2023 Cyber Review: The Year GenAI Stole the Show This was a year unlike any other in the brief history of the cybersecurity industry, with generative artificial intelligence disrupting plans and ushering in unparalleled change to security. READ MORE
3 Months After Cash Bail Ended, County Jail Population Declines Effingham County, Ill., has seen a decrease in the number of inmates and a reduction in caseloads just three months after the state ended cash bail. However, the long-term impacts of the end of cash bail remains to be seen. READ MORE
A Union-Backed Bill Would Tackle New York Workplace Bullying Proposed legislation that has garnered support from a public employees union would provide greater protection to state workers who file complaints of bullying, which is mostly not illegal in the state. READ MORE
After Major Progress in 2023, Digital Equity Looks Ahead
AI Is Coming Soon for Governments’ Information. What’s It Worth? States and localities may have hidden treasure in their data that can be profitably unearthed by commercial interests. Governments need to be able to realize the value of their data while still protecting the public. READ MORE
Airport Screening of the Future It may be just around the calendar. READ MORE
An Eye for Equity and Emerging Tech, CIO James Weaver Charts a Course With an election that promises to usher in a new administration for North Carolina, CIO James Weaver is focusing his energy on improving the foundations of state IT while also embracing new — and unstoppable — technologies. READ MORE
Annual
NASCIO Survey Highlights Dramatic Shifts in IT Priorities
For the first time since 2007, NASCIO’s annual survey of state IT leaders
was tied between two top priorities. That spot, normally dominated by
cybersecurity and risk management, was joined this year by digital government
and services. READ
MORE
California Considers Everything, Even Fiscal Emergency, for Budget Gap Gov. Gavin Newsom and state legislators this year made budget cuts and deferred spending as a way to address the $31.5 billion spending gap. But, as tax revenues were delayed by winter storms, the gap has grown to $68 billion. READ MORE
California Considers Everything, Even Fiscal Emergency, for Budget Gap Gov. Gavin Newsom and state legislators this year made budget cuts and deferred spending as a way to address the $31.5 billion spending gap. But, as tax revenues were delayed by winter storms, the gap has grown to $68 billion. READ MORE
Can your Android phone share your medical data with 911? READ MORE
City Halls Should Be the Souls and Hearts of Their Communities Government centers can be more than simply places where official business is conducted. They can be places for residents to meet, interact and celebrate each other. READ MORE
Colorado Legislators Work to Improve State’s Mental Illness Care A group of state lawmakers, advocates and parents are working to change a Medicaid rule that limits psychiatric hospital stays to 15 days a month, but the change would need $7.2 million annually and federal approval. READ MORE
Colorado OIT Seeks to Fill Two Executive-Level Tech Roles The Colorado Office of Information Technology is officially looking to hire for two executive-level IT roles: deputy executive director and chief information security officer. READ MORE
Crooks Can’t Dodge the Real-Time Crime Center ‘Double Click’ “When a call happens today, we can listen in immediately. We’re hearing the person calling in saying, ‘Hey, there’s a shooting.’ And that [information] hasn’t even popped on our dispatcher’s screen yet.” READ MORE
Cybersecurity Funded, Now What? Indiana’s CIO Shares 2024 Plan For Indiana CIO Tracy Barnes, elevating cybersecurity, creating IT leadership training, enacting AI policy and laying the framework for a statewide digital ID program will take center stage in 2024. READ MORE
Cybersecurity Trends Point to More Sophisticated Attacks Ahead As ransomware attacks have continued to hit state and local organizations — and tech advancements like generative AI have continued apace — cyber experts predict evolving malicious tactics for 2024. READ MORE
Dallas Creates New Police Unit to Promote Transparency and Discipline The new unit will be composed mostly of civilian employees. It will publish an annual accountability report that evaluates the department on its policies and training, compared to best practices nationwide. READ MORE
Despite Opposition, Newsom Advances Delta Tunnel Project The California governor and his administration are moving forward with a plan to build a 45-mile water tunnel between the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, even as the project has received heavy pushback from environmental groups. READ MORE
