Civic Tech

No rules currently govern where computer data generated by Chicago residents and employees and stored by the city must be kept. An ordinance requiring that data be stored within the United States is moving forward in the City Council.

Partnering is a critical piece of the California city’s strategy for digital transformation, informing its approach to digital equity and civic technology projects. A new digital inclusion plan builds on this approach.

Four technology companies are part of the city’s initiative, which is aimed at growing its tech industry and making strides in smart city and digital government work. A Living Lab facility is in the works.

The nonprofit's new edition of its accelerator program will include 16 startups, and will be run in partnership with the National League of Cities and the GovAI Coalition. Its mission: to help implement and scale AI at the local level.

Its newly launched Local Government Research and Development Agenda, a nationwide undertaking, looks to provide research and science to cities. Interviews and workshops with 20 munis are underway.

The New Castle Area Transit Authority, which serves communities in Lawrence County, has gone live with a bus tracking software system. It lets drivers know their next stops and if they’re on time, and lets dispatchers track buses.

Officials estimate they’ll get 51,000 complaints this year about missed trash pickups — but that could change. The City Council on Thursday approved a $6 million, five-year contract for tablets and software to fix the problem.

CivStart, a nonprofit accelerator, has named the nine startups that made it through a two-year program designed to boost the marketplace profile of those companies, and give executives vital expertise. A new program focused on AI will launch soon.

The city has invested $15.4 million in climate projects since the 2021 adoption of the Mesa Climate Action Plan. Officials have purchased 71 electric work trucks, and have 19 more electric vehicles on order.

Falls Church, Va., near the nation’s capital, is beginning the first phase of a smart city initiative to modernize traffic signals into one coordinated network. Other project phases include adaptive street lighting.

Agents from the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office used information from cellphone towers, license plate readers and elsewhere to arrest a Florida man believed to have been involved in the alleged crimes across two counties.

Public libraries throughout the city’s southern suburbs — many chronically lacking the funding to make improvements themselves — are getting state grants for purposes including adding hardware or software.

The app provides personalized recommendations for eating fish from lakes Huron, Michigan, and Superior, from inland lakes in northern Michigan and northern Minnesota, and store-bought fish.

Pittsburgh startup Velo AI will use $200,000 from the U.S. Department of Transportation to inform cities on making streets safer. Its devices collect data showing sites for potential improvements like bike lanes and fixing potholes.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced the state’s second such site Monday, with $95 million in investment lined up from state, private and local partners. The initiative is expected to generate an estimated 2,000 new jobs.

The Connective, a regional smart city consortium in the Phoenix, Ariz., metropolitan area, is working to help local governments deploy scalable technology solutions. Its events bring together private- and public-sector leaders.

The City Council approved spending an estimated $247,000 on 25 cameras and a supporting system. A use policy and locations must be determined before the project gets final approval.

Mayor Justin M. Bibb has chosen Stephanie Wernet, a veteran technologist most recently at Breakthrough Public Schools, as Cleveland's next chief innovation and technology officer. The city enlarged the job's responsibilities this spring.