Local Government

The work of state-level CISOs is expanding to help serve the cyber needs of small municipalities and vulnerable groups, a NASCIO report affirms. Whole-of-state cybersecurity and grants are helping drive the endeavor.

The city manager began the budgeting process anew with new software that provides a more granular, transparent view of finances, and a “true cost allocation” of revenue and expenses. The result was a proposed 2025 budget with no deficit or sharp service cuts.

The Florida city’s newest technology is an effort to bring search further in the 21st century via a Polimorphic tool. A city official talks about use cases and lessons learned — experiences that could guide other towns.

Honolulu's new CIO and director of the Department of Information Technology will officially step in, in January. However, the transition is expected to get underway next month, affording an interval of collaboration.

The state's second-largest county by land area is working with eX² Technology to stand up a 200-mile fiber-optic network, bringing high-speed Internet to more than 20 cities and at least one higher education institution.

In addition to upskilling and transforming their workforce, IT leaders in government are investing in enterprise technology that can scale for the future.

City and county officials discussed partnering with community organizations and technologists from Google.org on digital tools to resolve neighborhood issues, during a “Demo Day” webinar hosted by The Opportunity Project for Cities.

Members of the city’s Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services Advisory Board voted 4-3 for code language defining three classes of electric bicycles as “non-motorized use.” The City Council could hear the proposal next month.

The National League of Cities released a report this week outlining strategic ways municipalities are using artificial intelligence to better serve constituents. An accompanying toolkit aims to facilitate analysis.

City aldermen voted to hire Massachusetts-based International Data Corporation Research to help develop a plan and strategy for handling generative artificial intelligence. The process is estimated to take a year.

The Drone as First Responder program, piloted earlier this year, is now operational in five command areas of the New York City Police Department. The devices are intended to assist police in responding to shots-fired calls, robberies and other crimes.

The city and county of Denver has chosen to hire from within for the role, which was created this summer. Sean Greer, Denver's IT director of service delivery, was selected and started work this week.

State and local governments are moving toward constituent-centric digital services, using new and old tech to introduce new conveniences that simplify customer interactions.

The British company is bent on expanding in North America — including the U.S., where recent federal funding of infrastructure could provide ample gov tech opportunities. The company’s CEO explains their vision.

The Information Technology Department is looking to increase its budget by $2 million, or 11.6 percent, which would include adding one IT staffer each to the Clerk and Prosecutor’s offices. Also included is replacing hundreds of employee laptop computers.

Assistant CISO Seema Patel is taking over that top tech job. Godsey accepted the appointment in 2019 and has won praise for his efforts to boost cybersecurity for the fourth-largest county in the U.S.

Aldermen are set to vote next week on hiring an expert to help create a strategy on the use of generative artificial intelligence. The Finance Committee recently recommended hiring International Data Corp. to consult on a GenAI road map; the full City Council looked at a contract this week and it could get more discussion before a vote.

The City Council heard testimony for and against the project Monday ahead of a final vote on whether OG&E can power the planned center. Actions on an accompanying development agreement plan and tax incentive pact were continued to Dec. 2.