Local Government

Years after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, many people in Deschutes County still choose to attend court dates remotely. The county moved to electronic filing in 2015, with video technology emerging around the same time.

Four technology companies are part of the city’s initiative, which is aimed at growing its tech industry and making strides in smart city and digital government work. A Living Lab facility is in the works.

Loo, who has more than 30 years’ experience in public-sector IT, previously led implementation of a shared portal infrastructure program for the county. He was appointed acting CIO in 2021 after the departure of CIO Bill Kehoe.

The city apologized and, on Tuesday, removed documents from its website with unredacted personal information on residents, including Social Security numbers and driver’s license numbers. An investigation is underway.

The nonprofit's new edition of its accelerator program will include 16 startups, and will be run in partnership with the National League of Cities and the GovAI Coalition. Its mission: to help implement and scale AI at the local level.

Officials estimate they’ll get 51,000 complaints this year about missed trash pickups — but that could change. The City Council on Thursday approved a $6 million, five-year contract for tablets and software to fix the problem.

The General Services Administration wants to sign up more state and local agencies to its authentication program, used to access benefits, transit discounts and more. New pricing could help with that effort.

The chief judge for the Cobb Judicial Circuit, in Cobb County, has extended an emergency order on improving the filing and accessibility of paperwork. It follows an unsuccessful attempt to transfer the court’s online filing service to a new provider.

The Rogers County Commission agreed Monday to move ahead on a proposed cybersecurity training course for all county employees. Their decision followed a presentation from the IT director of Claremore on similar training for city workers.

The Jefferson County Communications Center in Colorado has adopted a new platform to improve emergency operations. The new system uses artificial intelligence to improve efficiency.

The airport said the incident also affects some Port of Seattle systems, and that there’s no estimated time by which systems will be restored. Flights can continue, but some associated services are down.

The Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada is using artificial intelligence, machine learning and real-time data analysis to keep its facilities safe and improve response times to traffic incidents.

Officials have announced a pact with Internet service provider Zayo to increase Internet availability in as many as 10 county ZIP codes. The project is funded by American Rescue Plan Act funds.

Officials in Ottawa County are beefing up their elections results web page before the Nov. 5 general election, after a large number of visitors sent it offline for more than an hour during the Aug. 6 primary.

Pinole, Calif., in the Bay Area, is using digital technology from eTRAKiT and Symbium to make permitting and approval faster and easier on home improvement jobs and rooftop solar installations.

Plus, a K-12 digital equity framework gets released, Kentucky launches a new broadband portal, two additional states get their BEAD funding proposals approved, and more.

The project, which is called UnDisruptable27, wants society to prepare for near-future geopolitical conflicts in which cyber attacks are aimed at Americans’ access to water, medical care, power and food.

A retest Tuesday of Laramie County machines used to count absentee and recount ballots wrapped with no errors. A lawsuit from the Wyoming Republican Party was among the factors leading to the new test.