Today, the City of Thousand Oaks won the 2012 “Best of California” Award for their cloud database applications created by a volunteer intern.

University of Southern California graduate student intern Justin Baker developed California’s first fully automated city-wide Green Business Certification Program, and the City was awarded in the Green IT category at the Government Technology Conference (GTC) West in Sacramento.

Read the full announcement.

City of Thousand Oaks award winners John Brooks (left), Justin Baker (center), and Secretary Carlos Ramos of the California Technology Agency (right).

With a small budget and little access to IT resources, the City’s Public Works Department utilized Caspio’s online database to power their sustainability and green programs. Baker built three separate applications for less than 3 percent of the $370,000 the programs would have cost with traditional application development. In addition to fiscal savings, these initiatives reduced paper use by 95 percent, and for businesses certified through the Green Business Certification Program, cut energy use by 25 percent and water consumption by 15 percent.

As a result of the applications’ success, Baker was hired on as a full-time City employee and is currently automating projects across other programs.

“This award shows what government agencies can accomplish with innovative cloud technology in spite of reduced resources,” said John Brooks, City Environmental Programs Senior Analyst.

The Caspio team congratulates the City of Thousand Oaks and we are proud to serve as the foundation for their cloud-based applications.

Read the case study to learn how the City of Thousand Oaks utilized Caspio to achieve these benefits.