Management
Albany’s blueprint for schools: cell-free halls, looser Yeshiva rules, new aid math
It’s up to school districts in New York to figure out how to implement cellphone bans, but the budget does include $13.5 million to assist districts in purchasing supplies that can help.
Cybersecurity
Ken Paxton says Google will pay Texas $1.4B to settle privacy suit
The state attorney general sued Google in 2022, alleging it unlawfully tracked and collected users’ private data.
Customer Experience
Raleigh to launch self-service portal for residents
Officials in the North Carolina city say they want to simplify the way its 500,000 residents engage with its agencies through its “Ask Raleigh” customer experience center.
Sponsor Content
AI is accelerating a new era of public sector innovation
The advancement of generative AI marks a technology paradigm shift impacting every part of the public sector.
Digital Government
Tech helps New Jersey house unsheltered veterans
More than 30,000 U.S. veterans were unsheltered last year. New Jersey is turning to a cloud-enabled platform to streamline and expedite efforts to get veterans in the state housed.
Digital Government
Senate votes to repeal rule allowing Wi-Fi hotspot loans
Senators passed a resolution overturning an FCC rule that allows schools and libraries to use E-Rate funds to loan out Wi-Fi hotspots. Opponents said the effort would only widen the digital divide.
Artificial Intelligence
Backers urge Ohio lawmakers to pass AI restrictions
The measure focuses on prohibiting deepfake child pornography but also require watermarks and punishes AI identity fraud.
Public Safety
Texas lawmakers want to spend millions on Child ID kits. Experts say there’s no evidence they work.
Texas legislators slipped millions for child ID kits into a 1,000-page budget proposal. The move comes two years after they quietly cut funding for such kits following a ProPublica and Texas Tribune report that showed there’s no evidence they work.
Digital Government
Doing less with less: Coping with federal cutbacks and fiscal uncertainty
COMMENTARY | Shrinking revenues and rising costs put state and local governments in a bind, especially as the federal government retreats. Strategic austerity might be the path forward.
Artificial Intelligence
How states can prepare to leverage AI for benefits eligibility
As benefits application backlogs continue to mount, artificial intelligence could help ease the squeeze on already strained caseworkers, experts say.
Management
Alabama governor to weigh cellphone ban bill
Gov. Kay Ivey in her 2025 State of the State endorsed legislation to ban cellphones in schools, saying that social media is negatively impacting students.
Featured eBooks
Artificial Intelligence
California regulator weakens AI rules, giving Big Tech more leeway to track you
Pressure from the governor preceded the AI regulation retreat. Big tech gets more leeway to help make decisions or target ads.
Sponsor Content
Navigating pitfalls in government AI adoption
This guide provides a strategic framework for government IT professionals to adopt GenAI.
Digital Government
Problem solved: How data makes cities more efficient, effective and attuned to AI
COMMENTARY | If the public sector wants to operate at peak performance, it must harness its data and deploy it across all its functions. Cities across the world are showing what is possible.
Emerging Tech
Watchdog details how to build community trust in smart cities
A new report from the Government Accountability Office offers policy suggestions for officials to ensure smart city tech can be deployed in communities safely and effectively.
Digital Government
Data centers defend environmental record amid AI push
Several states are worried about the power and water impacts of the centers needed to power the technology. But the industry moved to assure those concerned that they have it under control.
Digital Government
New York’s cellphone ban: Exemptions, enforcement, and costs explained
Under the policy, school districts across the state will have until this summer to craft their implementation plans and must begin enforcing them at the start of next school year.
Digital Government
Bill requiring app stores to verify age for minors in Alabama stalls in House committee
A bill to require age verification when creating app store accounts in Alabama stalled in a House committee.
Workforce
Building a pipeline of state and local tech workers
States continue to fret about the brain drain from a generation of retirees. But some are thinking hard about how to get the next generation in, whether they be early-career employees or existing ones in need of new skills.
Digital Government
‘Buckle up’: Data privacy bills back before Maine Legislature
Amid the lack of a national data privacy bill, all of the bill sponsors highlighted the importance of enacting a law that is interoperable among other states.
Digital Government
Tech is driving the New York City economy, new report finds
The Center for an Urban Future found that 30 years after establishing a foothold, the industry could soon rival Silicon Valley in size.
