Local Government

Mayor Brandon Scott recently made two key technology hires – a chief data officer and a director of broadband and digital equity – that will help to address the city’s data needs and digital divide.

One California community is taking another look at where electric bikes are allowed. The devices have surged in popularity and fly in the face of signs warning “no motor vehicles or motorized bicycles.”

Director of Digital Inclusion, Detroit

Pittsburgh’s partnership with Google Cloud is in the early stages of changing how the city’s 19 departments store, analyze and protect data while boosting the services staff can offer to residents.

A federal district court in southern California has dismissed a lawsuit challenging the Los Angeles Department of Transportation’s collection of real-time trip data from shared mobility providers.

Yuba County systems were recently targeted by a cyberattack that forced IT staff to isolate affected computers to stop the malware. Officials say critical systems had backups and were successfully recovered.

Spin says the debut of its S-200 model in Boise will mark the first three-wheel electric scooter in the United States, and eventually, customers will be able to use a phone app to order a scooter to their location.

Projects to better manage curbsides in several cities continue to mine data used to transform curbsides from a place of uncontrolled parking to a more dynamic flow of delivery and other vehicles.

Chief Innovation Officer Brendan Babb explains how COVID-19 brought new chances to innovate in Anchorage, Alaska, and how he tackles gov tech work in a far-flung city.

As the city restores in-house tech systems following last week's attempted ransomware attack, Independence, Mo., officials have not said whether the attack compromised personal information for utility customers.

Despite the approval of $4 million in ongoing technology upgrades to prevent cyberattacks, the city was hit with ransomware earlier this month. It's unclear what kind of information might have been compromised.

The attack, which occurred over the weekend, resulted in "technical difficulties and disruption to multiple services" but was discovered and halted "before it could infect the full city network," the city manager said.

Officials have been tight-lipped about what happened, saying an investigation is ongoing and they are working closely with state and federal law enforcement and the Maryland Emergency Management Agency to investigate.

The attack primarily targeted the county's email system and was likely compromised by a remote login, the use of which has significantly increased since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, an official said.

Planners with Yellowstone County and the city of Billings commissioned a feasibility study earlier this year to investigate whether a scooter-share or bike-share program would work here.

As part of a pilot project with transportation technology firm Coord, the city has set up five “smart zones” as locations to test technology to better manage the flow of delivery and other traffic on busy curbs.

A different sort of virus — ransomware — has taken down the computer system at the Newhall School District, forcing a shutdown of distance learning for some 6,000 elementary school students, officials said.

The city said public safety complaints from residents are behind the decision to halt on-demand rentals. City officials will meet with Dallas residents, businesses and vendors to discuss potential changes.