TOP NEWS
Kansas Turns to Startup to Provide Digital Services to Citizens The long-standing provider of digital citizen services from Kansas is NIC. But with a new partnership, the state is going with a competitor — the startup PayIt — to provide some upgrades.Silicon Valley Tech Conference Embraces Gov Tech TiECon, a big tech entrepreneurship conference in Santa Clara, Calif., has decided to include gov tech in this year's discussions. And to get the ball rolling, it's offering the track for free.
CIS CyberMarket Cooperative Finds First Cloud Access Security Broker The government purchasing collaboration has chosen Skyhigh as its first-ever cloud access security broker, opening the door for more agencies to use its services.
Colorado County Looks for Drone Vendors El Paso County, Colo., is on the search for vendors to offer a variety of drone services, putting it in league with other government entities in the state.
CAL FIRE Debuts Notification, Information and Education App from Apptology The California agency charged with fighting wildfires has launched a new app from Apptology aimed at educating the public. Part of the app includes allowing users to create custom alerts for both designated locations and the current location of their mobile device.
Unisys Wins $9.3M Contract to Modernize Michigan Gaming Board The company will be tasked with replacing legacy systems at the Gaming Control Board, moving data from 19 separate systems to the cloud. The work will involve centralizing all of those systems, too. In the past, Unisys has worked with the state on driver licensing and child welfare information systems.
MARKET SPOTLIGHT
Ben Miller
How Often Does Government Take the Agile Approach? State IT officials are starting to work agile into their operations, but most of them still don't use those methods most of the time, according to a new survey.
WATCHLIST
GovTech companies on our radar this week:Propel: A startup focused on tech for the social safety net, currently working on software for food stamps. Propel just finished a $4 million seed round.
EverFi: An education technology company that delivers courses focused teaching life skills to students. EverFi just raised $190 million.
Run a GovTech company? Get on our radar here.
WHAT WE'RE READING
Knight Foundation Awards Smart City Grants to Philadelphia, Boston and More (SmartCitiesDive)Use Crowd and Angel Capital as if You Will Not Get Venture Capital (Forbes)
In St. Paul, Making Buildings and Residents Safer (Bloomberg Philanthropies)
GovTechBiz is our weekly newsletter covering the companies, deals and trends in the business of gov tech. Got a news tip? Other feedback? We're listening. Send it to GovTechBiz Writer Ben Miller at biz@govtech.com.
