Local Government

Citizen surveys made gains during the pandemic, and now the Israeli startup wants to ditch paper and phone responses in favor of a totally online experience that is also statistically sound.

The COVID-19 pandemic laid bare the essential yet complex role public transit plays in the lives of citizens. Experts say this is the moment to make it physically and financially more accessible to everyone.

Coral Springs is about to become the latest Florida city to deploy surveillance cameras on objects like traffic light poles. The city will start off with 10 cameras and continue to add to the system.

Federal funding to help governments recover from pandemic-related losses is in no short supply, but state and local agencies must find new ways to track the flow of grant dollars and get the money where it’s needed.

Phoenix, Ariz., City Manager Ed Zuercher announced three new additions to the city’s executive team. Among them, the city’s first chief innovation officer and its new chief information officer.

In the fifth annual Government Experience Awards, winning jurisdictions got creative and found new ways to get citizens the critical information and services they needed to weather the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

An interim rule from the U.S. Treasury Department may prevent cities from using federal coronavirus relief funds on broadband expansion efforts. A final rule could be determined in the fall.

A citizen-centric parking payment platform in Austin, Texas, that works with connected vehicles’ in-dash systems and better manages curb space is a lesson for other cities on how to power ahead.

The Spring Hill Police Department in Tennessee has proposed a new street camera pilot program to the city it serves. The program, which uses tech from Flock Safety, is intended to stop criminals, not regulate traffic.

A newly formed joint committee is looking for innovative — and effective — ways to crack down on ransomware payments, bolster localities’ cybersecurity defenses and meet widening gaps in the workforce.

The Yolo County District Attorney's Office in California is one of the first places in the state to embrace a software that redacts people's names, addresses and racial statuses from police reports.

Several residents of Hamilton, Ohio, have complained about a drone harassing and spying on them over the last couple of years. Now the city council is preparing to take action with drone regulations.

Pittsburgh has proposed an ordinance to change the city’s traffic rules for those who opt to utilize electric scooters. The rules include an age limit for riding as well as parking restrictions.

Ongoing efforts to automate manual processes are underway in the city with the end goal of making government more responsive, efficient and mobile. Citizen programmers and developers are helping this along.

With the understanding that IT people already know how to do technology right, Cabarrus County, N.C., CIO Todd Shanley says dedicated project management and analysis staff would be central to building his ideal IT agency.

A lawsuit filed by the Oakland Privacy Advisory Commission in California states that the Oakland Police Department has, among other things, given the FBI access to license plate data without any oversight.

Bringing state-level experience to the table, Phoenix CISO Shannon Lawson says if he were to build a brand-new IT agency, he’d begin with strong central governance to share knowledge and break down silos.

Thanks to a program created by the Alachua County Library District in Florida, library cardholders can check out Wi-Fi hot spots with no fees. Currently, the district has 200 hot spots that residents can use.