Cook County Named Top 10 Digital County for Seventh Straight Year, Earns National AI 50 Award
The Center for Digital Government and Government Technology (GovTech) magazine have named Cook County the fifth most digitally advanced county in the nation among counties with populations of 1 million or more in the 2026 Digital Counties Survey. Today, Cook County was also named an AI 50 award winner by GovTech.
The annual Digital Counties survey honors counties that use innovative technology practices to strengthen cybersecurity, enhance services for residents, increase transparency and expand digital equity. The award was formally presented July 17 at the National Association of Counties (NACo) Annual Conference in New Orleans.
The Cook County Bureau of Technology (BOT) submitted its achievements in the 2026 survey, headlined by the retirement of the county's 1970s-era mainframe from active production — a goal Board President Toni Preckwinkle set when she took office in 2010.
The mainframe moved to read-only status in March 2026, and full decommissioning, expected by the end of this month, will save the county $6.5 million annually. The County also completed the retirement of its remaining AS/400 midrange systems in 2025, saving an additional $483,000 each year.
"Modern technology is only meaningful if it reaches every resident," Preckwinkle said. "From retiring outdated systems to expanding broadband in our south suburbs and putting devices and digital skills in residents' hands, this recognition honors Cook County's commitment to a government that serves everyone, regardless of ZIP code, income or background."
Other accomplishments cited in the submission include:
- A redesigned Open Data Portal that cut basic usability inquiries by 71%
- Acquisition of the 70-mile Cook County Fiber Network to expand broadband access in the south suburbs
- Migration of more than two dozen county departments to a cloud-based contact center serving residents in five languages
"Retiring legacy systems was never the end goal — it's the foundation," said Cook County Chief Information Officer Tom Lynch. "With a modern, secure infrastructure in place, Cook County is positioned to deliver on what comes next: responsible AI, expanded cloud services and data-driven tools that make government work better for 5.2 million residents."
In a separate honor, Cook County has been named a winner of the 2026 AI 50 Awards, presented by the Center for Public Sector AI to recognize organizations and projects driving responsible AI innovation across government. The county was honored for its AI Procurement Risk Assessment and Mitigation Application, a tool that puts the county's AI risk management framework into practice by guiding every proposed AI purchase through a structured, eight-category risk review — covering areas such as data privacy, fairness and bias, transparency and legal compliance — before leadership makes a go/no-go decision.
Built on the Microsoft Power Platform already in use countywide, the application created a fully auditable record for every AI acquisition, offering a model that other counties and municipalities can readily replicate. AI 50 winners will be featured in the August issue of Government Technology magazine.
The recognitions add to a string of national honors for the county's technology and digital equity work. In January, the National Digital Inclusion Alliance named Cook County a Digital Inclusion Trailblazer for the third consecutive year, citing the continued implementation of its Digital Equity Action Plan.