Harrisburg, PA – The Office of Administration (OA) today announced that the Commonwealth is an Overall State Government Experience winner in the 2026 Government Experience (GovX) Awards for creating a unified PA.gov experience that puts residents first. Under Governor Josh Shapiro’s leadership, the Shapiro Administration is transforming digital services to provide user-friendly and accessible online services that reach all Pennsylvanians.
In January 2025, the Commonwealth Office of Digital Experience (CODE PA) led the relaunch of PA.gov with state agencies. This effort consolidated over 60 separate websites with more than 30,000 pages into a single, unified online experience. The new PA.gov prioritizes accessibility, plain language, and human-centered design to help Pennsylvanians to find what they need, even if they do not know which agencies to contact or the programs available to them.
“The improvements to PA.gov over the past two years demonstrate the Shapiro Administration’s ongoing commitment to meet Pennsylvanians where they are with online services built around their needs,” said Secretary of Administration Neil Weaver. “We will continue to optimize PA.gov so it remains a trusted and useful resource for residents. We appreciate the Center for Digital Government for recognizing the progress we have made.”
Since the relaunch, CODE PA and Commonwealth agencies have continued to refine and enhance PA.gov. This work is guided by analyzing site traffic and user patterns, as well as ongoing feedback from a survey on every page. The survey has collected more than 123,000 responses, providing a real-time view into the constituent experience across the site.
“This award reflects the hard work happening across the Commonwealth to make government simpler and more accessible, and CODE PA has been at the heart of that effort from the very beginning,” said Commonwealth Chief Information Officer Bry Pardoe. “The same approach that improved PA.gov is now shaping better tools for permits, payments, and other everyday services. We want to give Pennsylvanians a smoother, more reliable experience every time they interact with state government, no matter what they’re trying to do.”
Over the past three years, the Shapiro Administration has prioritized investments in the Commonwealth’s information technology to strengthen cybersecurity and provide modern online experiences for Pennsylvanians.
The 2026-27 budget signed by Governor Shapiro includes $3.7 million for CODE PA to continue its work to build enterprise-wide systems for permit processing, demonstrating a commitment to optimizing state government operations and a strategic focus on efficiency. The budget also directs an additional $10 million to cybersecurity infrastructure to protect critical data and services that Pennsylvanians rely on, bringing the total added investment in cybersecurity to $30 million. By leveraging in-house talent and resources, in addition to employing sensible financial management, OA and CODE PA have saved a combined $37 million on information technology spending over the past three years.
The 2026 GovX award builds on a record of success for OA and CODE PA. Last month, the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) recognized Pennsylvania as a State IT Recognition Award finalist for the PA.gov modernization project. OA then received NASCIO’s 2026 Enterprise Technology Management award for modernizing the Commonwealth’s contact center platform used by millions of Pennsylvanians to communicate with state agencies about vital programs.
The Center for Digital Government’s GovX Awards honor states, cities, counties, and agencies for delivering digital services that blend people-first service design with next-generation tools to better connect with residents. Winners were honored at the Government Experience Virtual Awards on October 15.
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