Government Experience

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.

Experts argue that agencies having staff dedicated to equity and inclusion play an important role for government work, from strategic planning, to operations, to the rise of digital government services.

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.

The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services has adopted Augintel’s Natural Language Processing software to help child welfare caseworkers gain enhanced insights on the cases they manage.

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 portal that gives users access to Cherokee County planning and zoning documents is undergoing an overhaul to implement more stringent cybersecurity protocols while creating a more user-friendly experience.

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.

Today, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey signed an executive order to establish a chief IT accessibility officer role to improve the accessibility of the state’s digital services for people with disabilities.

The city of Long Beach has released a new tool for the police department to help connect at-risk individuals with resources to keep them from becoming unnecessarily involved within the criminal justice system.

The MetroLab Network has announced the release of its new Model Data Governance Policy & Practice Guide for Cities and Counties, aiming to support data governance initiatives at the local level.

The North Texas Innovation Alliance brings together public and private organizations in the region, offering a coordinated approach for technology implementations — such as drones and robotics.

California State Parks has added navigation technology to support both visitors and staff, which will help both to aid in rescue efforts and to improve the overall experience for park visitors.

Within the first 24 hours of the social media platform’s launch, many government agencies and officials are already active on the Twitter competitor Threads. Is it the future of social media?

The NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development is working with the city’s library systems to pilot solutions that will expand technology access and use for the constituents the agency serves.

As citizens turn to online platforms to voice their satisfaction or displeasure with government services, some social media companies are encouraging the public officials behind those accounts to react publicly.

Burlington County, N.J., has installed new technology in several government building locations to support people who have hearing impairments and improve their ability to engage in public meetings and other parts of government.

The long-running local government support program, which has for nearly a decade awarded certifications to cities in the U.S., has now added jurisdictions in Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay.

Animal control agencies of different sizes are seeing high amounts of demand for animal-related services, and some are looking to technologies to combat the challenge of limited resources.