Local Government

Lee E. Micai, a longtime technologist in Mercer County government, has been named to the role, which he said entails responsibilities previously assigned to the head of IT. His tenure began last month.

The county Board of Commissioners has delayed a decision on whether to renew contracts for 30 surveillance cameras. Residents have voiced their objections and a commissioner has shared his concern.

School-zone speed cameras in Richmond, Va., which are only online while children arrive or leave from school, produced just over 100,000 violations in their first year of use.

The town of Vernon recently became the latest of several local governments in Connecticut to put enforcement cameras on school buses, hoping to curb moving violations around the vehicles when students are present.

After a phishing incident in December initially cost Warren County over $3.3 million, officials may soon pass a thorough computer use policy for county employees that will touch on related issues.

Nearly a month after Aaron Bentley left his role as Salt Lake City CIO to take a position with the state of Utah, the City Council appointed Zach Posner, now-former CIO for Salt Lake County, as his successor.

Funding from the federal State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program will support the delivery of multifactor authentication hard tokens to 161 local governments in New York state.

The auditor’s budget was cut after its refusal to join a countywide cyber program and contribute $1 million from its real estate assessment fund to help mitigate the cybersecurity costs.

The Helix Water District in San Diego County, Calif., is putting the finishing touches on an $11 million electric vehicle charging depot capable of supporting its vehicles and those of other public-sector fleets.

Among the recommendations from last year’s audit was creating a high-level management role to oversee tech. The city’s inaugural CIO is its now-former director of digital services.

Officials at AMP, which operates a regional processing and sorting facility in Portsmouth, Va., intend for the technology to help humans organize trash at multiple intervals in the cycle.

The project won approval on a 5-1 vote despite significant public opposition. Council members argued the center would be a chance to boost tax revenue without burdening area schools.

The unique deal, done without venture capital or private equity, will position Nava’s public service delivery platform as an open source, end-to-end option for agencies to modernize their tech, Nava’s CEO said.

Tulsa International Airport recently suffered a ransomware attack, a spokeswoman confirmed. The facility is independent of the city of Tulsa, which suffered its own such incident in early 2019.

The Laredo Police Department is expanding its use of artificial intelligence across several incoming programs — a move teased by Chief Miguel Rodriguez during last week's State of the City address.

City officials are trying to determine the full extent of systems impacted by a ransomware attack, which paralyzed phone and computer systems in multiple departments beginning early Wednesday.

Commissioners OK’d spending about $39,000 for software to better coordinate crisis services, particularly around mental health and substance abuse. It is intended to improve public-facing case management.

Local law enforcement praises the devices, hundreds of which are in place, for helping solve crimes. Privacy and surveillance concerns, however, persist among critics and industry watchers.