A
Failed Solution to Our Soaring Homelessness Problem “Housing-first”
programs are expensive and ineffective. “Treatment-first” approaches are more
successful at improving the well-being of homeless people by reducing drug use
and increasing employment stability. READ
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AI
Gun Detection System Leads to Charges in New Mexico ZeroEyes, the creators
of an AI-based gun detection video analytics platform, recently announced a
positive detection of an illegally brandished firearm in Hobbs,
N.M., that has resulted in criminal
charges. READ
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Alabama
Governor Creates Task Force for Responsible AI Adoption Alabama Gov. Kay
Ivey is aligning with national trends on AI regulation, establishing a task
force via executive order to examine the current and future applications of the
technology in state government. READ
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ALEC
and Other Conservative Groups Push School Choice A conservative coalition
is hoping to make private school choice universally available in half the
states by the end of this year. READ
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An article in the January/February
2024 issue of Discover Magazine, The Year of the AI Conversation by
Stephen Ornes, reports 97% of business owners surveyed believe AI will
help their business, 77% of workers surveyed believe AI will cause job loss in 2024
and the number of CHATGFT users reported [as of August 2023] was "180.5
million." READ
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Automating
Permit Applications Agencies and businesses desire quicker permit
approvals. Automation via low-code tools and open source software streamlines
processes effectively.READ
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Boosting
Gov Adoption: Can a New, Quicker Process Help? According to a Government Technology analysis of CISA data, only 42 percent
of counties have registered .gov domains. Now that the federal government is
making it easier than ever to get a .gov domain, will more agencies make the
change? READ
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California
Bill Proposes Strict Safety Checks for AI Companies The legislation would
set mandatory AI safety testing requirements before training or market release
and would mandate an internal fail-safe be included in all AI systems to
trigger an immediate shutdown if issues are detected. READ
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California’s
Recent Flooding Highlights ‘Disaster Insurance Gap’ Of the eight Southern
California counties that were under a state of emergency during the most recent
storm, only 52,820 homes and businesses were covered by flood policies. READ
MORE
Chicago
Will End Contract With Police Tool ShotSpotter The city will sever its ties
with the gunshot alert system after September. Mayor Brandon Johnson’s
political supporters applauded the decision, but many officers are opposed. READ
MORE
Cross-Agency
Planning Key to Cybersecurity in San Francisco
CISO Michael Makstman explains what it takes to secure San Francisco, how
the city is approaching generative AI and the importance of sharing information
in the Coalition of City CISOs. READ
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Despite
$25B in Funding, California Cops Only Solve 13% of Crimes The statewide
clearance rate for crimes was just 13.2 percent in 2022, according to a new
report. The rate for poverty crimes was only 7.2 percent. READ
MORE
Digital
Solutions for Affordable Housing Challenges How technology is bringing
Government the efficiency needed to implement innovative affordable housing
approaches. DOWNLOAD
PDF
Digital-ready,
Frictionless Revenue and Payment Solutions for State and Local Governments CORE
+ PayPal® is the modern connection platform designed to modernize the payments
and engagement automation for state and local governments. LEARN
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Federal
Money Could Supercharge State Efforts to Preserve Nuclear Power A plant in Michigan
might become the first to reopen after closing. READ
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How
5G Can Help Improve Situational Awareness for First Responders 5G can
support the streaming of large volumes of high-quality video, offering the
potential for greatly improved situational awareness. Public safety can benefit
from the high speeds and low latency that 5G can offer and that are based on
technologies like augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), drone data,
real-time situational intelligence and more. LEARN
MORE
How
New Public Transportation Technology is Prioritizing Passenger Safety As
technology has advanced, innovative and affordable solutions give public safety
agencies the flexibility to update their current software and security measures
to state-of-the-art programming and equipment. Learn how technology can help
provide passenger safety and security in public transport. SEE
HOW
How
the Election Misinformation Landscape Is Shifting Brookings Institution
panelists considered how the proliferation of generative AI tools, weakening of
social media platform trust and safety teams, and drawdown in federal
communications with social media firms will impact the the 2024 elections. READ
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Infill
Housing Has Its Benefits but Won't Always Drive Down Costs Charleston
exemplifies an infill strategy that produces attractive new houses and greater
density, but comes up short on affordability. READ
MORE
Information-Sharing
Platform Civic Roundtable Raises $5M The startup brings public officials
together to share expertise and advice about cybersecurity, elections
management and other issues that can challenge government agencies. Veterans of
Mark43 help run the company. READ
MORE
Local
Government and the Need for Speed Project delays and slow bureaucratic processes
are costly for constituents, businesses and governments themselves. What’s
needed is a culture of urgency. READ
MORE
Massachusetts
Accessibility Officer Shares Holistic Approach Ashley Bloom, the state's
first chief IT accessibility officer, shared that she is approaching the role
with the mindset that accessibility should be integrated into all of the
state's IT work. READ
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Michigan
School District Integrates Safety With Audio Tool A system designed to
amplify classroom audio can now be equipped with safety buttons that provide
teachers with a one-touch ability to notify office personnel if something is
amiss. READ
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Michigan
to Become 21st State to Enact Red Flag Laws The state’s red flag complaint
law went into effect on Tuesday. It will allow residents to seek temporary
removal of firearms from at-risk individuals by obtaining an extreme risk
protection order. READ
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Minnesota
Citizens Will Soon Decide Which Inmates Get Parole Starting in July, a new
citizen panel will review requests from inmates serving mandatory minimum life
sentences, mostly for first-degree murder. Previously, the review process has
been done by the corrections commissioner. READ
MORE
National
AI Safety Institute Consortium Takes Shape In accordance with President Joe
Biden’s 2023 executive order on artificial intelligence, the federal government
is moving forward with key actions — namely, the creation of an AI safety
consortium. READ
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Nebraska
Supreme Court Reviews $44K Fee for Public Records A reporter requested a
keyword search of emails as part of an investigation into nitrates in the
state’s drinking water from the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy.
