Armstrong Presents Governor's Awards for Excellence in Public Service; Mobile Driver License Team Honored
BISMARCK, N.D. — Gov. Kelly Armstrong and Lt. Gov. Michelle Strinden on Oct. 9 presented the 2026 Governor's Awards for Excellence in Public Service at the Capitol's Memorial Hall, celebrating state-government teams for outstanding service over the past year. State employees submitted more than 200 nominations, and for the second year in a row the awards recognized team efforts rather than individuals.
Armstrong said this year's recipients solved complex challenges, responded quickly to changing conditions and positioned the state for long-term success through teamwork and innovation, and he congratulated all recipients and nominees.
The Triple-Play Award — for a team that flawlessly executed a complex, multi-stage project — went to the Department of Transportation's Mobile Driver License Team, which deployed a mobile driver's license across all three major wallet platforms, Apple, Google and Samsung, on the same day, making North Dakota the first state to do so. Another honor, the Prairie Pheasant Flush Award, recognizes a fast-moving team that spots a challenge and delivers a timely solution before it becomes a crisis.
State officials say the awards are meant to encourage cross-agency collaboration and digital-service innovation; the mobile license has become a signature of North Dakota's digital government push.
Source: Office of the Governor of North Dakota
Other winning teams included the Department of Health and Human Services federal-shutdown response team, the Water Resources team, the Game and Fish team, and the Medora 250 and Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library coordination team.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
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