Government Experience

Plus, the Federal Communications Commission has committed an additional $1 billion to the Emergency Connectivity Fund program, California looks to improve its procurement processes for tech services, and more.

Gov. Mike Parson intends to prosecute the St. Louis Post-Dispatch after the newspaper published a report detailing how Social Security numbers could be easily accessed through a state agency website.

Veteran public chief information officer Bill Kehoe wants to grow and streamline the citizen experience to match what they get in the private sector while also trying to get everyone connected.

Interpretation and translation services were offered in person at meetings before the pandemic, but the forced temporary shift to the virtual format in 2020 pushed the district to lean more heavily on tech.

The Department of Homeland Security’s Family Reunification Task Force launched a website called together.gov that aims to help reunite families separated by the U.S. government at the U.S.-Mexico border.

As NASCIO convened in person in Seattle for the first time in two years, Acting Secretary and CIO for the Illinois Department of Innovation and Technology Jennifer Ricker discusses efforts to streamline access to internal and external state systems.

A new SMS chatbot launched by the Mayor's Office of Food Access aims to help connect residents to resources that can help combat food insecurity. The tool is part of Boston's larger food access agenda.

The Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry recently launched SkillUp PA, a free virtual job training program that offers online training to bolster the commonwealth’s information technology workforce.

To address racial and ethnic disparities, Massachusetts lawmakers are considering reducing Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority fares and shoring up Internet infrastructure with American Rescue Plan Act funds.

Officials in Pottawatomie County, Kan., negotiated a much-reduced ransom with the criminals behind a cyber attack that took the county's computer systems offline for close to two weeks.

With residents clamoring for services and information, many agencies turned to chatbots during the pandemic. But aside from simply gaining momentum in adoption, it seems government use of the technology is also maturing.

The city of Aurora, Ill., partnered with KnowBe4 to develop a free online Internet security course for its residents. The course contains eight different lessons and is in response to the new norm of remote work.

Los Angeles County court officials discussed what they learned while launching hybrid court sessions during the pandemic, including outfitting courtrooms, comparing commercial and custom platforms and supporting participants.

Incompatibility between new software and old meters led to higher water and sewer bills for residents of Akron, Ohio. The city had planned to install new smart meters, but the U.S. chip shortage has stalled progress.

The Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles has adopted new technology to better manage the flow of customers and transactions through its offices in the midst of the disruptive COVID-19 pandemic.

Bandwidth, a popular voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) company based in Raleigh, N.C., has dealt with outages over the last few days due to a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack.

The pandemic drove Pima County, Ariz.'s Family Drug Court to takes it sessions virtual and over the phone. The changes meant less camaraderie but more convenience, and the ability to reach new demographics.

As part of a $500,000 pilot program, Sacramento, Calif., will install 100 air quality monitors in low-income neighborhoods and communities of color. Such areas tend to have worse air quality than their counterparts.