Local Government

The Maryland city is focused on doing grassroots work with local groups to get residents connected to the digital economy more effectively. Meanwhile, its middle-mile network sets the stage for greater consumer choice.

The Southern California city added $1 million to its cybersecurity budget during a 16-month investigation into a 2023 network breach that exposed sensitive data. Officials are now notifying people who may have been affected.

The young company, part of a recent gov tech accelerator, helps cities and other local governments make laws via digital tools. Now comes a new database for local ordinances that could pave the way for other services.

The city piloted a tool with artificial intelligence to gather more than 1 million responses from residents in just 33 days. Their feedback will help shape the direction of a 25-year strategic vision project.

Officials have expanded the service to seven parks and a four-mile stretch of business corridor, in a bid to improve digital literacy and quality of life. An additional rollout is planned later this year.

Kerry Goode, who had served as chief information officer and director of the city’s Technology Solutions Department since 2010, has moved on. Officials have looked within to find Durham’s new interim CIO.

County supervisors have directed officials to study what updates should be enacted to deal with artificial intelligence as it takes further hold in everyday life. Leaders will develop a framework for how AI should be employed.

With Lime scooters returning to the city’s streets this week, local officials are rolling out new infrastructure designed to limit the scattering of scooters and e-bikes downtown.

The provider of procurement, budgeting and grant technology last year changed its name from City Innovate. The company plans on more hiring and research and development, and has released an AI product.

The National Association of State Procurement Officials has partnered with the Work for America initiative to help seasoned professionals connect with public-sector career opportunities. Their experience may be valuable.

The procurement platform, fresh off a seed funding round, will work with two other organizations to expand local government access to cooperative contracts. The Texas-based company is eyeing national expansion.

The city of around 25,000 will deploy 16 cameras to be used in open cases or other specific circumstances, such as finding suspects or missing children. A grant will fund about two-thirds of the devices.

The city is moving forward with a 12-month pilot program that will allow electric scooters on the Shoreline Pedestrian Bike Path, with that program currently slated to go live Memorial Day weekend.

The focus for South Dakota’s most populous city is improving the user experience for digital government operations. Officials are starting with a closer look at the experience staffers have on the city systems they use.

A shuttered power plant east of Pittsburgh is slated to be rebuilt to generate electricity for artificial intelligence. The state Senate majority leader called the move “historic,” but observers raised concerns about strain on the grid.

The cybersecurity incident, which dates to July, stemmed to an agency that “provides debt collection services to city government,” a city spokesperson said in a news release, noting there’s “no indication that anything other than debt collection services data was affected.”

An eight-month pilot program resulted in law enforcement recovering about 170 cars and arresting nearly 300 people, and it helped solve homicides, robberies and hit-and-runs, according to police.

New York and other states are making serious plays to hire federal workers who have lost their jobs because of President Donald Trump's cuts. Applicants are responding but the effort faces certain challenges.