Digitally Distracted Students Have Lower Academic Performance The Program for International Student Assessment found that about 54 percent of students got distracted by others using digital devices. Those who were distracted scored 15 points lower in math. READ MORE
Forensic Investigation Goes Mobile Take your forensic investigations to the next level with a comprehensive multi-biometric identification solution. READ MORE
Former Dallas DA Craig Watkins, Creator of Nation's First Conviction Integrity Unit, Dies at 56 The Dallas native was the state’s first Black district attorney and used DNA testing in cases, leading to about two dozen exonerations. His Conviction Integrity Unit has been nationally and internationally recognized. READ MORE
Gates Foundation Seeks (and Funds) New Strategies to Address Economic Mobility Fifty million Americans are living in poverty or near it. A new grant program will help nonprofits address inequities and promote upward mobility. READ MORE
Georgia Technology Authority Names State Insider as CTO The Georgia Technology Authority has appointed government technology veteran Subramanian Muniasamy to serve as chief technology officer. He brings public-sector IT experience from another Georgia state agency to the role. READ MORE
Glenn Marchi Named CIO of Orange County, N.Y. Marchi previously spent seven years leading the Office of Central and Information Services for nearby Dutchess County, N.Y., with both jurisdictions being located just north of New York City. READ MORE
How Digitization Can Make Government More Equitable As experts recently discussed at Code for America’s FormFest 2023 event, the digitization of government forms and processes can create more equitable access to government services for constituents. READ MORE
How Indiana Is Offering Free Cybersecurity Resources to Cities Armed with federal money, Indiana is giving endpoint detection and response services to local governments, with 31 entities signing up so far. But can the state make this last after the money runs out? READ MORE
Minnesota's Top Transit Agency Tries New Approaches to Public Safety Metro Transit in Minneapolis-St. Paul is using new methods of fare enforcement, as well as partnering with social service nonprofits, in an effort to combat open drug use and generally make trains feel safer. READ MORE
Modernizing Legacy Systems Is Ultimately User-Centered Work In 2023, we checked in with states on where they are with updating their major systems of record, from DMVs to ERPs. Many are overcoming tech debt with the end goal of a better resident experience. READ MORE
More Than Stenography: Exploring Court Record Options (Part 1) As courts grapple with a growing need for more reporters, some are considering turning to automated speech-to-text tools and other less traditional alternatives. READ MORE
More Than Stenography: Exploring Court Record Options (Part 1) As courts grapple with a growing need for more reporters, some are considering turning to automated speech-to-text tools and other less traditional alternatives. READ MORE
NASCIO Resource Offers States 12 Key Considerations for AI A new resource from NASCIO offers 12 key considerations intended to serve as guidance for states as they work to develop road maps to guide implementation of artificial intelligence technologies. READ MORE
New Jersey Schools Still Waiting for Aid Two Years After Ida The federal government promised $23 million to assist with recovery efforts after Hurricane Ida wreaked havoc on 49 schools and nine colleges and universities across the state. Many are still waiting for those funds. READ MORE
North Texas City Drives Ahead With Driverless Vehicles Arlington has been using May Mobility to run its Rideshare, Automation and Payment Integration Demonstration program since 2021, which utilizes a fleet of four self-driving vehicles to transport 150 to 200 riders daily. READ MORE
Opening Up Primary Elections Is a Voting Rights Issue The primary is often the only real contest in choosing those who will represent us. Closed party primaries are unrepresentative and undemocratic, and they disenfranchise more than half of the voting public: independents. READ MORE
Oregon Taps Former Bank of America Senior VP as New CTO Jimmy Godard previously spent more than two decades with the bank, holding roles such as senior vice president of strategy and governance and senior vice president of program service delivery manager. READ MORE
