Digital Services

As a new federal administration prepares to assume control, the GovAI Coalition Summit showed the local promise of artificial intelligence, from solutions available to the leaders ready to make them work.

Matt Mahan, mayor of San Jose, Calif., politely pushed back on calls to slash government and cautiously answered a question about the planned federal Department of Government Efficiency, during the GovAI Coalition Summit.

In Bexar County, Texas, millions of records are publicly accessible online for the first time with the culmination of a massive, $18 million project to digitize the county's archives.

Gov tech officials have joined the GovAI Coalition, formed late last year, to collectively shape policies and best practices for introducing AI-enabled tools. They're looking to flank the fast-moving technology.

Plus, Kansas will soon open funding applications to expand connectivity, a Colorado county is receiving federal funding for broadband, the economic benefits of improving Internet access in Harlan County, Ky., and more.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology has released an updated edition of a publication that covers running a program to measure cybersecurity performance, and choosing what to measure.

The state is broadening a cybersecurity vulnerability assessment program to include water and wastewater utilities. Officials aim to do at least 342 tailored security examinations by 2026 to help local governments.

Created by Gov. Phil Murphy in October 2023, the group wrapped up last month by issuing a required report with recommendations. It could be re-formed if needed, but the state’s work in artificial intelligence continues.

The local government will migrate to Civic Plus next year, after county commissioners voted to spend more than $20,000 to do so. The county’s existing offering was bought out and officials decided to look elsewhere, querying other counties to learn what they used.

Sacramento Regional Transit is poised to deploy a new payment system in coming months, using technology familiar in the retail world. The agency will preserve older ways to pay, and offer discounts for veterans and seniors.

The new three-year technology road map will serve state government as a whole. It builds on the work of a previous plan, Vision 2023, said state CIO Liana Bailey-Crimmins, director of the California Department of Technology.

The state announced its multiyear Colorado Digital Government Strategic Plan in 2022. Leaders continue bringing it to life, engaging residents and focusing on three key initiatives to offer a simple, secure, fast experience.

Honolulu's new CIO and director of the Department of Information Technology will officially step in, in January. However, the transition is expected to get underway next month, affording an interval of collaboration.

Author Fern Tiger discusses how genuinely connecting with communities before launching projects can drive progress by ensuring feedback is more than surface-level. Tailoring engagement can shape more accurate policies.

The North Star for the federal Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program is comprehensive connectivity for all homes and businesses, officials said at the Connecting Communities Summit. That could come through fiber or fixed wireless.

City and county officials discussed partnering with community organizations and technologists from Google.org on digital tools to resolve neighborhood issues, during a “Demo Day” webinar hosted by The Opportunity Project for Cities.

The former home of the Kansas City Star’s printing presses, an eight-story glass building spanning two downtown city blocks, is slated to become the flagship data center for software and data hosting firm Patmos in a $1 billion project.

The National League of Cities released a report this week outlining strategic ways municipalities are using artificial intelligence to better serve constituents. An accompanying toolkit aims to facilitate analysis.