Moore County is among the nation's top 10 digital counties.

In its first listing in the competition, the county placed fifth in the small county category of the National Association of Counties' (NACo) annual survey measuring the "best electronic practices among counties nationwide."

"This is a very good honor, especially when you look at the other counties being honored," said Assistant County Manager Ken Larking.

"These counties are really the cream of the crop," said Janet Grenslitt, spokeswoman for the Center for Digital Government, which worked with the association on the survey. "Only counties that have a lot going on in information technology participate in this survey. Those that make it to the top 10 have done so against stiff competition."

Larking said the survey examines innovation in the use of technology to help counties deliver services to their residents. The application was prepared by Darlene Yudell, the county's information technology director. The award will be presented later this year at the NACo annual conference.

"To have succeeded in such a sought-after award for the very first time for Moore County is a real honor," Yudell said. "To work in an environment of curiosity, energy and progress is enriching. Helping others achieve success is truly motivating."

The survey determined that letting computers take over more and more government functions is a top priority among counties in 2011.

Moore County "did exactly that to earn placement in the top 10," according to Kimberly Samuelson, government marketing director for Laserfiche, the document management firm that designed the software the county uses.

"Moore no longer has a simple electronic filing cabinet," Samuelson said. "Moore has a computer network pumping working documents from office to office and agency to agency countywide. When it comes to being a top 10 Digital County, it's all about the work flow, and so is Moore County."

Samuelson said installation of these networks is a time-consuming, ambitious project, but once operational, such systems become "the life blood of government, producing enormous operational efficiencies." She said it allows communities to do more with less.

"Governments like Moore are being very innovative meeting their citizens' needs in the face of dramatically shrinking staff," Samuelson said.

Because several counties received the same score on the survey's measures of technology use, the number named in the four categories was 54, more than any other year. Moore County placed fifth among hundreds of counties surveyed with populations less than 150,000.

Contact Florence Gilkeson at florence@thepilot.com.