Oregon’s Paid Leave Program Offers Frustration Instead of Payment Wait times to speak to customer service representatives have risen to an average of more than 52 minutes, and as many as 1,500 people are experiencing delays due to the identity verification process. READ MORE
Over Two Decades, Much of the West Has Turned Blue. Why Hasn't Texas? Its sprawling size is one reason. But there are other factors at work, including discouraged Democrats and Republicans’ success at courting Hispanic voters. READ MORE
Pennsylvania Considers Annual Fee for Electric Vehicle Owners The proposed bill would charge electric vehicle owners $290 a year to supplement decreased revenue lost from the state’s gas tax. It is estimated the fee would generate as much as $20 million annually for the state. READ MORE
Political Spending by Public-Sector Unions Is Deep Blue More than 95 percent of PAC spending by the four biggest public-sector unions went to Democrats, according to the Commonwealth Foundation. READ MORE
Post-pandemic federal funding for digital equity and broadband initiatives has pushed connectivity work forward exponentially. As the new year approaches, experts ask: How do we keep this going? READ MORE
Post-Twitter, Government Social Media Remains Up in the Air Facebook. TikTok. X. In a year that saw major upheaval across popular social platforms, are these sites still viable options for delivering vital public information? READ MORE
Ransomware Incident Affects Scores of Credit Unions Credit union solutions provider Ongoing Operations experienced a cyber incident in late November. About 60 credit unions are believed to be suffering a level of disruption as a result. READ MORE
Red States Struggle to Clean Voter Rolls Without ERIC Republican-led states that withdrew from the Electronic Registration Information Center are now struggling to find new ways to adequately update their voter rolls. Prior to 2022, more than half the states participated in the program. READ MORE
San Francisco CIO Linda Gerull Announces Retirement City and county of San Francisco CIO Linda Gerull has set her retirement for Dec. 29. Chief Information Security Officer Michael Makstman will serve as the interim director of the Department of Technology. READ MORE
Secrets Behind Successful 311 Apps: Unlocking User Satisfaction How do some agencies create apps residents like to use? The minds behind some of the highest-rated 311 apps share best practices and recommendations to improve performance and citizen experience. READ MORE
Smarter Urban Tech Gives Transportation New Data to Leverage New understandings related to parking, micromobility safety, intersection activity and more are being realized thanks to smart transportation technologies. Officials say the data they are able to collect opens the door to new innovations. READ MORE
States Increasingly Boost Workforce with Nontraditional Hires From eliminating four-year degree requirements to major reskilling programs and a focus on building agency culture, state IT shops are looking to new ways to overcome persistent staffing concerns. READ MORE
Texas Ends Legal Challenge to Tax Cuts, Increased Teacher Pensions In what seems to be a coordinated effort between the governor, attorney general and secretary of state, six lawsuits challenging voter-approved property tax cuts and increases to teachers’ pensions have been blocked. READ MORE
Tools to Combat Voter Intimidation, from the 19th Century and Today A successful lawsuit based on 19th-century laws to combat the Ku Klux Klan has renewed attention on how police officers can help protect voters. It's part of a broader effort to crack down on intimidation. READ MORE
Transportation, Infrastructure Move Toward Electrification As cities work to get more electric vehicles and micromobility options like e-bikes onto streets, they're also putting livability and equity at the center of how technology can improve the urban experience. READ MORE
What Caused California's $68B Budget Hole? California’s projected $68 billion shortfall for the coming fiscal year represents a big challenge. Still, California’s deep reserves can reduce the burden. READ MORE
White
House Taps National Security Vet as Cybersecurity Lead Harry Coker Jr. is
now the second official national cyber director for the federal government, and
he comes to the job with a resume that includes leadership stints with the CIA
and the NSA. READ
MORE
Will 2024 be the Year of Car-Charging Made Easy (or Easier)? Seamless and easy car-charging is the goal for drivers and the auto industry. But getting to complete interoperability is still an elusive target requiring widespread coordination among multiple stakeholders and standards. READ MORE