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Smart Government Fund

The purpose of this initiative is to fund ideas that demonstrate a strong return on investment by reducing operating costs, generating new revenue, saving time, and/or improving public services delivery to Salt Lake County residents.

Funding for the SGF approved projects will be considered if an application meets one or more of the following priorities:

  1. Save Money
  2. Save Time
  3. Efficient Service Delivery


Only Salt Lake County agencies are eligible to apply for Smart Government Funds and all employees are encouraged to submit project ideas.

Services

Links

Office of Data & Innovation

385-468-7063

2001 S State Street , Ste N3-200
Salt Lake City, Utah 84190

Monday through Friday
8:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Recently Funded Projects

Historic Property Records Digitization

Solar-Powered Tree Care for County Parks

Using Generative AI Proof of Concept
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Streamlining SOP's with AI

Spanish TOP Star Program
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Lead Prevention Program
See Additional Funded Projects

Smart Government Fund Priorities

The Smart Government Program helps improve public services by making them faster, simpler, and more cost-effective. It prioritizes saving time and money while reducing waste, using better processes and technology to make services easier for both employees and residents.

In the public sector, money saved can be defined as the difference between the cost of providing a service or program before and after process improvement. This can include savings from reduced labor costs, reduced materials costs, or reduced costs associated with inefficiencies or waste in existing processes. Some ways to define money saved in the public sector include:

  • Direct savings: This includes savings that can be directly attributed to a specific process improvement, such as reduced labor costs or reduced materials costs.
  • Indirect savings: This includes savings that are the result of a process improvement, but are not directly related to the process itself, such as increased productivity or reduced customer complaints.
  • Avoidance costs: This includes costs that would have been incurred if a process had not been improved, such as costs associated with customer complaints or lost business.

It is important to remember that measuring savings in the public sector can be complex, as it often involves multiple factors and can be influenced by external factors such as budget constraints, political priorities, and legal requirements.

Time saved in the public sector refers to the reduction in the amount of time required to complete a task or process as a result of process improvement. This can include time saved by employees, time saved by citizens, or time saved by the organization as a whole. Some ways to define time saved in the public sector include:

  • Employee time saved: This includes the time saved by employees as a result of a process improvement, such as time saved by streamlining paperwork or automating tasks.
  • Citizen time saved: This includes the time saved by citizens as a result of a process improvement, such as time saved by reducing wait times or making it easier to access services.
  • Organizational time saved: This includes the time saved by the organization as a whole as a result of a process improvement, such as time saved by reducing the need for additional resources or improving coordination between departments.

Measuring time saved can be done by tracking the time required to complete a task or process before and after a process improvement, and calculating the difference. This can be done by gathering data through employee surveys, customer feedback, or other forms of data collection. Time saved can also be measured by the number of customers served, the number of requests handled or the number of transactions processed per day or per hour.

It is important to note that, measuring time saved can be complex, as it often involves multiple factors and can be influenced by external factors such as budget constraints, political priorities, and legal requirements.

Efficient service delivery refers to the ability of the County agencies to provide high-quality services to citizens in a timely, cost-effective, and accessible manner. This can be achieved through a variety of means, such as streamlining and improving processes, and implementing technology solutions.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

  • Streamlining and improving processes: This can include simplifying application and paperwork requirements, reducing red tape, and automating tasks to make it easier for citizens to access services.
  • Implementing technology solutions: This can include using online portals, mobile apps, and other digital tools to provide citizens with easy and convenient access to services.

Frequently Asked Questions

Any county employee can submit an idea.

We will vet the idea with the respective agency leadership + employee for consideration. You will have an opportunity to pitch your idea to the agency leadership. If the idea gets an approval nod, the lead agency will be asked to complete an invitation-only detailed application for funding consideration.

The Smart Government Fund Committee will review the ideas and make the funding decisions. The Office of Data & Innovation provides staff support to the SGF committee as non-voting members.

Salt Lake County’s independent service providers and contractors are not eligible to apply directly but can partner with a County agency to seek funding from SGF Fund.

There’s no deadline. Idea submission is open 24/7 and 365 days a year.

The SGF committee will meet on a quarterly basis. Ad-hoc meetings can be scheduled to expedite the funding decisions.

Yes! The maximum amount you can request is $100,000.