Local Government

CIO, Leon County, Fla.

Despite a shift in the definition of the term “smart city” in recent years, the effort to make cities smarter continues, and it has evolved to include new technologies — and even tech-agnostic approaches.

Private information belonging to 10 people, three of them county workers, was stolen in March when county servers were breached. Precisely what was taken remains unclear.

The City Commission has approved a proposal inviting officials from the new Florida state Department of Governmental Efficiency task force to assist the city in finding government misspending.

The village reached an agreement this week with ParkMobile on a system that would let residents pay parking fees via cellphone — preserving meters, for now. Hours, rates and locations of use will be considered shortly by a city committee.

A simulated election and vote count test was a success this week — among the final steps before the county’s board of elections will propose buying new equipment. Current systems are aging but secure.

After Long Beach was hit with a cyber attack in November 2023, most of the city’s systems were briefly taken offline and replaced with a stripped back version of the government website, null.

Officials in the city of about 129,000 residents are probing a server outage detected Friday. They’re working with cybersecurity experts and have disconnected “affected and critical assets to secure our systems.”

Officials at the Florida city have elevated its chief digital officer to acting chief information officer. Tamecka McKay, the now-former CIO and director of the IT Services Department, has stepped down.

Jeff Baer, the city’s longtime chief technology officer and director of the Bureau of Technology Services, has retired. As officials seek his replacement, the job’s working title has been updated to CIO.

The Pennsylvania city has recently launched two new interactive devices, a dashboard and a free Wi-Fi locator. They’re intended to help expand awareness of the free Internet service available to residents.

City Council members voted unanimously to withdraw the renewal with a debt collector following word its 2024 data breach could have affected thousands. Hamilton County was also impacted.

A ransomware attack in February compromised private information of employees and students at Baltimore City Public Schools, and the city’s state’s attorney’s office was targeted in March.

Digital Realty Trust is looking to rezone 156 acres in west Charlotte to allow for a 3-million-square-foot data center. The proposal was heard at Monday’s City Council rezoning meeting.

A transit network in Seattle has introduced technology to reduce “bus bunching” and space vehicles evenly on a route. And a suburban bus company in Chicago is taking steps to transition its fleet to zero-emission vehicles.

The site, which debuted Monday, offers an update system through which property owners can be alerted to fraud. It’s part of an endeavor underway since 2020 and involved moving millions of records to the new platform.

The government technology heavyweight has bought ePermitHub. That company’s technology will help Accela customers further streamline and automate public agency permitting tasks, including via the use of AI.

The county purchased new electronic poll pads to check in voters during the May 3 municipal elections. Its elections administrator said the local government has tested the devices and is ready for the upcoming contests.