Local Government

The city police department will install the automatic readers starting this summer. They will be active when patrol vehicles are in use and plate numbers will be stored in a system that aggregates registered driver names.

The capital city received nearly $8.5 million from the American Rescue Plan Act and committed it all. To date, $4.5 million has been spent on internal projects including updates to at least three areas of tech.

Federal COVID-19 relief initially provided the funding source to equip students with Chromebooks and other devices to use at home and school. Absent those dollars, many entities can’t afford their replacement.

A cluster of data centers near residential tracts estimated to cost around $5 billion when fully built has attracted the ire of neighbors, who have sued the city to halt construction of as many as 12 buildings.

Computer and smartphone users in this Connecticut town have online help waiting when they need to find a parking place. WeHa Parking Finder, which arrived Tuesday, is intended to resolve longstanding problems.

Emergency and public transportation vehicles in cities that deployed traffic signal priority technology saved thousands of hours in travel time in 2024. The tech safely clears the way for first responders.

With the clock ticking on a municipal election, Dallas County officials are moving to ensure electronic poll book software functions as intended. Less than four months remain to resolve a malfunction from last year.

The rising use of artificial intelligence in search functions and the 24/7 needs of cryptocurrency mining are expected to take the Internet’s demands on the energy grid from predictable to exponential.

The City of Lakes was recently jointly awarded a U.S. Department of Transportation grant. Officials there will work with their counterparts in Seattle to develop a program assisting package delivery services.

With an ongoing push towards expanding high-speed broadband Internet coverage, Dunn County officials expect that nearly all residents there will be able to access the service soon.

Municipalities around the nation are carefully using artificial intelligence to improve access to documents and public meeting materials, leaders said during the GovAI Coalition Summit in December.

Leaders in Macon-Bibb County are working with a data-based assessment company to determine which of their roughly 1,200 miles of county-owned roads are in the worst shape and should be fixed first.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is giving a Columbus, Neb.-based electric cooperative the investment as part of its Empowering Rural America Program. It will fund wind and solar projects across three counties.

Confronting post-pandemic challenges, leaders and planners in local government and philanthropy reshape their landscapes through partnerships and innovation. Mayors serve as critical connectors.

In his final State of the City address this year, Mayor Richard Irvin said his city is “becoming a city of bytes, bandwidth and breakthroughs,” highlighting its work expanding broadband access and modernizing its online presence.

Pre-shift inspections of police vehicles is a tedious but vital task that can impact officer and citizen safety. A new tool could make that process more efficient and more reliable — and could save money for cities.

Justine Tran, recently named technology leader, served as deputy CIO for the city of Dallas for nearly four years. She brings with her years of technology work in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

State and local agencies have until Dec. 31 to commit federal funds they received through the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund as part of the response to the pandemic. Anything not obligated must be returned.