Local Government Management
Amid distrust and volatility, leaders urge governments to ‘walk the talk’
It’s been a tricky year for states and localities, but speakers at the recent GOVIT Leadership Summit and Symposium said communication and keeping promises can help those governments navigate choppy waters.
Threats against public servants increased over 35 times what they were a decade ago, according to new research
Threats and violence against public servants hurt the ability of the government to deliver, say the groups behind a new map showing threats against public sector employees.
Piloting AI: Mastering ‘AI-manship’
COMMENTARY | Just like pilots know when something is wrong when they fly a plane, local tech leaders should trust their instincts on AI, especially if the systems produce unfair or suspicious results.
How ‘continuous innovation’ means more than just product launches
Speakers at Route Fifty’s recent Innovation Spotlight said governments should also modernize processes and lean on data to improve transparency and public trust.
Threat intel firms on alert for government systems impacted by Microsoft SharePoint vulnerability
Governments, schools, healthcare providers and large enterprise firms are at risk, one cyber threat intelligence chief said.
Rethinking government KPIs in the DOGE era
COMMENTARY | Agencies must be better at measuring programs’ efficacy, and not just see efficiency in terms of better, faster and cheaper.
Budget worries prevent more IT modernization, survey says
State and local leaders want to modernize their legacy systems, but uncertainty over federal funding is stymieing their progress, an EY survey shared exclusively with Route Fifty found.
Will AI take my job? Navigating AI’s impact on public sector jobs
COMMENTARY | Some functions may need fewer employees, but others needing more advanced skills may emerge as the technology reshapes, rather than eliminates, many roles.
Local governments are using AI without clear rules or policies, and the public has no idea
COMMENTARY | A global study found only 16% of local governments using AI systems had public facing policies about what they were doing.
A recipe for getting the finances right
COMMENTARY | Cities across the country are currently finalizing their budgets. But budgeting is just one ingredient in a city's financial success.
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In this battleground state, a fight is raging over ballot drop boxes
In one city, the mayor faces a criminal investigation for carting away its lone drop box. Others are citing claims about fraud and opting out of using drop boxes for November’s election.
Prosecutors say New York City Mayor Eric Adams' corruption went global
With Thursday's indictment, Adams joins a short list of mayors facing criminal charges while in office, but the charges against him are extraordinary in their reach.
In states that banned ‘Zuckerbucks,’ election offices remain underfunded
Recent research found that most states that have banned private election donations have not made up any resulting shortfall in funding. Meanwhile, Congress is bickering over providing money.
To build trust in elections, focus on the ground level, state leaders say
Elections officials need to get their message out locally amid heightened scrutiny, especially as AI-driven misinformation threatens trust in elections.
AI and the power of intelligent voice
COMMENTARY | The new category in artificial intelligence, conversational AI, has governments captivated. Here are some of the ways they are thinking of using AI-powered voice communications.
States are enacting school cellphone bans. Here’s what that looks like.
Virginia became the latest state to take action against smartphone usage in public schools. The policy approaches differ.
The great Salt Lake City tax tradeoff
In a few weeks, the city council will be voting on a 0.5% sales tax to support economic development downtown. But it’s not the money that is drawing all the attention, it’s what the city is giving up.
After a 7-year experiment, New Orleans is an all-charter district no more
The closely watched experiment is coming to an end. New Orleans Public Schools will now act both as a charter school authorizer and an old-fashioned school district.
Meet Emma, Amarillo’s AI assistant and ‘digital human’
The Texas city’s generative artificial intelligence assistant will assist residents through voice conversations in multiple languages.
Measuring and managing risk in the quest for resilience
COMMENTARY | Incidents like the Baltimore bridge collapse should motivate local leaders to think carefully about risk management, prevention and mitigation.
