Government Experience

Maryland’s Motor Vehicle Administration overhauled its computer-based learner’s permit tests, and passing scores increased within months. Data obtained by Government Technology details the secret to their success.

The federal Department of Justice’s final rule in April updated the Americans with Disabilities Act, requiring accessibility for all government content. Here’s what that means for state and local entities.

City Clerk Jason Bell said he had been working on the website upgrade for a few months and got pricing from three companies: Munibit, Revize and Granicus. The city's current website is by CivicPlus.

Watch Duty, a wildfire-tracking app manned by volunteers monitoring fire scanners, provides emergency information to the public. As the app expands, so does debate about fire department scanner traffic encryption.

Open data portals hold the promise of transparency and civic engagement, but only if people actually use them. Washington state tackled this challenge head on by conducting a usability study of their portal.

The CivStart Innovation Hub will have the backing of the advocacy group for municipal governments across the country, as it seeks to help those jurisdictions better understand startups and their technology.

The Future of Privacy Forum has launched its new Center for Artificial Intelligence. It aims to help serve policymakers, companies and other organizations in creating AI governance strategies.

Using artificial intelligence from a value-based perspective was a major theme during the 2024 Code for America annual summit. The organization also announced its new AI Studio.

Technology like mobile apps and data visualization dashboards is helping the state serve more of its residents — often without them having to leave their homes.

A survey of more than 14,000 people who have used state government services recently reveals where state governments excel in customer service and where they fall short. Overall, websites scored higher than mobile applications in terms of user satisfaction.

The assessment and educational tool offers insights and solutions for improving government web performance. Based on its criteria, many state and federal agencies have updated their sites.

AskCOS, the city of Colorado Springs’ new artificial intelligence-enabled chatbot, was trained using Colorado city government information alone. The virtual assistant can answer constituent questions in 71 languages.

In 15 years as CIO and director of Information Technology Services, his work was foundational to internal areas like information security — but also to resident-facing services like 311 and free Wi-Fi.

Tyson Morris, the former chief information officer in Chattanooga, Tenn., is the new CIO for the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority. He’ll guide it through application upgrades and digital transformation work.

State data released one year after the launch of California vs. Hate, the hotline and online portal for reporting hate crimes and incidents, shows its impact. People statewide reported more than 1,000 acts of hate.

The city of San Jose has adopted an AI-powered translation tool to improve accessibility at City Council meetings for people who primarily speak a language other than English. It may see wider use, depending upon its performance thus far.

From digital inclusion to AI innovation, we take a closer look at Government Technology’s honorees in the 23rd year of its annual awards. In conversation with editorial staff, we focus on the work of five particular leaders.

A new claims portal is in place and call center upgrades are ongoing as state officials make large-scale changes to the technology behind Employment Development Department services. Next up: an RFP to replace the mainframe.