What she got was a $44,103 bill for the state to begin the search. READ
MORE
Observability
for Hybrid IT Environments State and local governments use many digital
tools to accomplish their goals, but the complex mix of different solutions can
make it hard to spot inefficiencies, fix problems or even know if applications
are working properly DOWNLOAD
PDF
OpenGov
Results Show Growing Strength of Cloud Migrations The 12-year-old company
reports big recent sales gains — a reflection of larger trends in the gov tech world.
A company executive also expresses skepticism about the role of private equity
in the industry. READ
MORE
Opinion:
Regulating AI Requires First Knowing Its Boundaries As new learning methods
are developed, the boundary between what is artificial intelligence and what is
simply traditional computing methods keeps shifting. READ
MORE
Permits
and Grant Applications, Built with Ease Build permit and approval
applications via Low Code Tools, which can create custom workflows quickly,
speeding up application development and delivery. LEARN
MORE
Power
Outages Leave Poor Communities in the Dark Longer Data from over 15 million
consumers in 588 counties across the nation reveal that poorer communities
waited an average of 170 minutes more for power to be restored, though
sometimes it took much longer. READ
MORE
Problems
With Idaho’s New $100M Financial System Demonstrate Just How Hard Modernization
Is The new project aimed to modernize accounting, hiring and employee
review, but for many, the overhaul has just added unnecessary frustration. The
last time Idaho overhauled its
processes to this extent was in the 1980s. READ
MORE]
Robocalls
Featuring AI-Generated Voices Deemed Illegal Robocalls using artificial
intelligence to fake human voices are illegal, federal authorities have ruled,
two days after New Hampshire
launched a criminal probe into calls spoofing the voice of President Biden. READ
MORE
Secure
Access Service Edge Architecture (SASE) Explained SASE has emerged in
recent years as a definitive aspect of modern network architecture and
security. Learn about this in the latest explainer brief. DOWNLOAD
NOW
Special:
Securing America's Digital Infrastructure GOVTECH CYBERSECURITY has rounded
up industry best practices on topics such as security, threats, and privacy.
See how companies are helping state and local agencies tackle and prepare for
all things cybersecurity. Read more here NEWS,
CONVERSATIONS AND RESOURCES
The
Biggest Social Issues to Watch in 2024 Legislatures across the nation are
confronting several social issues including crime, drug use, immigration and
poverty. These issues will continue to hold resonance, of course, in the
November elections. READ
MORE
The
Rise of the Equity Analyst: Transforming DEI With Data The creation of a
new position in Indianapolis
highlights an emerging trend of recruiting employees with technical data skills
to focus on DEI initiatives. But can agencies successfully fill the roles and
develop robust programs? READ
MORE
The
Tedious Parts of City Planning Could Be Turned Over to AI A New Hampshire
city joins a growing list of local governments that are turning over some of
the more time-intensive tasks of planning operations to artificial intelligence
technologies. READ
MORE
Trends in State and Local Government IT for 2024: Download
using the following link: Emerging
Trends in State and Local Government IT for 2024. Government Technology
also has hundreds of available downloads in its resource
library.
Washington
Program Combats Adult Depression With Peer Counselors Senior citizens have
high rates of depression and other mental health challenges. To improve access and
address fears, a university program trains other older adults to offer
sessions. READ
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Washington,
D.C., Mayor Shares AI Implementation Plans An order signed by Washington,
D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser today takes three
specific actions to advance the government’s adoption of artificial
intelligence. The plan aims to align the technology with the District’s core
values. READ
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Washington’s
$15 Tolls Hope to Reduce Traffic, Increase Revenue The state will increase
its toll rates on March 1, with the highest toll rate being $15 on I-405 and
Highway 167. Dynamic pricing will change the toll rate to a minimum of $1 as
often as every five minutes. READ
MORE