Civic Tech

An IT consultant hired by City Hall to diagnose the city’s technological woes urged a drastic revamp of software and an increase of investments in IT infrastructure after years of city neglect and cost inefficiencies.

In the wake of the NYC Open Data Help Desk reaching the major data milestone of 10,000 inquiries since its inception, Chief Analytics Officer Martha Norrick shared her thoughts on the progress and what’s next.

Officials aim to ensure all residents are able to receive important information and can ask questions in the language in which they’re most comfortable, a longtime goal that has proved difficult in the past.

A report published this week by the nonprofit civic engagement organization MapLight lays out several strategies that can be implemented by local government agencies to improve civic engagement.

In 2023, the free and open source software movement that can trace its roots back to a jammed printer in 1980 is not only alive and well; it has become a keystone of the tech industry.

That progress includes modernizing the state's websites, building a leadership team to reimagine digital service delivery there and partnering with the Pennsylvania Office of Transformation.

City Director of Finance Virginia Lee said that city staff has been reviewing various modules offered by Tyler Technologies, including financial and personnel management, utility billing and tax administration.

City leaders in Midland, Texas, have approved $212,000 in costs with Asterra of La Jolla, Calif., and now Asterra will perform satellite water leak detection for the city of Midland utilities department.

The NYC Office of Technology and Innovation’s Office of Data Analytics is convening a series of meetings for working groups to establish a citywide data governance program and guidance on data use.

The two-week summer program was designed to give students from various backgrounds the opportunity to collaborate on medical device prototype creation with the guidance of established innovators in the mechanical engineering industry.

The Technology Association of Georgia is partnering with SkillStorm to help train and upskill tech talent — with a targeted program aimed to support Black Georgians’ entry into the tech field.

Chelan County PUD commissioners voted in favor of buying seven capacitor banks at about $4 million total for the upcoming Microsoft data center. The banks will ensure more efficient power delivery to the facility, officials say.

Officials say the group, called Volt Typhoon, has inserted malware deep in the systems of numerous water and electric utilities that serve military installations in the United States and abroad.

With downtown office vacancies at record highs, co-working is making new inroads in Chicago, cropping up everywhere from suburban shopping centers and apartment buildings to a swanky health club in River North.

SensorUp, a software company with a comprehensive methane emissions management platform, recently received $12 million in a Series B fundraising round led by Climate Investment, a decarbonization investor.

The Illinois Child Care Assistance Program application process is getting digitized through a partnership with Code for America. The partnership aims to make the process simpler and more efficient for families who rely on it.

Commercial vehicle drivers looking to park on one Manhattan avenue better have their phones charged — New York City is testing an app-only payment program on a stretch of Sixth Ave. in Chelsea.

Thousands of files have been uploaded to public data portals by local and state government agencies. Access data from San Francisco may hint at what the public actually wants to see.