; and 500,000 or more.

Delaware County took ninth place this year and was the only Ohio county to win an award in any category this year. In Delaware County’s population category, Arlington County, Va., took first place. Other counties in the top 10 included Tammany Parish, La.; Davidson County, N.C.; and the County of Barnstable, Massachusetts.

Previously, Delaware County had placed between eighth and 10th each year from 2004 to 2009.

“I am extremely proud of our data center team and our Geographic Information System (GIS) team for this achievement,” said Delaware County Auditor George Kaitsa, whose office houses the IT and GIS departments.