Technology

These federal grants could help shore up your cyberdefences

A report from the Government Accountability Office identified 27 grants not “intended to primarily support cybersecurity activities” that state and local governments could tap for critical funding—if they have grant writing expertise.

  • By Kery Murakami

FCC adopts rules prohibiting ‘digital redlining’

Deploying broadband in a way that discriminates against low-income communities is barred under the new rules, but observers worry that loopholes will make the rules less effective.

  • By Kery Murakami

Statewide housing programs can be complex. A good website can help.

As Colorado embarks on an aggressive program to build affordable housing, the state is turning to a website to engage and involve residents as the projects unfold.

  • By Molly Bolan

California suspends Cruise robotaxis, and questions mount

The state Department of Motor Vehicles halted operation of the self-driving cars in San Francisco because of concerns over how the company handled a crash with a pedestrian.

  • By Daniel C. Vock

How one innovation hub plans to diversify the tech industry

Colorado’s quantum innovation hub consortium will ensure minorities and workers in rural and low-income areas get a fair share of the millions of jobs they believe the hub will create.

  • By Kery Murakami

Ending the deepfake threat to elections before it starts

Officials try to get ahead of misinformation created by AI before the 2024 elections.

  • By Harrison Cann

State leaders count up modernization wins

Tech leaders say gains in system processing speeds, security and customer experience make the case for modernization.

  • By Chris Teale

State IT leaders honored in annual awards

NASCIO rewarded states’ efforts to use tech to help make government work better for its residents in areas like resident engagement, digital services, data analytics and identity management.

  • By Chris Teale

Survey: Residents want local governments to be more transparent

The vast majority of respondents want an accessible website with easy to access information and mobile tech to make it easier to engage with local agencies, according to a government technology company.

  • By Chris Teale

The hazards of facial recognition in schools

New York has banned the emerging technology in its schools, arguing that the concerns surrounding it “are not outweighed by the claimed benefits.” Plus, more news to use from around the country in this week's State and Local Roundup.

  • By Daniel C. Vock

Cities turn to GIS mapping to find housing for the homeless

As a nationwide housing shortage continues to push people into homelessness, cities like Denver and Los Angeles are turning to data to help locate public land to put housing on.

  • By Molly Bolan

Massachusetts has a huge waitlist for state-funded housing. So why are 2,300 units vacant?

One cause of the vacancies is the online waitlist system the state rolled out four years ago.

  • By Todd Wallack and Christine Willmsen, ProPublica
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New voter roll system unveiled after ERIC withdrawal

Alabama debuted a new system to manage the state’s registered voter rolls, completing a goal to replace the Electronic Registration Information Center system. Observers said the state seemed to simply be creating a newer version of the system it left behind.

  • By Ralph Chapoco, Alabama Reflector

Why humans can’t trust AI: You don’t know how it works, what it’s going to do or whether it’ll serve your interests

COMMENTARY | People can trust each other because they understand how the human mind works, can predict people’s behavior and assume that most people have a moral sense. None of these things are true of AI.

  • By Mark Bailey, The Conversation

How improvements in onboarding can lower employee turnover

One of the greatest challenges confronting state and local governments is a badly understaffed workforce. Here’s one technological and personal way to confront that problem.

  • By Katherine Barrett & Richard Greene

States put up their own money to attract chips manufacturing

One year after the CHIPS act became law, states are bolstering federal funding with their own investments in semiconductor research and development.

  • By Kery Murakami

Geospatial tech can help cities get ahead of real estate speculators

With insights from property analytics, cities can craft better policies to ensure an adequate supply of affordable housing for local residents.

  • By Molly Bolan

Feds open new round in $500M grant program for transportation tech

The second year of SMART grants will award another $100 million to state, local and tribal governments for safe, equitable and sustainable transportation solutions.

  • By Elizabeth Daigneau

An underused approach to fighting cyberattacks

The Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center offers free services to help localities with cybersecurity. Why aren’t more governments using them?

  • By Katherine Barrett & Richard Greene

Watch out Zillow: States launch affordable-housing search sites

Rhode Island is the one of the latest states to announce a targeted housing database designed to connect families to low- and moderate-income units.

  • By Molly Bolan

Flood management gets a boost from drones

As major flooding events are expected to become more common, drones could help communities keep resilience up and damage down.

  • By Kaitlyn Levinson