TOP NEWS
Startup Pulls in $3M to Help Prisoners Assimilate Back into Society Acivilate wants to change how government works with citizens returning from doing time, as well as how those people interact with government. It's doing so with a new funding round that includes money tied directly to the state government of Georgia. But before that, the company spent three long years researching its users.Dallas Eyes City-County Partnership on Public Safety Radio Modernization The county of Dallas has voted in favor of a 15-year, $68 million contract with Motorola to modernize its outdated public radio system. On Wednesday, the Dallas City Council will vote on the same proposal.
With Net Neutrality Vote Looming, Cities Look to Publicly Owned Internet Options The federal government is most likely going to vote this week to give Internet providers the ability to selectively slow down or speed up service for whatever content they choose. It's not a move local government appears to be fond of, and some are cutting the cord en masse.
Texas City Gets $18M to Buy Smart Water Meters Abilene, Texas just got a big loan from the federal government to upgrade more than 43,000 water meters with smart meters that can report data remotely and detect leaks. Now it just needs vendors.
MARKET SPOTLIGHT
Did the Last Recession Permanently Downsize the Public Sector Workforce? It's been a decade since the recession began, and public-sector employment is still below where it was before the economic shocks began.
WATCHLIST
GovTech company on our radar this week:CitiBot: Using texting and existing social media apps to connect citizens with local government via their smartphones.
Run a GovTech company? Get on our radar here.
WHAT WE'RE READING
500 Stories of Sexual Harrassment in Tech (Buzzfeed)Chronicling Oracle's "Cloak-and-Dagger" Work Against Google (Recode)
As California Launches Tech Tools to Guide New Marijuana Businesses, Cheech Marin Steps In to Help (The Los Angeles Times)
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.
