Local Government

The Indiana Office of Technology is offering a variety of services to help localities modernize and secure their web services, bridging a skills and resource gap that often hampers such efforts at the local level.

A practice run using newly approved election technology ran into technical issues last week. Election officials say another mock vote will likely be scheduled to test adjustments made to the technology.

The Latah County Broadband Coalition will focus on addressing Internet infrastructure needs throughout the county with an emphasis on identifying federal, state and local funding streams to further connectivity goals.

The managed service platform provider wants to win new state, local and education contracts via DSM while also increasing services to its existing clients. DSM provides data protection and other digital features.

Organized by Bloomberg Philanthropies in partnership with the Aspen Institute, speakers for CityLab 2022 will include former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Baltimore's chief data officer, and more.

Residents of the city are being asked to provide their input on the design and function of a new website. The current website design dates back more than 10 years and has been a source of frustration among residents.

The unincorporated community of Lockeford, Calif., is slated to be Amazon’s first attempt at making Prime Air a reality. The company will be working to get the program operational later this summer, officials say.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot also put two leaders in charge of the effort, including a city data specialist reporting to her office. The new effort builds upon a push to give more students Internet access at their homes.

Promise, which focuses on delinquent payments, has selected Paya as a partner as both companies try to help governments collect what they’re owed. Such debt grew significantly during the pandemic as citizens lost income.

The controversial surveillance camera technology on public streetlights has raised calls for oversight from privacy and civil rights advocates. A City Council vote could change the rules around how the tech is governed.

A private equity firm interested in diving into the gov tech market has put its money on the major GIS player, which offers appraisal, permitting and other GIS products to state and local government across the country.

A $100,000 emergency procurement package – containing two vendor agreements – was unanimously passed this week to mitigate a “network security incident” that affected 85 county computers.

San Diego County’s second largest city has announced a new IT director in Jose Cisneros. Cisneros comes to city service with more than two decades of network and cybersecurity experience from the U.S. Navy.

The debate over a plan to buy a drone for the Worcester Police Department has come to an end with a 7 to 3 City Council vote in favor of the purchase. Opponents voiced concern about potential civil liberty implications.

Acting City Manager Eric Batista said he would not move forward with plans to buy a drone for the Worcester Police Department if the proposal was not approved by residents and the City Council.

City council members unanimously voted to approve the staff recommendation that CivicPlus be contracted to rebuild the city’s public-facing website. Work on the project is slated to begin this summer.

The early results of a recent resident survey have highlighted at least two areas where Internet service is lacking. Crawford County has earmarked more than $3 million from recent federal funding to improve Internet access.

Mendel brings nearly 20 years of experience to the role, including working as the county's radio communications division director. Now, he picks up where former CIO Tanya Hannah left off.