Civic Tech

ATL.Direct is the city’s new online information hub for supportive resources, community stories, and progress updates about local initiatives. The platform aims to engage with people and increase transparency.

Municipalities across the United States are leveraging technology in their signs, from kiosks to birdwatching, to make local government communications more interactive — and, officials hope, more engaging.

While our devices can get in the way of experiencing the world around us, projects like live wildlife streams or a digital birding platform in Sandy Springs, Ga., can also bring nature closer.

The app is the work of TriRiver Water, and it would allow customers in part of North Carolina to get water alerts, pay their bills and get advanced metering infrastructure data about their connection.

Officials are making use of a new low-code tool and software to create efficiencies in processes and workflows across the enterprise, rather than individual departments making use of different platforms.

An audit and a deep dive on software redundancies helped officials realize the savings, part of a much larger initiative. The city’s strategic plan on various efficiency efforts saved a combined total of more than $116 million.

They join 15 municipalities from around the world, chosen to join the organization’s 10-month City Data Alliance program to strengthen digital infrastructure, help steer AI implementation and boost collaboration.

The Public Defender’s Office is getting a new system to assist in processing its growing caseload. County commissioners approved spending $173,000 for software with artificial intelligence to aid in discovery.

The city Department of Planning and Permitting has deployed new software intended to speed up site development, zoning and planning applications. It replaces a platform that was taken offline in late July.

The city is looking at using drones to learn more about how and to what extent people use parking spaces downtown. The analysis is also aimed at inventorying parking in the area before larger builds increase demand.

Created by Georgetown University’s Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation, the Digital Government Hub’s latest feature tracks the connections between public-sector organizations and how they deliver services.

A long-gestating vacation rental ordinance will soon get an airing, starting with the city planning commission. Leaders are considering using software to get a better idea precisely how many such rentals the city has.

The county has updated its application for cellphones, which enables residents to pay bills and obtain key services. Its notifications tab allows the receipt of real-time updates on severe weather and other events.

The City Council postponed to September a vote that would install cameras with artificial intelligence on garbage trucks, to search out blight. Areas of concern included cost amid budget tightening, and privacy.

The Pathogen Forecast Model launched this week by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego looks five days ahead at weather, tides, waves and river flows to calculate ocean water conditions hour by hour.

The failure, in the airline’s computer network, forced it to ground flights Sunday night for about three hours. The outage, tied to third-party equipment, yielded about 200 cancelled flights. A replacement is underway.

The city is using a tool with artificial intelligence to respond to more than 40 percent of its nonemergency interactions — freeing public safety dispatchers from over 900 hours of talk time to focus on real emergency calls.

The state’s technology department officially opened its Innovation Lab this week — a dedicated space for ethical AI experimentation aimed at advancing public service.