GovTen
For journalists and editors

Press kit

Facts, figures, logos and award images, with a named contact who answers. We would rather you had the numbers than a quote.

Boilerplate

What GovTen is, in 90 words

The GovTen Awards honour the ten local and regional government agencies doing the best work in each of four categories: Public Spaces & Recreation, Mobility & Transportation, Local Economic Growth, and Community Engagement. Nominations are free, open worldwide in six languages, and judged blind against a published six-criterion rubric by a panel of eight unpaid judges chaired independently. The three highest-scoring agencies in each category receive the GovTen Gold Award. GovTen publishes its full nomination-to-honoree funnel every cycle. It is published by CityData.AI and carries no entry fee at any stage.

Key facts

Inaugural cycle
2026–27. Nominations Monday 5 October 2026 to Wednesday 30 December 2026.
Announcement
Thursday 4 March 2027, 1:00 PM ET, online and free
Honorees
40 — ten in each of four categories
Gold Awards
12 — the top three in each category
Entry fee
None, at any stage
Judging
Blind first round; 8 judges; independent Chair as third scorer
Languages
English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Arabic
Publisher
CityData.AI, which also sells software to local government — disclosed on every page and constrained by ten published controls
Public vote
None. Deliberately.

Embargo policy

Honorees are notified on Monday 15 February 2027 under embargo until Thursday 4 March 2027, 1:00 PM ET. Journalists may request the full roll under the same embargo from 22 February 2027. We do not offer exclusives on the list, because that would mean telling one outlet before the agencies' own residents.

Questions we will answer on the record

  • How many nominations each category received, and how many were screened out and why.
  • Whether any honoree is a CityData.AI customer. Yes, some will be — they are eligible and redacted. We will tell you which, if you ask.
  • What the trophy cost, and who paid for it.
  • Any control on the independence page that was breached, and what we did about it.