Local Government

The Hammond Common Council signed off on a development pact for a planned $7 billion data center endeavor. Terms give owners a break on property taxes, and give the city a yearly “community impact payment.”

The National League of Cities aims to give its local government members access to CRM and other tools that can help officials keep better track of what constituents want. The deal reflects larger trends in gov tech.

Collectively, U.S. transportation services have cyber preparedness work to do, according to a recent study. Individually, they are hardening their postures; an Illinois state pilot offers locals consulting and training.

The village is the latest among law enforcement agencies in its state to adopt a records management and dispatch system to let officers spend more time in the field and stay connected with neighboring agencies.

A cyber attack that struck the county April 28 impacted several systems around real estate, deeds, tax processing and land transactions. Several of these remain offline more than a month afterward.

Micromobility offerings in Columbus, Ohio, and Washington, D.C., will soon include electric cargo bikes capable of transporting up to 100 pounds. More device types and expanded infrastructure are intended to drive usage.

After nearly a month as interim technology leader for the state’s capital city, Borchardt was announced Thursday as the permanent successor for W. Schad Meldrum, who retired last month. Like his predecessor, he is a veteran executive.

The city’s police chief has asked that officials approve the purchase of new cameras that would record vehicle license plate numbers on major corridors in city limits. A data sharing policy is in the works.

Local government should center its decisions on people’s needs, the city’s newly arrived CIO said. This means hearing from residents and staff alike, and doing more with the information at hand.

Bergen County, part of the New York City metro area, has hired Balcony to bring blockchain to property records management. The move stands as the latest public-sector use of the decentralized digital ledger.

The Residential Retrofit Program of Massachusetts Technology Collaborative’s Massachusetts Broadband Institute, funded by the American Rescue Plan Act, has delivered high-speed Internet to an apartment complex in Springfield.

Officials are offering free credit monitoring and identity protection to those affected. The incident in late November shuttered City Hall and impacted municipal court and city services.

Officials, who recently increased their cyber insurance coverage, have refused to pay a ransom. They are working to fully replace all network infrastructure, including desktops, laptops, servers and storage.

The Federation of American Scientists has acquired MetroLab Network to expand the work in policymaking and local tech innovation the organizations do through universities and government partnerships.

Bus driver shortages and new concepts like school choice, offering a range of potential campuses, pose new challenges for school transportation planners. Digital route-planning tools with artificial intelligence can address both.

The Leadership Conference’s Center for Civil Rights and Technology’s new Innovation Framework aims to guide the responsible public- and private-sector development, investment and use of artificial intelligence systems.

Super Micro Computer has won approval from top city planners for a building that totals 333,400 square feet and would eventually be a tech campus where a Fry’s Electronics store once operated.

The city launched its 12-month e-scooter pilot program over Memorial Day weekend, allowing private and shared electric scooters to operate on designated portions of the Shoreline Pedestrian Bike Path.