Digital Services

Houston, Texas, has started deploying digital kiosks throughout the city. In addition to offering wayfinding services and municipal resources to residents and visitors, they also serve as Internet connectivity hubs.

Federal grants are giving states and localities a big opportunity to invest in their IT systems. But the money is temporary, and they need to choose their acquisitions, and vendor partners, carefully.

The pandemic demonstrated the importance of including everyone in our increasingly digitized society, but once people are connected to the Internet, do they know how to use it?

A new contactless fare-payment system at Santa Maria Regional Transit in California is also making rides free for students at the local community college. The change has made the system more efficient on several levels.

Gov. Kristi Noem recently announced the launch of the South Dakota Citizen Portal, an updated website that improves service delivery for residents and collects new resources in one place.

The city is partnering with a digital services technology provider to advance online and contactless services related to building applications, documents and even inspections with the planning office.

The Computer History Museum in Mountain View is the world’s largest collection of computing artifacts, boasting such innovations as ENIAC, the electronic whiz; the speedy Cray-1 supercomputer; and more.

Middletown, Conn., has created a website for individuals, namely business and property owners, to apply for a slice of the city's $20 million in American Rescue Plan Act money. The city will also offer ARPA workshops.

As states plan how to get the most out of federal cybersecurity grants, they’ll need to approach procurement with a long-term strategy in mind and a focus on mastering basic cyber hygiene, said speakers at an ITI event.

Norman was first named acting city CIO in 2020, following the departure of Santiago Garces. Her nomination by Mayor Ed Gainey to serve permanently will need to be approved by the City Council.

The deal models a new enterprise-focused approach, says CIO Jamie Grant. The Florida Digital Service is pushing to better vet IT procurements, launch a cybersecurity operations center and win the trust of other agencies.

The state of Michigan has launched 19 new agency websites and will continue to launch additional sites in the coming months. The effort replaces the state's 20-year-old content management system.

For Bratton Riley, founder of chat software firm Citibot, it helps to basically grow up in city hall because your dad was one of America's longest-serving mayors. A monstrous hurricane can also teach a lesson or two.

People who use the IRS digital portal will need to be prepared starting in the summer to submit a live video selfie and various documentation to make and view payments and access tax records.

Clay Garner began working with San Jose in 2019 as a tech policy analyst. He replaces Jordan Sun as the city’s chief innovation officer and comes to the position with a commitment to digital inclusion.

The state of New Mexico built a cloud-based platform during the pandemic to support the Department of Finance and Administration’s management of grants and funds from the emergency rental assistance program.

Especially as autonomous vehicles become more common on city streets, it's in everyone's interest for states to offer fully digital e-titles to decrease costs, streamline processing and reduce fraud risk.

Plus, Iowa awards more than $200 million in federal broadband grant funding to rural communities; New York City puts out the call for Open Data Week civic tech programming proposals; and more.