The Democracy Award for Innovation focuses on how an office uses technology to better facilitate the Member's roles as legislator, representative, and/or boss, including websites, social media, office productivity tools, and interactive communications tools. CMF also researched and documented the related outcomes of these innovative practices. We would expect to see that an office demonstrates innovation through specific, technology-enabled practices which are thoroughly integrated into the office's work, not just the work of one or two staffers. 

The 2018 Democracy Award Finalists for Innovation are:

Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA-05)

Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA-05) is well-known for pushing congressional offices to adopt new technology and communications tools through her Digital Challenge begun in 2009. She and her office act as a model through their use of Trello, Twitter Q+A, MailChimp, and their chalkboard and whiteboard walls. In particular, her employees cite their use of collaboration software for revolutionizing their work because it allows for real-time conversations more efficiently than email, especially important for staffers separated by a three-hour time difference.

Representative Mark Takano (D-CA-41)

Representative Mark Takano (D-CA-41) relishes using his office as a test lab for new innovative tools so he can persuade his peers in Congress to adopt the successful ones. For example, the office uses Eventbrite to invite constituents to town hall meetings allowing them to ask questions in advance and the office to follow up afterward. They also share charts and one-minute speeches on Tumblr and post longer pieces on Medium to explain policy issues. The Takano office is one of few on Capitol Hill to allow constituents to rate them on Yelp. The Washington and California offices find a digital messaging platform greatly improves their internal communications and allows them to assist Representative Takano in serving his district.

Representative Brad Wenstrup (R-OH-02)

In his first year in office, Representative Brad Wenstrup (R-OH-02) began conducting semi-annual constituent satisfaction surveys, one of the first Members of Congress to solicit unbiased feedback on a regular basis from constituents about their interactions with the office. The staff uses the data gathered to identify problems in their services or processes that need to be addressed. They even leave a space for open comments to encourage constituents to share opinions on any issue. The positive reaction the office received has motivated other Members of Congress to adopt the practice.

Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR)

Senator Ron Wyden's (D-OR) and his staff regularly work with Senate institutional offices to improve cybersecurity. His website was the first to be encrypted in order to keep contact between the Senator's office and his constituents confidential; the rest of the Senate and many of the House offices followed suit. He pioneered the use of video-conferencing in the Senate so that his Washington and Oregon offices could work more collaboratively. Senator Wyden uses Reddit for Q&A sessions with constituents; conducts Facebook Live events and YouTube town hall meetings; and posts daily "Ron Report" videos on Twitter. His staff regularly answers questions from Democrat and Republican offices on how they can improve cybersecurity.